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

barrytron3030 said:
yes. we should wait. chicago and new york didn't become great cities over the same amount of time it will take the bloor street revitalization to finish.

i'm just saying, don't criticize an unfinished product and don't compare it to unrelated projects.

for example, it's unfair to compare our public spaces like university avenue to paris' champs-d'elysees. sure paris' public spaces are bigger and more beautiful...but they were also conceived and constructed under tyrannical monarchs. every space must be judged based on its aesthetics as well as its political and historical context. and considering this is toronto, we should be happy this project was even realized.
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I agree we should wait, however, the Magnificent Mile comparision is very valid since the design team didn't hide the fact that the Chicago street was their main inspiration.
By the way, just for fun, check out the picture galleries. They are an eye opener that shows that Bloor Street will never be on that level. Period.

http://www.themagnificentmile.com/Photo_Gallery/Default.cfm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnificent_Mile
 
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Pfloyd said:
I agree we should wait, however, the Magnificent Mile comparision is very valid since the design team didn't hide the fact that the Chicago street was their main inspiration.
By the way, just for fun, check out the picture galleries. They are an eye opener that shows that Bloor Street will never be on that level. Period.

http://www.themagnificentmile.com/Photo_Gallery/Default.cfm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnificent_Mile
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But at this point, how many people are arguing that it will be? Bloor will probably be very attractive after this project is over and evolve into something special that will probably be refined many more times in the future.
 
barrytron3030 said:
for example, it's unfair to compare our public spaces like university avenue to paris' champs-d'elysees. sure paris' public spaces are bigger and more beautiful...but they were also conceived and constructed under tyrannical monarchs. every space must be judged based on its aesthetics as well as its political and historical context. and considering this is toronto, we should be happy this project was even realized.
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Nonsense. We don't have to be 'happy' with anything and we don't need flimsy apologies for Toronto's lacklustre and mediocre public spaces. How patronizing.

The new paving on Bloor Street is lovely and is definitely an improvement over the ugly asphalt-patched concrete pavers that were there before (and if you miss them you can still see them along Yonge or any other major thoroughfare in the city), but this isn't exactly a huge achievement. Lets be thankfull for small improvements, absolutely, but lets also continue to demand more and better.
 
We are currently engineering the sculpture which will eventually sit at the North-East corner of the intersection, in front of the Royal Bank. Very modern, very svelte and very cool.
 
Tewder said:
Nonsense. We don't have to be 'happy' with anything and we don't need flimsy apologies for Toronto's lacklustre and mediocre public spaces. How patronizing.

The new paving on Bloor Street is lovely and is definitely an improvement over the ugly asphalt-patched concrete pavers that were there before (and if you miss them you can still see them along Yonge or any other major thoroughfare in the city), but this isn't exactly a huge achievement. Lets be thankfull for small improvements, absolutely, but lets also continue to demand more and better.
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I agree. We are all too often making excuses for the state of this city.
 
This city just seems to be happy following others and never looking to do things it's own way. Everything is conventional and conservative. Why not try to be original and look for ideas that bring something new to the city? We don't need to copy Chicago or New York, we need to be one of a kind. We need a new way of doing things.
 
This city just seems to be happy following others and never looking to do things it's own way.
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I have to disagree with this. I think too often we actually try to re-invent the wheel, ignoring perfectly excellent solutions outside our narrow sphere.

For instance, the problems of traffic separation, bike lanes, light rail, etc, have all been solved elsewhere, yet instead of learning from others we are happy to philosophize about this for years, trying to reinvent the wheel, meanwhile accomplishing nothing.

If we followed others (those who are doing things right), we'd be doing much better!
 
Torontovibe said:
This city just seems to be happy following others and never looking to do things it's own way. Everything is conventional and conservative. Why not try to be original and look for ideas that bring something new to the city? We don't need to copy Chicago or New York, we need to be one of a kind. We need a new way of doing things.
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Agreed, but we can still be inspired by great ideas from other cities, but trying to copy them plus the comparisons here continue to drive me nuts! Comparing Bloor Street W. to Chicago's Magnificent Mile is just ridiculous. If you've ever been there you'd know why.
The jury is out on Bloor W., it's obviously a huge improvement so far but let's give it time to be completed and allow it time to evolve and find itself.
 
ProjectEnd said:
We are currently engineering the sculpture which will eventually sit at the North-East corner of the intersection, in front of the Royal Bank. Very modern, very svelte and very cool.
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Cool info, any more details you'd like to leak out? Otherwise I'll just have to find my friend patience and have a couple of beers with him.
 
Torontovibe said:
Why not try to be original and look for ideas that bring something new to the city? We don't need to copy Chicago or New York, we need to be one of a kind. We need a new way of doing things.
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Then again, why not learn from others? The issues being faced in Toronto are not without precedent in other cities. Why does everything have to be unique and made in Canada/Toronto particularly when the national tagline seems to be "Go for Bronze!!"





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Except in this case - the private built environment cannot equate to the Magnificent Mile by a long shot. Context matters - and that's the Bloor Street has to contend with. You can make the public realm as pretty as you want, but up against illustrious pieces of architecture like the Hudson Bay complex, the effectiveness of those measures will be muted.\

And yes, the private realm is a failure of the private sector.

AoD
 
ProjectEnd said:
We are currently engineering the sculpture which will eventually sit at the North-East corner of the intersection, in front of the Royal Bank. Very modern, very svelte and very cool.
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If it's anything other than a life-sized statue of Ben Kerr it doesn't deserve to be there
 
Tewder said:
Nonsense. We don't have to be 'happy' with anything and we don't need flimsy apologies for Toronto's lacklustre and mediocre public spaces. How patronizing.

The new paving on Bloor Street is lovely and is definitely an improvement over the ugly asphalt-patched concrete pavers that were there before (and if you miss them you can still see them along Yonge or any other major thoroughfare in the city), but this isn't exactly a huge achievement. Lets be thankfull for small improvements, absolutely, but lets also continue to demand more and better.
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Well the thing is, this stretch of Bloor is nowhere near the level of the Magnificent Mile. You just can't compare.

We can overspend and make the outside really pretty, but that won't change the composition of the stores, and how much money people are willing to spend.

At most, you can look at this project as a stepping stone. In 30 years this will all have to replaced if not earlier as it wears out. By that time, perhaps we will have developed enough of a presence to justify stepping up to the 'next level' of streetscape rather than spend now on something that is not needed.
 
State Street

Do not forget about the State Street revitalization ( in the " LOOP"), that was done around 15 years ago.
 
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