Toronto Pan Am Village in the West Don Lands | ?m | ?s | DundeeKilmer | KPMB

Yes exactly ... ! Less those fugly green bike lanes : - ) ... they don't at all go well with the sidewalk ...

Anyway, yea, look at all the colour ...
 
I also don't understand why they went with the standard light-gray poles for the traffic lights; why not just use the same poles as the light standards (or better yet, use black)? They look far more sleeker.
 
And honestly they're such a waste in Markham ... maybe 20 years from now ... but the majority of Hi-way is just full of plaza's, and that won't change for years. Yes there is some foot traffic from Viva purple but typically just walking from the bus stop to the office, and that's about it ... I drive *err yes ..* a big portion of this stretch everyday and always cringe, why spend all the money here yet look at the crap we have in Toronto, again what we see above in the west don lands is still decent for toronto, but as many of commented, grey on grey on grey on grey ... I really doubt any serious design effort went into this ... here's something else, folks don't like it, please write into Waterfront Toronto, that'll be a much more productive effort then complaining on here.

Also to be fair to Markham / York region really, cudos to them, clearly there was enough money set aside in the project and they took advantage of that.
 
Logan said:
Thanks! The first two pictures show the correct way trees need to be planted in the city. There needs to be sufficient width around the trees to capture enough water in order for them to properly grow. Compare that with the last picture, look how small the width is around those trees. Doesn't give them much to thrive in an urban environment.
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Moreso than water, the soil around the trees are a big issue in this climate. In the winter, there is not enough warmth in the soil, and the trees don't survive. It's the same reason that it's not very sustainable to have trees growing on rooftops here. Other types of more hearty plants, sure, but usually not trees.
 
salsa said:
I wonder what kind of sidewalks we will get along the Transit City corridors.
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Since Metrolinx is building the viva brt and they will also be building the transit city corridors, they should be similar. They should make sure that Toronto or any of the other agencies from this city don't get involved and try to cheapen everything.
 
Logan said:
Thanks! The first two pictures show the correct way trees need to be planted in the city. There needs to be sufficient width around the trees to capture enough water in order for them to properly grow. Compare that with the last picture, look how small the width is around those trees. Doesn't give them much to thrive in an urban environment.
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Actually the trees in last pics are planted properly in large tree pits and with the new WT standard of silva cells. The sidewalk is porous (pavers on gravel) so that water drains into the pits.

The City are doing something similar on The Esplanade between Market and Scott at the moment - though here the trees will be in continuous tree pits but again the water will penetrate the sidewalk to reach the tree roots.
 
modern™ said:
Moreso than water, the soil around the trees are a big issue in this climate. In the winter, there is not enough warmth in the soil, and the trees don't survive. It's the same reason that it's not very sustainable to have trees growing on rooftops here. Other types of more hearty plants, sure, but usually not trees.
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Really? If you wander around a bit you will see many trees growing quite happily in Toronto and Ontario has a large forestry industry. Heat or cold is not really the problem for trees planted in the earth (as opposed to above-ground boxes). Street trees do suffer from salt, some species more than others, and it is certainly true that trees do not do well in the older street tree pits (tree coffins) as they are far too small and the earth gets so compacted. That's why the City are moving to continuous tree trenches where possible and why WT has been using silva cells to avoid compaction and to allow the roots to spread.
 
That's good to hear but they're still making the same mistakes today.
Case in point the newly planted trees in front of Aura.
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Photo from www.thestar.com
 
TheKingEast said:
Who cares if they were dumps? Does that mean a developer has the right to produce crap? My thing is if you're going to do something, do it to the best of your ability. Not half-assed and that seems to happen a lot here. I'm not even asking for some world class design or top notch materials. I just want some color. I know this city is conservative as hell but you can still be conservative while using color. The place is called Canary District and it's all grey. Only in Toronto. LOL
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Why you guys always surprised?! IT'S TORONTO! and will always be the usual Toronto!!!! Lack of creativities! Lack of speed in development always behind the schedules! Lack of evrything! Even lack of efficient and bright politicians! XD
 
Looks like we might be able to get a peek at this during Doors Open.

From the CEO's report for the May 5th WT Board Meeting:

Waterfront Toronto is working with the Pan/Parapan American Games Secretariat, Infrastructure Ontario and Dundee Kilmer Developments to provide the public with a unique Doors Open experience on May 24-25, 2014. During Doors Open, the public will have an exclusive opportunity to walk the Canary District, see the progress in the West Don Lands and how the area will be used as the Athletes’ Village for the 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games. The Dominion Wheel & Foundries building will be transformed into a place where visitors can learn about the history of the Foundry, the revitalization of the West Don Lands, sport in Ontario, and the 2015 Games.
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