Toronto Market Street Redevelopment | ?m | 2s | Woodcliffe | Taylor Smyth

It would be great to eventually see Market St closed to through traffic on Saturdays and for some of SLM to migrate onto it.
 
That would be great. But just as Market Square Park across the street is pedestrian-only every day and they have vendors there often, it would complement the area nicely if the same were done at the South Market. The benefits of making it pedestrian-only are tremendous.
 
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I'm not sure the street needs to be renamed. This is Old Town and street names are just as much a part of the heritage landscape as anything else. I'm sure the dude in question was a great guy, a great 'urbanist and real estate agent' as they say, but if that's the case I don't believe an erasing of heritage (even if only in a name) would be a very suitable tribute.
 
Tewder said:
I'm not sure the street needs to be renamed. This is Old Town and street names are just as much a part of the heritage landscape as anything else. I'm sure the dude in question was a great guy, a great 'urbanist and real estate agent' as they say, but if that's the case I don't believe an erasing of heritage (even if only in a name) would be a very suitable tribute.
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I agree, and I'd add that I really dislike this trend towards using a person's full name in a street/park/whatever named after them. What would be wrong with just a plain "Oberman Street"?
 
I completely support the design, but I'd rather keep the street's historical name. An Oberman Square or Oberman Park, however, would be a good compromise.
 
It seems overkill to me to be naming streets after minor noteworthy people (with no disrespect to whomever).
 
Northern Magus said:
I completely support the design, but I'd rather keep the street's historical name. An Oberman Square or Oberman Park, however, would be a good compromise.
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Agreed, Market Street is one of Toronto's oldest streets (it used to be Market street West and Market Street East was the section of Lower Jarvis on east side of Market.) Oberman was a very good developer with a great sense of history - for that reason I doubt he would want Market Street to vanish but a park or ?? named after him is a great idea.
 
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Paul Oberman should have a street named after him. In a city so cynical about preservation of history, he dared to do things differently and saved some grand buildings so that future generations could admire and use the majestic buildings of previous eras. But he also built up the city, and showed an enlightened path to development, one that builds on heritage rather than erasing it. His efforts are inspirational to this day.

However, while many of Toronto's street names could be improved, Market Street is definitely an important name in terms of heritage. Furthermore, it's part of our heritage as a historic street. The first part of it to be pedestrianized (north of Front Street) seems to have erased it from the grid and from memory. Rather than feeling like a street linking Front and King Streets, it feels more like a park.

Look at the rendering of the new phase of pedestrianization. There are trees in the middle of the street. That's what I mean by erasing the street from the grid. The street should still feel like a street with name signs at every intersection and clear walkways in the centre (unless the design evokes a median). It should essentially remain a street, albeit one where the atmosphere is more relaxed and leisurely, beautifully paved and designed, and of course, where the pedestrian is free to use the entire space rather than a narrow sidewalk.
 
I think the Oberman name would be more fitting for something in the Summerhill LCBO zone (ah, if Margaret Scrivener hadn't already lent her name there)
 
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