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

They are finally adding more lit benches around the trees on the north side of Bloor near Park Rd.
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To add to my earlier post about tree care in the city - while things are definitely looking better in some areas, specifically when silva-cells are installed, we do not see the true benefit of trees in this city. Areas like the Don Valley, or the Annex are touted as examples referring to tree canopy and growth. While true, where you really want the trees is along main and secondary streets (well all streets). Think of many of the main streets downtown and look at the number and health of the trees - if there are any? Most trees have little to no room to grow, do not receive sufficient water, poor soil quality, adjacent materials (ie: concrete and asphalt reflect heat), have no metal grates over-top their roots, allowing the soil to further compact under foot traffic into a hard concrete like substance - not to mention the tripping hazards etc. just to mention a few items. Refer to this document for some very insightful information - while a little outdated (2012) this document lays out a number of items as to why trees are important and integral to a city's health and well-being. (A Street Tree Survival Strategty in Toronto - courtesy of the Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Cities Initiative).

p5
 
p5connex said:
To add to my earlier post about tree care in the city - while things are definitely looking better in some areas, specifically when silva-cells are installed, we do not see the true benefit of trees in this city. Areas like the Don Valley, or the Annex are touted as examples referring to tree canopy and growth. While true, where you really want the trees is along main and secondary streets (well all streets). Think of many of the main streets downtown and look at the number and health of the trees - if there are any? Most trees have little to no room to grow, do not receive sufficient water, poor soil quality, adjacent materials (ie: concrete and asphalt reflect heat), have no metal grates over-top their roots, allowing the soil to further compact under foot traffic into a hard concrete like substance - not to mention the tripping hazards etc. just to mention a few items. Refer to this document for some very insightful information - while a little outdated (2012) this document lays out a number of items as to why trees are important and integral to a city's health and well-being. (A Street Tree Survival Strategty in Toronto - courtesy of the Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Cities Initiative).

p5
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Come over and join us in the Toronto Tree thread for a very involved discussion about the state of the City's trees!

The Toronto Tree Thread

Since I've seen a few requests for a thread just on Toronto's Trees, I'm making this one. I expect questions will still arise in various specific project threads, but if people want to have an intensive tree-related discussion, this will be a good spot. I'll post this article from 2016 to get...
urbantoronto.ca urbantoronto.ca

15 pages worth of info there; including much on the City's street trees.

***

Toronto has made its share of mistakes; and could still use some tweaks in its strategies; but it has improved dramatically.

More changes are coming.

There are indeed many healthy sections of street trees that are doing well and will do better over time.

Some are large sections (Queen's Quay, York to Spadina); others are but a block long.

Other quality examples: St. George has turned out quite well. York Street from Lake Shore to MLS, east side, the new trees on Harbour Street (York to Bay) have good conditions and are in good health.

But real progress is afoot!

Be sure, nobody gives them a harder time about their failures than me! LOL
 
DSC said:
Apart from looking good and being places to sit, they have the additional benefit of stopping snow ploughs from hitting the trees and bikes being fastened to them.
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The benches biggest benefit may have something to do with plows............all depends on how creative the plow operators get this winter.............it's stopping this tree-killing practice:

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For anyone not tweaked to the problem............all that snow is salt-laden.......
 
jje1000 said:
Did they end up implementing the public art installations I vaguely remember them talking about?
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If you mean the one that was supposed to go in front the Hudson's Bay Centre; the answer is 'no'.
 
A couple of quick shots.

First, a look east along Bloor from ~Yonge; look at all the healthy foliage!

Even the tree in the foreground is looking good, just starting to show the season.

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Second, the new bench installations are now continuing in the Yonge to Bay block.

Notice again, the predominantly the healthy trees. (there are a couple closer to Yonge that aren't so great, but overall, drastic improvement.)

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I’m a new member (but have followed for years). I'm interested in a quality urban realm. Thought I’d kick things off with the BY BIA bench design - that I like - but there are oddities:

Last week I asked an installer a bunch of questions:

The white plastic teardrop with a pointing finger is a sensor which activates the multicoloured led lightshow from below. Never been able to activate it so far, but have seen them on, both with simple white light (good) and ghastly mix of purple and green (why?)

The fire pit radius fits a bike perfectly (haha)

Most egregious is the bulky outdoor electrical outlets that terminate a snakey conduit wire-strapped to the tree trunk. This seem like one of those made-in-Toronto design solutions to a non-problem – can anyone shed light on the intention here?

Installer said these were meant for the public to charge their phones – why on earth would they exist also on the curbside treepits?
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trnto.com

Yorkville just added some swanky new campfire benches

The new benches in Yorkville set the scene for festive social distancing
trnto.com trnto.com

The new Urban Campfire Benches are part of the holiday lighting scene that happens every December in the area. The Bloor-Yorkville BIA conceptualized the benches in conjunction with the Mulvey and Banani International team, which created the lighting for the CN Tower.

“The idea stemmed from needing improved lighting and seating, and we felt campfires were very Canadian,” says Briar de Lange, executive director of the Bloor-Yorkville BIA.

The benches are made from granite from Quebec and manufactured by Hauser in Kitchener. Not only do the benches offer a feeling of warmth and provide added seating, but each bench also has programmable lights with various colour options.

“The benches feature endless colour options that will be on theme for not only the holidays but each season in-between,” de Lange adds.

Now a permanent part of the area, the 60 beaches between Church Street and Avenue Road are here to stay. Visitors to the benches will have something else to look forward to as QR codes will be installed on each bench in December.

Finding one of those codes means having exclusive access to specialty menu items during the holiday season, which is one way that you can help support local restaurants. Participating restaurants include Bary Reyna, Cibo, Eataly, Amal, along with others.
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Photo from article:

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Exactly Broadeaves, the placement of electrical outlets is a perfect example of the half assed attitude toward Toronto’s public realm. Will the straps that anchor the outlets be adjusted as the tree grows? Why are they there anyway? Wasn’t the design and placement of these ugly plastic outlets considered during the design phase? It reminds me of the Toronto sign in Nathan Phillips Square. The sign was a great success so the city decided to make it a permanent fixture but decided to clutter it up first by adding a stunted maple leaf and a mysterious round logo. Typical and deflating. I love the new benches on Bloor but why the sloppy details???
 
Broadeaves said:
Most egregious is the bulky outdoor electrical outlets that terminate a snakey conduit wire-strapped to the tree trunk. This seem like one of those made-in-Toronto design solutions to a non-problem – can anyone shed light on the intention here?
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So, I spent some time surveying opinion among experts.

A consensus has been arrived at.

The chargers are a problem specifically because of the zip ties.

If contractors are set to cut those and re-do them every 1-2 years........its not overly problematic, except aesthetically...........(a real issue, but I digress)

But if there are no intentions to regularly re-do the zip ties, the trees are at risk of being girdled. (choked to death )
 
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