Ironically, while BAC2 won't add a huge amount to the beauty of the skyline, it should bring improvement at street level.
Having been away from Toronto for almost three years, I have noticed that a lot of downtown buildings are upgrading their streetscaping, and all the new buildings bring public art and at least some street improvement. Toronto looks better than when I left. In my end of town, the BIA redid Bloor from Lansdowne to around Dovercourt (maybe further?) - it isn't mind blowing, but it is a lot nicer. Dundas West was done in the last few years and looks great - fantastic bench and bike lock design. Yonge and Bloor definitely looks better, though of course the tree situation is disappointing. Having a beautiful Queens Quay will be a huge improvement. I'm sure there are other local improvement I have yet to see.
Unfortunately, I find that the ugliest streets in Toronto are downtown or main streets like Eglinton (and especially main north/south thoroughfares like Bathurst or Dufferin). The fact is the city has to have a targeted approach to its improvements. If only the city created a task force to improve our streetscape piece by piece, starting with Yonge.
The problem for me is that Toronto's face is often ugly. As you travel through its main streets, the city doesn't address you, it is all too often just a utilitarian passageway. Toronto has huge ugly warehouse and industrial areas seen from the highways.
But, as a whole, Toronto is also full of residential streets that, while not sophisticated or sometimes even in the best repair, I find quite charming and indeed very beautiful. Trees and greenery abound, as does great residential architecture in many neighbourhoods. There are a lot of avenues with nice architecture. The ravines, like other beautiful things in Toronto, are under appreciated. Many towers are banal, or have an awkward relationship to the street (especially the 60s and 70s towers), but there are many gems as well. Taken together, they do indeed form a beautiful skyline (who can honestly say that reaperexpress' capture above - a city with subtle and diverse building shapes surrounded by a sea of tinted leaves - is ugly?). And the lake and islands are fantastic - an unquestionably beautiful setting for a city, if we can just connect the two better.
Toronto's next phase of development has to be a melding of utility and beauty.