Toronto Berczy Park Revitalization | ?m | ?s

[isaidso]

I’d suggest the sentiment is actually that if we’re demonstrably incapable of getting something right, then we should stop the cycle of trying and failing. Better to have a paved plaza that looks decent than dead grass. And let’s face it, do you really think that a sign saying please keep off the grass will actually stop people from walking themselves and their dogs on it? Short of a permanent bylaw officer or a ten-foot razor wire fence, that space will be used intensively. We have to admit that maintenance isn’t Toronto’s strong suit, to say the least, and factor incompetence into all of our public realm plans. Anyway, we’re a city not a suburb, so an urban square wouldn’t be out of place.

A sign alone won't work. It has to be in conjunction with a flower bed/short shrubbery and short fence along the perimeter. There will always be some selfish inconsiderate people who will just hop over all of that but I do think it will keep the majority of people/dogs off it. This is fixable.

A paved square would not look out of place but green space is important; especially in an area that will see the resident population double. Besides cities do install grass in pocket parks all the time.

 

[allabootmatt]

The downtown is enough of a heat island. Past incompetence is a poor reason to replace grass with concrete. There are design solutions, as have been expressed in some detail in recent posts in this thread, and potential for soft landscaping other than grass.

FWIW, in New York these sorts of places tend to have grass largely fenced off, eg in Madison Square Park, with only limited sections available for dog-walking/sunbathing etc. And they look amazing. Though much of that is down to privately-sponsored maintenance by the local conservancies, BIDs and so on, which are pretty obsessive about keeping things maintained.

 

[Tulse]

I thought that part of the point of the grass is to give a place for people to sit and lounge. Certainly I see the berms used very heavily that way, and it doesn't seem at all like an abuse to me.

 

[Christopher Brown]

I thought that part of the point of the grass is to give a place for people to sit and lounge. Certainly I see the berms used very heavily that way, and it doesn't seem at all like an abuse to me.

I agree wholeheartedly. The reason the grass is in rough shape is simply because so many people want to be on grass (not Justin's, the real stuff), not concrete. If it demands care and attention to keep it the way folks clearly want it to be, then so be it. Of all the countless ways the City burns thru $$ on notions that mean nothing to most, or as is the case of the recently exposed fraud and waste of the Facilities Management Dept. debacle, I'd vote for spending money to have parks that work, that deliver the much needed respite for folks anywhere in the City.

Sec. 7 money of $3 million (?) paid to create this magnificent park. Surely to goodness our Parks Department can figure out how to keep it magnificent. Otherwise why bother building it in the first place. Why have a Parks Department. Rocket science this ain't. Ask any homeowner with a front yard.

My biggest fear is bureaucratic idiocy and political incompetence will render this jewel useless, just like the children's playground and parkette across the street from where I used to live in Etobicoke turned from absolutely beautiful to a unused, unsightly lump of crabgrass and mud. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

 

[Ryan_T]

There are many species of grass. They just need to find something else, that are more drought tolerant, and more durable. There are some that are even fluffier and would be even more comfortable to sit on.

 

[Start Fox]

This is the grass at Cambridge University right now - some of the most meticulously cared for grass I've ever seen. There's been a heatwave and relative lack of rain in southern England, just like there has been in Toronto.

This will probably happen more and more due to climate change (so any deniers or anti-carbon taxers have little-to-no-right to complain about the dead grass, in my opinion - there are consequences for decisions). But we don't need to be so insecure as a city and say that the City isn't capable of taking care of grass or that we should be paving everything - it's just grass, it dies sometimes, and no one thinks some dead grass reflects the quality of a city.

 

[Logan]

20180719-DSC05983 by Kevin P. Siu, on Flickr

 

[Isotack]

This is the grass at Cambridge University right now - some of the most meticulously cared for grass I've ever seen. There's been a heatwave and relative lack of rain in southern England, just like there has been in Toronto.

This will probably happen more and more due to climate change (so any deniers or anti-carbon taxers have little-to-no-right to complain about the dead grass, in my opinion - there are consequences for decisions). But we don't need to be so insecure as a city and say that the City isn't capable of taking care of grass or that we should be paving everything - it's just grass, it dies sometimes, and no one thinks some dead grass reflects the quality of a city.

Don't get all excited and uppity with your climate change pontifications...the grass was and has been just as dead there in past years...specifically during their drought in 1976.

 

[DSC]

Don't get all excited and uppity with your climate change pontifications...the grass was and has been just as dead there in past years...specifically during their drought in 1976.

Surely the point being made was GRASS GROWS BACK after drought, whether caused by 'the drought of 1976' or the effects of global warming having given the whole of the UK a VERY hot dry summer this year.

 

[pman]

Looks like shit, though.

 

[DSC]

Photo from 88 Scott amenity terrace:

View attachment 146526

I am responding to this June post now because it was part of a flood of comments which discussed how the grass was a disaster and noted that "heads should roll". As many of us noted, grass tends to die back when it's dry and noted that it would revive. It has and (though there are certainly some spots from dog pee and ?? needing attention) the grass now looks great. Maybe @Youranthony1 can send in a "Now" shot so that we can avoid the anticipated "UT hysteria" next year?

 

[CityPainter]

I am responding to this June post now because it was part of a flood of comments which discussed how the grass was a disaster and noted that "heads should roll".

I walked through about a week after reading those posts and expected to see something resembling the aftermath of an Agent Orange attack. Instead I saw a perfectly nice and green park, filled with relaxing people. There was only a little bit of dead grass immediately around the sculptures of the hands, which was still there last week when I visited. Whether that's from dogs or foot traffic or a side-effect of the installation process, I couldn't tell.

Recently they've added more furniture and honestly on a sunny day the park looks like an architectural rendering has come to life. Everything seems very well-maintained for a park that gets so much use. I agree the concerns were overblown. That said, I suppose it's better to have people caring about it than not!

 

[innsertnamehere]

I wish the city would just finish their work on Wellington so that the area around the park can be fully restored.

 

[maestro]

This is the grass at Cambridge University right now - some of the most meticulously cared for grass I've ever seen. There's been a heatwave and relative lack of rain in southern England, just like there has been in Toronto.

View attachment 150640

This will probably happen more and more due to climate change (so any deniers or anti-carbon taxers have little-to-no-right to complain about the dead grass, in my opinion - there are consequences for decisions). But we don't need to be so insecure as a city and say that the City isn't capable of taking care of grass or that we should be paving everything - it's just grass, it dies sometimes, and no one thinks some dead grass reflects the quality of a city.

The Cambridge grass has gone dormant in drought conditions. That's a far cry from what is shown in the Berzcy Park photos.

 

[DSC]

I wish the city would just finish their work on Wellington so that the area around the park can be fully restored.

It is not the City; at the moment it is Hydro, then Bell & telecoms will come and re-lay all their conduits and this will all go on until early 2019. The City WILL return when construction season starts in 2019 to rebuild road, sidewalks and TTC tracks. There will be wider sidewalks (at least on north side) with more trees - the utility conduits etc are being moved to allow for proper tree trenches..