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

jozl said:
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???
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Are the light just seasonal for Christmas? That would explain why zip ties were used, but they could be easily monitored and replaced as necessary (ie more easily than a more permanent attachment).
I expect that the outlets are high on the tree to prevent electricution of passersby when snow is piled high in winter.
 
Nov 28, 2020

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officedweller said:
I expect that the outlets are high on the tree to prevent electricution of passersby when snow is piled high in winter.
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A lot safer that that: these would be GFI outlets, so it would be to reduce the chance of tripping it and having to reset.
 
Northern Light said:
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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thanks for the research - I asked an arborist buddy the same thing and he concurs. they're just not pretty.
 
This might be one man's opinion, but these "fire pits" are so tacky when lit, it's an embarrassment for Bloor street. They're also too bulky and busy for the smaller portions of the sidewalk. Last I checked Bloor was a major shopping street, and not a picnic park and right now they seem to be operating as the "smoking section" of the sidewalk.

In a way they kind of articulate perfectly how we in Toronto approach design and investment in the public realm: "good enough, now let's move on."
The design somehow looks dated even though it was just complete.
 
MoObserves said:
This might be one man's opinion, but these "fire pits" are so tacky when lit, it's an embarrassment for Bloor street. They're also too bulky and busy for the smaller portions of the sidewalk. Last I checked Bloor was a major shopping street, and not a picnic park and right now they seem to be operating as the "smoking section" of the sidewalk.

In a way they kind of articulate perfectly how we in Toronto approach design and investment in the public realm: "good enough, now let's move on."
The design somehow looks dated even though it was just complete.
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Not to mention even the workmanship is shoddy, as you can see in the photo above with the huge gap between the stone and the bench portion. I'd rather have the basic city bench you see worldwide that works perfectly fine.
 
Bloor Street - Yorkville in Winter..........with recent changes:

Photos taken November 28th, 2021:

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Here you see the change to the 'uplighting' of the trees.........the result isn't very visible with the added Christmas lighting.......but where the lights were previously buried in the soil, and often covered by vegetation...
They are now encased in granite and set above the soil/ground cover level.

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It's a head scratcher that they allowed for street parking on the Mink Mile. One has to think it will be eliminated in favour of wider sidewalks in the near future. It's too bad as they spent considerable expense on the public realm. I suspect a ton of street parking will vanish from downtown streets over the next 20 years as the core is re-designed for people instead of car storage. As much progress as we've made, Toronto still has concrete and asphalt for miles. Most roads are WAY too wide and the sidewalks WAY too narrow.

On this particular stretch it's the north sidewalk that needs more width. They could significantly widen it if they got rid of street parking on this side.
 
isaidso said:
It's a head scratcher that they allowed for street parking on the Mink Mile. One has to think it will be eliminated in favour of wider sidewalks in the near future. It's too bad as they spent considerable expense on the public realm. I suspect a ton of street parking will vanish from downtown streets over the next 20 years as the core is re-designed for people instead of car storage. As much progress as we've made, Toronto still has concrete and asphalt for miles. Most roads are WAY too wide and the sidewalks WAY too narrow.

On this particular stretch it's the north sidewalk that needs more width. They could significantly widen it if they got rid of street parking on this side.
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I don't expect wide spread removal of street parking on the mink mile in the near term; but I think the Yonge - Bay stretch may well see something; there's going to be oodles of S.37 money floating around for that.
 
Northern Light said:
I don't expect wide spread removal of street parking on the mink mile in the near term; but I think the Yonge - Bay stretch may well see something; there's going to be oodles of S.37 money floating around for that.
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Is it due to the presence of strong interest groups on that stretch, like the Weston family (who own Holts)? If I remember correctly, they aggressively pushed for valet parking in front of their store.
 
isaidso said:
Is it due to the presence of strong interest groups on that stretch, like the Weston family (who own Holts)? If I remember correctly, they aggressively pushed for valet parking in front of their store.
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Yonge - Bay has a bigger issue w/sidewalk crowding that points east.

Any work there could be timed coincide w/sidewalk reconstruction when 'The One' opens up completely.

Points east of Yonge will badly effected by by the Bloor-Yonge Capacity expansion project, Bloor will be completely excavated in this area as will much of HBC bloor frontage, that effect will last at least to the late 2020's and possibly
the 2030s.

Points west of Bay need the additional sidewalk space less, and on the stretch is longer, making the work more expensive.

That said, I have not talked to Eco. Dev or the BIA about any exact plans, so I'm being somewhat speculative.
 
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