Toronto Riverside Square | 64.6m | 20s | Streetcar | RAW Design

LUVIT! said:
I agree a fail! I do believe however this is meant to be more of a market place or a place to have little stalls etc when necessary.
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I'm not opposed to that at all, I adore a great Farmer's Market.

But 4 hours per week ( if there's even that here) is not enough to justify this space in its current configuration..

I don't think this needed to be a playground, it was never going to host sports; it absolutely should have been a community gathering spot.

But this is just too spartan........
 
Right now it is directly next to a pretty big construction site (in fact, that's exactly what the toddler calls it when we bike across to his daycare). It probably will never be well-used until that ends, but they could do a lot more to make it welcoming to people. It's pretty harsh right now.

You don't have to go that far to get to Joel Weeks, which is always well-used with people at the south end drinking coffee, chatting, etc., which this square should also be great for. Maybe it just needs a statue of a giant acorn with four squirrels worshiping it?
 
Yeah the square could use some more green, but as evandyk said, it's also designed for its final use once all of Riverside Square is completed. Without the construction site, and hopefully a cafe or two in the retail spaces to come, this will be much more inviting. For the time being, I really like that they made it a spot for markets and performances of all sorts, as there are already quite a few green spaces in the vicinity.
 
tpuzzled said:
Yeah the square could use some more green, but as evandyk said, it's also designed for its final use once all of Riverside Square is completed. Without the construction site, and hopefully a cafe or two in the retail spaces to come, this will be much more inviting. For the time being, I really like that they made it a spot for markets and performances of all sorts, as there are already quite a few green spaces in the vicinity.
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It's not so much about 'green'; it's simply too large a 'void' space. You can still serve the function of a small farmer's market or the like while organizing the space differently.

This was the initial conceptual render:

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Note the umbrellas denoting the idea of market stalls.

But here the planters are closer to grade, better inviting you into the space, there's a single extra planter in the midst of the Queen St. frontage, and seats that allow you to look at vegetation, street life or people on the opposite bench.

What we got was a configuration actually cut off from Queen, and that invites you to stare into emptiness. It's a shame, this render would have worked out beautifully and could have been delivered for about the same cost as what we got.
 
Northern Light said:
It's not so much about 'green'; it's simply too large a 'void' space. You can still serve the function of a small farmer's market or the like while organizing the space differently.

This was the initial conceptual render:

View attachment 406637

Note the umbrellas denoting the idea of market stalls.

But here the planters are closer to grade, better inviting you into the space, there's a single extra planter in the midst of the Queen St. frontage, and seats that allow you to look at vegetation, street life or people on the opposite bench.

What we got was a configuration actually cut off from Queen, and that invites you to stare into emptiness. It's a shame, this render would have worked out beautifully and could have been delivered for about the same cost as what we got.
Click to expand...
You're right, and I too am disappointed by the emptiness of the square. I'm just at the point where I try to embrace it for what it is and still have hope that it'll turn out to be a great place for the community
 
evandyk said:
Not sure exactly what this is or why it’s the only thing in the square, but it doesn’t add much.

View attachment 411433
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I don't know the purpose either, but I can note that it's 'built' of the system being used for the CafeTO patios in the area.
 
True, though I have never seen the panels in that circular configuration before. It just sits there awkwardly in the corner of the square away from the street. Who would want to sit in that?

They do have posters with QR codes listing their Sunday programming for the summer. I might try and wander by one day with the kid.
 
I don't care what kind of urban design spin you try to put on it: Baseball Place is one of the biggest park design failures in the City. The increase in user pressure will only highlight this more. It's not friendly for anyone except for pop-up markets. Dogs, children, sports, readers, eaters, picnickers, sunbathers, saunterers, old men playing chess, informal meet-ups. Who is this park for? 0.5/10. The 0.5 is for paying homage to the baseball legacy and the permeable pavers. Someone try to legitimize this for me as an angry local who has visions of bulldozing it in his dreams. I didnt know I could hate something so much.
 
No new renderings are updated in the database. The only information changes are the total unit count increased from 898 units to 913 units. Finally, the total parking space count increased from 816 parking to 1056 parking.
 
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