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

Terricfic that your taking time to nurture young aspiring minds - I'm all for it.

That said, there are several commercial districts in TO, a rapidly growing and aspiring 'world city', that require some immediate creative attention...
 
Creating one success (should it be deemed to be so) in one place generates demand for such an example to be repeated elsewhere. It would be wonderful if it all could be done at once, but it ain't gonna happen.
 
Unless it's already been renovated away, IIRC Malvern Town Centre's terrific for fans of 80s PoMo--y'know, the kinds of people who look misty-eyed at 1984 LA Olympics footage...
 
^ I think it's still pretty much all there...but I wasn't there often in the 80s so I can't be sure what's original and what might be 90s renos.
 
To me the Bloor/Yorkville and Malvern thing are two different issues:

I) It goes without saying that the city should be taking care of the streetscapes and urban planning of all areas of the city.

II) It also goes without saying that a local BIA should be able to implement the improvements and changes it deems necessary, and all the more so in the absence of the city adequately doing point 'I'.
 
I really like the classic planters in Chicago. I just hope the modern-looking fixtures won't become dated.
 
From the updated aA website:

BLOOR STREET TRANSFORMATION

The stretch of Bloor Street West between Church Street and Avenue Road is the city’s premier shopping district. The Bloor-Yorkville district is also home to a collection of the city’s best hotels, which will soon include another aA project, the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences. Over the past four years, the district has witnessed the restoration and expansion of several cherished cultural institutions. The Bloor Street Transformation will provide a much-needed upgrade to the quality of public space in the Bloor-Yorkville precinct, in keeping with its cultural and economic stature.

Improvements include widened granite sidewalks, public art, new lighting and street furnishings, and continuous planting areas with mature trees, shrubs and flowers in raised beds. Project design was completed in joint venture with Brown + Storey Architects. Construction begins in 2007, for completion in 2009.


BLOOR YORKVILLE BIA,
CITY OF TORONTO
TORONTO, CANADA
2005
$75,000

Pics available here:

http://www.architectsalliance.com/portfolio/urban/bloor-street

AoD
 
It looks great, but I wonder if they're in fantasy land with those trees. Can anyone point out one street downtown with flourishing trees?
 
TOinTO said:
Sure, it will all look nice at first. But after a few years of city workers jack-hammering the granite to fix pipes - and putting down asphalt afterwards...
Click to expand...

I agree.

The trees are nice, but overall I like the Brown & Storey proposal better.
 
Every revitalization seems like a waste of money when utility companies are running around digging new trenches every week which end up replacing sidewalk treatments with asphalt. I noticed the other day Enbridge put in new gas lines on King outside all the restaurants near the theatre district and sidewalk which was in good condition was replaced with asphalt. These revitalizations usually draw a lot of their attraction from their sidewalk treatments but there are no rules in place to protect it.
 
Well that sidewalk looks like it's all stone so hopefully it's designed with utility repairs in mind - lift out the tiles, do the work, put the tiles back.
 
It says construction starting 2007, I guess that would be Fall 2007.
Does anyone know if they are starting from Church Street or from west side?
Not sure how far out west this goes.
 
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