Toronto June Callwood Park | ?m | ?s | City of Toronto | gh3

[Conrad Black]

Bryant Park is surrounded by towers as is Central Park. How is that any different than Wellesley Park?

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

No. Toronto just doesn't seem to know how to do parks. Parks involve attention to detail, materials, texture, colour, ambience, etc. We do function. Lay down sod, plant a tree, and voila! Toronto won't ever get a park as nice as the one with that Magnolia cafe. We'd use cement for starters. And if they allowed a cafe, it will be either a minimalist bunker or a food truck with blinky lights on it. A beautiful forest green painted hut made of wood? Not a chance.

Lets not forget that Wellesley Park will have a 50 floor condo on it. Can you imagine New York doing that to Bryant Park? I don't know how we manage to screw up a blank canvas, but we do.

I think you are far too pessimistic, even though our new parks are bit of a mixed bag (partly because we don't have the budget to do truly great city parks). Recent projects like Sugar Beach, Corktown Commons and the upcoming Berczy Park and Grange Park revitalization suggests that's not a default anymore (and of course Yorkville Park is also quite successful).

AoD

 

[DSC]

I think you are far too pessimistic, even though our new parks are bit of a mixed bag (partly because we don't have the budget to do truly great city parks). Recent projects like Sugar Beach, Corktown Commons and the upcoming Berczy Park and Grange Park revitalization suggests that's not a default anymore (and of course Yorkville Park is also quite successful).

AoD

While I agree that the newer and upgraded parks in Toronto are, generally, INITIALLY very good the City still has the problem that the regular maintenance of our parks is poor - presumably due to budget cut-backs. Underpass Park and Sherbourne Common have non-functioning drinking fountains, St James Park has dangerous sunken paths that flood and freeze. Dead trees are not removed and replanted promptly and the City rents out parks like Sugar Beach for private functions.

 

[P23]

No. Toronto just doesn't seem to know how to do parks. Parks involve attention to detail, materials, texture, colour, ambience, etc. We do function. Lay down sod, plant a tree, and voila! Toronto won't ever get a park as nice as the one with that Magnolia cafe. We'd use cement for starters. And if they allowed a cafe, it will be either a minimalist bunker or a food truck with blinky lights on it. A beautiful forest green painted hut made of wood? Not a chance.

Lets not forget that Wellesley Park will have a 50 floor condo on it. Can you imagine New York doing that to Bryant Park? I don't know how we manage to screw up a blank canvas, but we do.

I agree in principal, however in terms of style a forest green painted hut is not Toronto. This is an extremely young city that has more glass than brick. That is not to say we can't have beautiful or well designed structures and spaces, it's just that particular aesthetic in the photo would not be a good fit in a modern city like this. Yes, it probably would be cement, but one would hope it's really nicely poured cement.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

While I agree that the newer and upgraded parks in Toronto are, generally, INITIALLY very good the City still has the problem that the regular maintenance of our parks is poor - presumably due to budget cut-backs. Underpass Park and Sherbourne Common have non-functioning drinking fountains, St James Park has dangerous sunken paths that flood and freeze. Dead trees are not removed and replanted promptly and the City rents out parks like Sugar Beach for private functions.

I think we also have ongoing issues with lack of community involvement in park maintenance as well as continual vandalism - both of which should be looked at.

AoD

 

[maestro]

No. Toronto just doesn't seem to know how to do parks. Parks involve attention to detail, materials, texture, colour, ambience, etc. We do function. Lay down sod, plant a tree, and voila! Toronto won't ever get a park as nice as the one with that Magnolia cafe. We'd use cement for starters. And if they allowed a cafe, it will be either a minimalist bunker or a food truck with blinky lights on it. A beautiful forest green painted hut made of wood? Not a chance.

Lets not forget that Wellesley Park will have a 50 floor condo on it. Can you imagine New York doing that to Bryant Park? I don't know how we manage to screw up a blank canvas, but we do.

What a stupid comment. Bryant Park is over 150 years old. Wellesley Park is a planned park. Unless, you think Toronto would also allow a 50 storey condo on one of our established parks.

 

[LUVIT!]

Also we have a different culture than many much more urban cities such as Paris , London, New York, Madrid, New York etc due to our lucky abundance of single family homes with private gardens to enjoy. I for one have one and seldom have the need to go to a city park. When I go to a toronto park I generally love them with the odd exception... I love Withrow park..the islands...Hign park..the trails. I love Corktown common too. And all the ravines and trails ! My point being in the bigger cities I mentioned most people are crammed into apartments/flats and there only opportunity for green space is a public park....so therefore those cities public spaces are often more exuberant in style ...love the discussion.

 

[interchange42]

The park is getting closer to opening, and in fact the date is now set as the last components of the park are being installed. Here's a full set of photos from yesterday, while a front page story will fill you in on what's coming up.

42

 

[adHominem]

Looks promising! I love the bold hit of colour and hopefully the trees will thrive - it'll look great when they're filled out.

Question about the pink surface: is it loose, like gravel (a potentially messy upkeep issue), or is it fixed in place like that spongy surface they've been using on playgrounds?

 

[T-Bor]

I think someone in here said it's closer to the spongy surface like at Corktown Common....the sort of thing that kids can run around on and if they fall, it doesn't hurt as much

 

[Ayan]

Another park with no grass! When I look at the park behind the College Park buildings, I can’t help wondering why we are so opposed to having a real park!

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Another park with no grass! When I look at the park behind the College Park buildings, I can’t help wondering why we are so opposed to having a real park!

There are lots of parks with grass in the area - right across from Lakeshore is Coronation Park, which is pretty much ALL grass. There are more to parks than just the Olmstead interpretation.

AoD

 

[Ayan]

There are lots of parks with grass in the area - right across from Lakeshore is Coronation Park, which is pretty much ALL grass. There are more to parks than just the Olmstead interpretation.

AoD

True in that neighbourhood but I was commenting about the general trend in downtown Toronto that favours synthetic materials over grass for green spaces.

I am not sure what you mean by “there are more to parks than just the Olmstead interpretation†but the benefits of having real parks in urban settings are significant.

http://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/featurednews/title_349054_en.html

 

[Tewder]

No. Toronto just doesn't seem to know how to do parks. Parks involve attention to detail, materials, texture, colour, ambience, etc. We do function. Lay down sod, plant a tree, and voila! Toronto won't ever get a park as nice as the one with that Magnolia cafe. We'd use cement for starters. And if they allowed a cafe, it will be either a minimalist bunker or a food truck with blinky lights on it. A beautiful forest green painted hut made of wood? Not a chance.

Lets not forget that Wellesley Park will have a 50 floor condo on it. Can you imagine New York doing that to Bryant Park? I don't know how we manage to screw up a blank canvas, but we do.

... and why does everything new have to be so 'high concept'? It's either patchy lawns and scrubby trees or minimalist rocks and pink rubber surfaces. It points to a lack of maturity in the design culture here, quite frankly. What we do need are well maintained, healthy green spaces made beautiful with quality materials and solid design that doesn't rely on gimmicks. Design that will mature and remain beautiful and relevant over time.

That said...
*i'm not suggesting Toronto shouldn't have high concept spaces, only that they should stand out as exceptions. We should be doing more to articulate better standards that aren't so concept or gimmick-driven.
*I do like some of the improvements that have happened in recent years. Materials, finish and maintenance remain highly questionable in most cases, however.

**I've very glad we are discussing this. There's more to an urban Toronto than supertalls!

 

[maestro]

I see ingenuity. I don't see a lack of maturity. The materials differ from the traditional but, I wouldn't say they are necessarily inferior. They may be trending but, so too are most parks.

We have traditional green spaces that in time can take on the more formal quality it seems some desires. As Geeky alluded to earlier, it will take community involvement to make it happen. These parks would be best managed by not for profit organizations with "the little green huts" providing for a large chunk of the maintenance costs.