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

It wasn't until last weekend that I noticed all of the dead trees along Bloor. Very discouraging but… at least the BIA is aware of the problem and, hopefully, going to try and rectify the problem. In the meantime, I too have sent a letter of concern to the BIA.
 
UrbanFervour said:
I agree that public spaces in Toronto are not generally up to the level I would like them to be in a city with this population and level of wealth, but something in the tone of your post stands out as the REAL problem with Toronto: the passive, cynical naysaying of so many people in this city.

I would like to know what YOU do to make Toronto better, other than sit on the sidelines of online fora and carp at the results of other people's work? It's people like you, who project your own glass-is-half-empty perspective onto the entire city, rather than training it legitimately on a particular developer, designer, decision maker etc... that is the true champion of mediocrity. Sorry to ruin your delusion, but cranky, blanket-statement naysaying doesn't count as contributing. It does nothing but breed yet more of the same.

Cynicism begets cynicism... so perhaps before you throw around half-baked labels like "cheap-skate" and "wannabe" to describe an entire, complex, diverse city you take a look at yourself and ask what YOU are contributing that the rest of us here aren't living up to? And then, as Gandhi put it: "be the change"
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Do you want him to go out on the streets and start replacing pavers or something? Complaining is generally how the average person can influence change in a democracy, although maybe he could complain to someone that matters rather than a forum full of equally tedious complainers.
 
androiduk said:
Workers have been out lately replacing all the floodlights.
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Noticed last night, about 80% of the in-ground lighting between Yonge and Church (south side) was functioning. Previously was about 10%. Street felt much more welcoming at night. It's normally such a dark stretch.
 
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Interesting bit re: the trees - from the April WT DRP Minutes:

One Panel member noted that at a recent lecture given by Adriaan Geuze from West 8, there were a lot of questions surrounding the viability of London Plane trees for Queens Quay, noting that on Bloor Street 20% were lost on the north side and 40% were lost on the south side. Mr. Glaisek stated that he was aware of the issue noting that on Bloor Street, shading from tall buildings was a major factor that Queens Quay does not have. Mr. Glaisek added that many of the trees on Bloor Street were planted late in the season, and combined with over salting, led to a higher loss rate.
Mr. Glaisek concluded by stating that the team would continue to study the issue to insure the survival of the trees along Queens Quay.
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http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/uploads/documents/wdrp_minutes_april_2014_1.pdf (p. 2)
 
So let me get this straight - they didn't take into account shading, they didn't take into account the time of year the trees should be planted and they didn't take into account the effects salt would have.
Whoever was running this project should be fired for incompetence. Seems like really basic things to check before embarking on a street renewal program.
 
Logan said:
So let me get this straight - they didn't take into account shading, they didn't take into account the time of year the trees should be planted and they didn't take into account the effects salt would have.
Whoever was running this project should be fired for incompetence. Seems like really basic things to check before embarking on a street renewal program.
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He says he was aware of those issues right in the quote. What exactly do you want them to 'take into account' anyway? You can't move the buildings casting shadows or outlaw salt on the roads. 60% of the trees survived, the others will be replaced.
 
P23 said:
He says he was aware of those issues right in the quote. What exactly do you want them to 'take into account' anyway? You can't move the buildings casting shadows or outlaw salt on the roads. 60% of the trees survived, the others will be replaced.
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At issue though is the selection of the trees by the landscape architect/arborist - knowing the prevalance of these site conditions. It wasn't like the use of salt and shading are new phenomena. Note this is the VP Planning & Urban Design at Waterfront Toronto quoting from one of the principals of West 8, neither of whom had anything to do with Bloor, in the context of the use of London Plane trees in their Queen's Quay project.

AoD
 
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AFAIK, it was Brown and Storey who handled the tree-planting aspects of the Bloor rebuild, not aA, who were responsible for the design elements.

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June Callwood Park has pink carpeting so why not replace these trees with plastic ones? Purple? Polka Dots?? This is Bloor though, so maybe Louis Vuitton motifs?
 
I was just in New York and I noticed that many of their trees in this family were not in great shape either. I can't tell if they were American Sycamore or not. New York having a more mild climate than ours I can only assume that these trees aren't particularly good for urban canyon settings. On the other hand the Locus trees on Bloor West of this stretch on the North side are perfectly healthy.
 
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