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

ILuvTO said:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/803215--how-it-all-went-wrong-on-bloor-5-perspectives?bn=1
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That Toronto Star article got me wondering exactly how 11 Bloor West ended up with storage space under the public sidewalk. Then I remembered that Bloor was widened at that point circa 1929. Prior to the widening 11 Bloor West was already pretty close to the street:

https://gencat4.eloquent-systems.co...esource/ser372/ss0003/s0372_ss0003_it0687.jpg

...so I guess the city must have allowed Bowles Lunch/Billiards/Barber Shop to retain the basement portion when the building's front was chopped back from Bloor.
 
Bungling on Bloor

Published On Tue May 04 2010

Toronto Star Editorial

Meant to turn already-upscale Bloor Street into a destination akin to Rodeo Drive, a $25 million “transformation project” has, instead, produced a Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Badly behind schedule, $4 million over-budget, creating disruptions that cost millions in lost sales, and with the city and its partners bickering over whom to blame, Bloor’s botched facelift has undermined public confidence in Toronto’s ability to get things done.

Coming atop earlier fiascos like the bungled St. Clair streetcar right-of-way, the Bloor St. project can’t help but spread doubts about the city’s efficiency among Toronto residents, merchants, and potential investors.

It shouldn’t have been especially complicated to install wider sidewalks made of granite, a series of raised planters, some trees, stylish lighting and some art. Yet somehow those in charge of Bloor’s beautification managed to fumble the job. Making matters worse, as a public-private partnership between the city and the Bloor-Yorkville Business Improvement Area, the project was initially hailed as a model of administrative innovation.

At a 2006 news conference heralding that deal, Mayor David Miller described the Bloor project as setting “an important precedent” for future work. Torontonians can only hope that he was wrong.

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They have a point. One of the unsung problems is that the City of Toronto's record at project management is deeply flawed. It seems to me that they need to consider either a top-to-bottom revamping of that department or to move toward a design/build model with the private sector. People often point to City projects and say that they're actually built by the private sector because private contractors do the actual work. That's not accurate since the City manages those private contractors and designs the projects.
 
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Simple question? Is this really a Toronto only problem - you hear similar stories from cities throughout the world ... in other words it's expected. That's not to say it's a good thing though, and something should be done. I think it's communication / coordination that leads to most of these problems, the lack there of that is.
 
taal said:
Simple question? Is this really a Toronto only problem - you hear similar stories from cities throughout the world ... in other words it's expected. That's not to say it's a good thing though, and something should be done. I think it's communication / coordination that leads to most of these problems, the lack there of that is.
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Taal,

You're absolutely right... but since many in this town have a massive inferiority complex they tend to be a little melodramatic about things.
 
No, Toronto is especially bad at coordinating projects between utilities. In the other 6 cities that I have lived in, I have never seen road crews tear up a sidewalk that they repaved the year before to install a water main or bury electrical wires.
 
Hipster Duck said:
No, Toronto is especially bad at coordinating projects between utilities. In the other 6 cities that I have lived in, I have never seen road crews tear up a sidewalk that they repaved the year before to install a water main or bury electrical wires.
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Yea I can by that ... a lot of that seems to happen around these parts. That's the main issue I think, coordination.
 
I think it's pretty much Toronto Hydro that is the culprit. Apparently they dance to their own tune. I know someone who works for the Parks department, and they can get everything co-ordinated except when Hydro is involved. They just come in and tear apart the place and then slap on some ashphalt without any warning.
 
Parkdalian said:
I think it's pretty much Toronto Hydro that is the culprit. Apparently they dance to their own tune. I know someone who works for the Parks department, and they can get everything co-ordinated except when Hydro is involved. They just come in and tear apart the place and then slap on some ashphalt without any warning.
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Ah, so maybe selling them isn't the worst idea ;)
 
I am beginning to think more and more that Toronto Hydro is a rogue agency. They have essentially vandalized Chaplin Estates (Chaplin, west from Yonge) by placing scores of giant, new poles next to the old concrete poles along many of the streets in the area. The corner of Chaplin and Oriole Parkway now has seven poles where there were only four six months ago. They look like prison bars. There is no indication as to whether the old concrete poles are going to be removed and the wires consolidated (never mind buried) in the new wooden (yes, wooden poles in 2010) poles. So this, in addition to their well-documented obstruction during the Fleet and St. Clair rebuilds makes me wonder whether Toronto Hydro should either be sold off (the Con Ed model) or brought even *more* firmly under the city's purview. In the case of the latter, I would hope by doing so they can be ordered to refurbish/remove the decrepit sixty-year old rusted out poles that blight Mount Pleasant, Eglinton, and so many other streets in the city and that contribute to Toronto's wretchedly decrepit streetscapes.
 
hmm I think all the lights on Yonge north of Eglinton have been replaced already.
 
I know we're off topic, but I agree - what they've done to Chaplin Estates is atrocious! They've also once again destroyed the sidewalks south of Bloor on Yonge (that were completed just last Summer). So sad. I've heard the reasoning about scheduling, but surely they could coordinate better.
 
It would great if urbantoronto could do some sort of exposé on them and their complete disregard for the public realm. How 'bout it?
 
They do seem to show complete disregard, bordering on contempt, for the city they serve. Definitely a broken arrangement.
 
condovo said:
It would great if urbantoronto could do some sort of exposé on them and their complete disregard for the public realm. How 'bout it?
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I really like this idea.
If we can enact some change, maybe make it an election issue hopefully someone would propose burying all hydro wires (South of Bloor at least)
 
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