Toronto Aura at College Park | 271.87m | 78s | Canderel | Graziani + Corazza

From today

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I know this is a little off topic, but does anyone think that the expanding & already extensive PATH system is taking away from the above ground street life? I know it's convienant in the winter but when I think of NY it's street life is exciting.

If I worked anywhere connected to the PATH I'd only use it on really cold winter days when those blasts of winds created by the buildings make being outside really unpleasant. The PATH is absolutely necessary, as noted above there isn't enough room on the sidewalks for all the people working and doing business in the CBD to move around during rush hours & lunch time. If we had good local and regional transit systems in Toronto & the GTA like other major business centres do fewer people would drive, sidewalks could be widened and problem solved, that's how other successful big cities do it.
 
I just wonder how successful the retail in Aura will be - will Marshals and BB&B be enough to draw people in? I always thought malls wanted big name retailers to "anchor" the mall and to provide the foot traffic to support the smaller retailers. I still think having a grocery store would have made a lot of sense. With respect to the earlier posts regarding whether the path takes away some of the streetlife, its an interesting question but I also think malls have a roll to play as well. I seem to recall discussions or concerns that the Eaton Centre seemed to kill the retail along the otherside of Dundas and Queen. And look at College Park. If it had been designed so that more stores opened onto the street - there could be a lot more vibrancy. Instead you have to go inside College Park to access the retail there generally (which isn't that great). Though I hear there are plans for rejuvenation.
 
Apologies if this has already been covered recently, but a while back there were discussions of a large gym / fitness club being part of the retail here in Aura -- as I recall, the idea was that it might be the first Ontario outpost of Steve Nash's chain of gyms from Vancouver.

Any word on that? With the new Ryerson gym open in the neighbourhood, it may not be as necessary -- but with Epic closed and now Yonge St. Fitness possibly being replaced by a new project, the neighbourhood is losing gyms.
 
If I worked anywhere connected to the PATH I'd only use it on really cold winter days when those blasts of winds created by the buildings make being outside really unpleasant. The PATH is absolutely necessary, as noted above there isn't enough room on the sidewalks for all the people working and doing business in the CBD to move around during rush hours & lunch time. If we had good local and regional transit systems in Toronto & the GTA like other major business centres do fewer people would drive, sidewalks could be widened and problem solved, that's how other successful big cities do it.

I agree, but if the PATH wasn't connecting every single building underground for miles, then people would have to surface at some point. Sounds like a I'm talking about a submarine. I mean really, Toronto doesn't have that bad of a winter compared to somewhere like Winnipeg. I think we're just getting lazy, comfortable and fat. I'm just kidding or am I?

I think a lot of retail and restaurants would be spread out. Up Bay, York, Adelaide, Wellington etc.
 
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Apologies if this has already been covered recently, but a while back there were discussions of a large gym / fitness club being part of the retail here in Aura -- as I recall, the idea was that it might be the first Ontario outpost of Steve Nash's chain of gyms from Vancouver.

Any word on that? With the new Ryerson gym open in the neighbourhood, it may not be as necessary -- but with Epic closed and now Yonge St. Fitness possibly being replaced by a new project, the neighbourhood is losing gyms.

I did see a sign in Aura saying "Fitness Centre" on the 4th floor, I believe. BB&B on 2, Marshalls on 3, and the fitness centre on 4. Didn't say that name of the fitness centre. I was wondering if it might be a Goodlife, or maybe even an Equinox.

But there are still a fair number of clubs in the area: the YMCA at Grosvenor, Extreme Fitness at Yonge/Dundas, Goodlife (formerly Ballys) at 250 Yonge (Eaton Centre).
 
If we had good local and regional transit systems in Toronto & the GTA like other major business centres do fewer people would drive, sidewalks could be widened and problem solved, that's how other successful big cities do it.

Funny, last time I checked, Toronto had the third most heavily used rapid transit system in north america after new York and mexico :rolleyes:
 
But there are still a fair number of clubs in the area: the YMCA at Grosvenor, Extreme Fitness at Yonge/Dundas, Goodlife (formerly Ballys) at 250 Yonge (Eaton Centre).

The Goodlife at 250 Yonge was moved to a smaller location in Bell Trinity Square.
 
dt_toronto_geek said:
If we had good local and regional transit systems in Toronto & the GTA like other major business centres do fewer people would drive, sidewalks could be widened and problem solved, that's how other successful big cities do it.

Funny, last time I checked, Toronto had the third most heavily used rapid transit system in north america after new York and mexico :rolleyes:

I think he was referring to how our system is not as extensive as it could be, not the ridership numbers.
 
I think he was referring to how our system is not as extensive as it could be, not the ridership numbers.

Correct, we have the numbers in terms of ridership but not enough rapid transit throughout the city to move people fast and efficiently and trains for regional transit could be a whole lot better. Hell, look at the size of Toronto and we don't have anything except buses that connect our airport to the city (ya, I now that's changing... 20th century technology is coming by 2015).
 
Funny, last time I checked, Toronto had the third most heavily used rapid transit system in north america after new York and mexico :rolleyes:

Yeah I guess we should just stop improving then. We're so world-class, why bother making our transit system a better experience for its users?
 
The BBandB is fabulous. Big, large ceilings, accessible from the street (well, the escalator to it is). Not too excited about the Marshall's as it's just a Winners. Those shops are underground? Not accessible from the street, then. Who's going to bother going down there? Hopefully the PATH traffic will support them. I don't see them being opened on weekends (as most PATH shops are closed during the weekend).
 
That's if PATH ever reaches Aura. There's a lot of dead space between there and the Atrium on Bay and the Delta Chelsea owners don't want to build a connection.
 

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