Toronto Bloor Street Revitalization | ?m | ?s | Bloor-Yorkville BIA | architectsAlliance

Bring on the art! I hope it's monumental.
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I wish 2 Bloor West would put "Full Moon" (Wendell Castle, 1988) back out on Bloor where it was originally. Why they hid it around the corner where nobody notices it is a mystery. At 19 feet tall, it's pretty "monumental". It's one of my favourite public sculptures in the city. Given how much Wendell Castle design has appreciated over the years, probably one of the more valuable as well.
 
I was working on a wedding video at the Church of the Redeemer this weekend, and Bloor Street really is a great spot to get that big city feel. Here's a still, looking east.

Cedric's Wedding.Still004.jpg
 

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They also need to replace the bike stands with something more secure: the screws holding the ground plate to the stands are exposed and coming loose. Exposed! I have to use the stands next to Redeemer or down side streets - never on Bloor itself.
 
When is that artwork that was mentioned going to appear? I thought I had read something about art being put up at Yonge and Bloor this spring.
 
Was walking on Bloor St. last night (Saturday). The sidewalks look shockingly bad. Most of the London Plain trees are dead (80%), most of the uplights are burnt out (95%), cracked granite, caulking with mineral-deposit staining, etc. What in the world is going on? Who in god's name is responsible at the BIA?
 
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It was a pretty tough winter? So disappointing when effort is made but the results are less than expected.
 
condovo said:
Was walking on Bloor St. last night (Saturday). The sidewalks look shockingly bad. Most of the London Plain trees are dead (80%), most of the uplights are burnt out (95%), cracked granite, cocking with mineral-deposit staining, etc. What in the world is going on? Who in god's name is responsible at the BIA?
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Part of the problem is the species of tree - all because a street in Barcelona has beautiful london-plane trees we think we need to have one here, issue is that the species of london plane we can get in canada doesn't do well in our climate and the city has had little to no success with london planes in recent years even trying multiple species. In my opinion a lot of the issues are due to poor advise by the consultants selling a vision that cannot be sustained in Toronto.
 
TOfan696 said:
Part of the problem is the species of tree - all because a street in Barcelona has beautiful london-plane trees we think we need to have one here, issue is that the species of london plane we can get in canada doesn't do well in our climate and the city has had little to no success with london planes in recent years even trying multiple species. In my opinion a lot of the issues are due to poor advise by the consultants selling a vision that cannot be sustained in Toronto.
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I'm sure I read way-back-when that these trees were chosen partly because they are so hardy in these types of conditions. Now that most trees finally have full leaves (though still not all) I can see a dramatic difference looking out toward Cabbagetown and beyond. I see buildings that are normally blocked covered by tree leaves, some trees have discoloured leaves and the canopy is not as green as it should be. That ice storm combined with a long, very harsh winter really took it's toll on trees. I have friends who live in the Cambridge Ave. apartments off Broadview Ave. atop the Don Valley facing west and I can see a difference in the vast tree canopy from there too, my friends noted it also.
 
dt_toronto_geek said:
I'm sure I read way-back-when that these trees were chosen partly because they are so hardy in these types of conditions. Now that most trees finally have full leaves (though still not all) I can see a dramatic difference looking out toward Cabbagetown and beyond. I see buildings that are normally blocked covered by tree leaves, some trees have discoloured leaves and the canopy is not as green as it should be. That ice storm combined with a long, very harsh winter really took it's toll on trees. I have friends who live in the Cambridge Ave. apartments off Broadview Ave. atop the Don Valley facing west and I can see a difference in the vast tree canopy from there too, my friends noted it also.
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The species it self is quite hardy, however the london plans that do well in harsh climates are actually from Germany, whereas the london plans we can get in Toronto are a Canadian species which from what i have been told has just not done well in this city in our conditions - they are having a very difficult time taking root (despite expensive soil cell systems - which Bloor street has some of the most advanced tree planting technologies, largest soil volumes and irrigation above any other street in Toronto except maybe Queens Quay or the waterfront). Another example of looking abroad to what has been successful and it not replicating here, rather then looking at what has been successful in Toronto (ex. Honey Locusts)
 
Is there no arborist that can be consulted as to which trees are appropriate for our climate/urban areas? Do they just choose trees to be planted here with no regard as to what circumstances they can survive in? It seems like this mistake gets made over and over again all over the city. I can’t understand it.
 
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