Toronto Queens Quay & Water's Edge Revitalization | ?m | ?s | Waterfront Toronto

Be sure to get back to me when you find artificial turf installed around streetcar tracks in Canada!
As Wisla said, that looks like real grass. That kind of setup is fairly common on driveways, parking lots, and fire routes. I have no idea if it's done on streetcar tracks but that has nothing to do with Toronto's climate.
 
Believe it or not. The City of Toronto has a by-law prohibiting artificial grass on city owned property. That includes the part of your lawn that is actually city property.

From 2015 at this link:

Toronto bylaws turf out carefree fake lawns

Artificial lawns encroaching on the city's right-of-way run afoul of rules that demand the weedy real thing.

It has happened as she drives down the street, prepares to leave the house for work in the morning and mingles with locals at community events.

Wherever she goes, Julie Collins finds herself being flagged down by neighbours who are amazed at just how lush and green she manages to keep her Scarborough lawn.

To her surprise, her local councillor even handed her an award for its beauty a few years ago.

Her secret, she says, doesn’t involve hours of weeding and watering under the blistering sun.

And forget about fertilizer. That’s unheard of when it comes to her lawn care regimen, because three summers ago she installed artificial grass.

“It’s the most brilliant idea,” she told the Star, after describing how she had been through two grub-eaten lawns and many hours spent hose in hand, fighting the heat that was burning her grass, before she opted for artificial turf.

But while Collins’ neighbours might be singing its praises, city officials aren’t.

Despite the sprinkling of artificial front lawns in Toronto, the city’s director of transportation services, Jacqueline White says plenty of them defy right-of-way encroachment bylaws and regulations on soft landscaping.

Collins claims her lawn is within the bylaw, but not all of them are.

About 20 properties have been discovered over the past year to have illegal artificial lawns, caught via complaints and routine inspections, said White, who noted that the violators have been slapped with removal notices.

While White said the city has yet to take further action on the bylaw offences, former local councillor Karen Stintz pointed out that “people like myself have had an artificial lawn for six years and have never received notices of violation.”

That’s one reason she’s calling for the city to reverse its policy against artificial lawns, rooted in issues involving the product’s “lack of permeability, storm water run-off, impact to city services such as snow clearing and possible impacts to ecosystems.”

Stintz dismisses the official grumbles, saying her lawn is completely permeable and free of drainage problems, and has become the talk of her street — with neighbours laughing as they see her and her kids out there vacuuming it every year.

Artificial grass is an easy and low-maintenance way to achieve the perfectly manicured look, she told the Star. “It doesn’t make any sense to not have artificial turf as a landscaping alternative.

“To apply for an encroachment (allowance),” she added, “is equally ludicrous.”

Jerome Keays, owner of Design Turf, an artificial turf installation company, agrees.

The city, he says, is hypocritical for quashing the use of the product on front lawns, because city crews have installed it on tree pits along Queen and King Sts. and on the median of the St. Clair streetcar tracks.

He warns all of his customers about the bylaw but said few are scared off by the consequences, which White said could result in charges though the city works with homeowners before turning to enforcement.

“They’re not deterred because they are fed up with weeds, the pesticide ban and the struggle to maintain a good-looking lawn,” he said. “An artificial lawn is so easy that it’s worth it.”

What is odd about the article is that it says the turf is on "median of the St. Clair streetcar tracks", but I haven't seen them.
 
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As Wisla said, that looks like real grass. That kind of setup is fairly common on driveways, parking lots, and fire routes. I have no idea if it's done on streetcar tracks but that has nothing to do with Toronto's climate.
Like I said above I was talking about artificial grass in specific, not grass. I'm no expert in the field, but I know the two drain in two completely different ways.
 
Nice try, but just look at the climate where that artificial grass is installed. Just as an example, there's a reason why BMO Field ripped up the artificial turf it had in its earlier years. One big reason was because there were many complaints, the other big reason was because the drainage was horrid.

Harbourfront Centre's lawn is entirely artificial, as is the field at Canoe Landing Park. My balcony is also partially covered in artificial turf. Turf has come a long way.

BMO ripped it out because that was always the plan. The ownership and fans behind TFC wanted real grass from the beginning but the city wanted turf to maintain use of the facility year round for the public. That was negated when TFC/MLSE came to an agreement with the city to put a bubble over Lamport Stadium to satisfy the year round community use provision.
 
Using 509 today, noticed 3 new artwork along the route, west of Simcoe on the south side. The pay toilet is closed with a notice on it.
 
Using 509 today, noticed 3 new artwork along the route, west of Simcoe on the south side.

Apparently Ice Breakers is back this year; five installations are up from Jan 19 to Feb 25. (I had no idea, I just happened to see an ad on the subway yesterday.)

http://www.waterfrontbia.com/event/ice-breakers/

Hopefully they're a bit more interesting this year! I like the concept but last years' installations were a mixed bag at best.
 
Interestingly, city is looking to buy/get Portland and Spadina Slip from the Feds - from Feb Gov Management committee meeting:

Item: http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2018.GM25.8
Report: http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2018/gm/bgrd/backgroundfile-112516.pdf

Properties in question:

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(Appendix B)

Maybe it will make the process of building the long-proposed Spadina Footbridge easier?

AoD
 

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It was emergency services that requested that they be able to drive on them.
I have yet to see them use it. I have videos showing them using the traffic lanes when the ROW was clear of streetcars. Not a streetcar in sight.
 
I have yet to see them use it. I have videos showing them using the traffic lanes when the ROW was clear of streetcars. Not a streetcar in sight.
I was on a Spadina streetcar once that skipped a stop because a fire truck pulled into the right of way before it turned off of it before it even reached the stop. Other than that I don't think they really use them because they can't get out of or off of them quickly.
 

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