Toronto Sherbourne Common, Canada's Sugar Beach, and the Water's Edge Promenade | ?m | ?s | Waterfront Toronto | Teeple Architects

[urbandreamer]

^Here's what the waterfront needs: Rob Ford. A gigantic 100 foot tall sculpture of him, crack pipe and all that.

Then you and all your ROC tourist buddies can rub his toes for good luck.

 

[44 North]

Hello....right next to Ontario Place, is the Toronto Islands. Fits the bill. It's an island...with no cars....child-friendly.

Oh yea....one thing Toronto's downtown waterfront has that you won't find in most downtowns...a place you can legally run around bare negged.

For sure, the Islands are great. Frankly, I'd be quite happy if we improved upon Centreville significantly. And added a chunk of low-rise high-density residential (and maybe commercial) development to go along with it. Not unlike the Harbour City plan of decades past. But I think it's safe to say that's a non-starter. And since we can't develop them, then we may as well get rid of the residential there now. It's only fair. Turn it into a forested national park sanctuary - which when combined with the Spit, would be quite an emerald shield around the city that would rival Stanley Park.

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

The Power Plant is a cutting edge, niche facility that by it's very nature, isn't going to appeal to a vast audience. But it's highly influential and the leading facility of its kind in the country. Many of the 4000 events that take place at this facility fall into the same category. That way there ends up being something for everybody and the quality stays high.

Everything Torontovibe was saying was a contradiction. He says Harbourfront has no major attractions (attendance numbers being his definition of what constitutes "major"), yet it attracts 17 million visitors annually, making it one of the top attractions in the entire country. He criticizes a non-collecting, contemporary art exhibition facility for not having a permanent collection?????????? he he And it has to be third rate cause he hasn't seen it on YouTube. ha ha

Hate to break it to ya, but If it looks, smells and acts like Ford Nation...then it probably is.

Not everyone cares for art. Many people in fact prefer attractions such as Wonderland or Niagara Falls. Calling those masses of people what amounts to "dumb Ford Nation types" is the sort of elitist pretentiousness that what leads to ostracizing the masses and pushes them to supporting 'every day men' like Rob Ford.

The waterfront (and by extension CN Tower area) is Toronto's main attraction and it should be inclusive to all, even to those "dumb Ford Nation types" who don't appreciate art and other things that you do.

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The bigger issue I see is the lack of destination in the waterfront. You can visit the Power Plant once and enjoy it, but you won't visit the next day and the day after until a new exhibit is up. What else would you do in the waterfront? Where can you spend the entire day at without getting bored?

 

[TheKingEast]

Not everyone cares for art. Many people in fact prefer attractions such as Wonderland or Niagara Falls. Calling those masses of people what amounts to "dumb Ford Nation types" is the sort of elitist pretentiousness that what leads to ostracizing the masses and pushes them to supporting 'every day men' like Rob Ford.

The waterfront (and by extension CN Tower area) is Toronto's main attraction and it should be inclusive to all, even to those "dumb Ford Nation types" who don't appreciate art and other things that you do.

-----

The bigger issue I see is the lack of destination in the waterfront. You can visit the Power Plant once and enjoy it, but you won't visit the next day and the day after until a new exhibit is up. What else would you do in the waterfront? Where can you spend the entire day at without getting bored?

Exactly how I feel. Especially the bolded.

 

[freshcutgrass]

Not everyone cares for art. Many people in fact prefer attractions such as Wonderland or Niagara Falls. Calling those masses of people what amounts to "dumb Ford Nation types" is the sort of elitist pretentiousness that what leads to ostracizing the masses and pushes them to supporting 'every day men' like Rob Ford.

Except...I never said or implied such a thing.

The bigger issue I see is the lack of destination in the waterfront. You can visit the Power Plant once and enjoy it, but you won't visit the next day and the day after until a new exhibit is up. What else would you do in the waterfront? Where can you spend the entire day at without getting bored?

Again...you seem to have a severe reading comprehension problem. The Power Plant is but one facility at Harbourfront, that hosts 4000 different events. It IS "inclusive to all". How do you think Harbourfront ends up with those 17 million visitors??? It's the top attraction in the city (perhaps the country).

 

[AndreaPalladio]

What else would you do in the waterfront? Where can you spend the entire day at without getting bored?

Go to the aquarium, or the train museum. Take a spin around the harbour on one of the pleasure boats. Rent a kayak. Stroll along the quayside. Visit the music garden. Sit in the sun. Read a book. Throw a ball around, or a frisbee. Do you really need a nanny to entertain you all the time?

 

[Tuscani01]

Go to the aquarium, or the train museum. Take a spin around the harbour on one of the pleasure boats. Rent a kayak. Stroll along the quayside. Visit the music garden. Sit in the sun. Read a book. Throw a ball around, or a frisbee. Do you really need a nanny to entertain you all the time?

Also needs someone to read for him too, as many have now mentioned OTHER things besides Harbourfront that you can do along the waterfront.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

I do get what he is saying, but we have to acknowledge the reality that our premier cultural facilities are NOT located on the waterfront (AGO, ROM, Science Centre, TIFF, etc) and we need to work with what we have, unless someone is going to spend half a billion on some new facility.

AoD

 

[freshcutgrass]

It's not a major tourist attraction 7 days a week, 12 months of the year, like the aquarium is.

Well yea...actually it is a 7 days a week, 12 months of the year attraction. And it outdraws the aquarium any day of the year by a wide margin.

Nobody is taking your comments out of context...they a just blatantly incorrect.

 

[ksun]

Again...you seem to have a severe reading comprehension problem. The Power Plant is but one facility at Harbourfront, that hosts 4000 different events. It IS "inclusive to all". How do you think Harbourfront ends up with those 17 million visitors??? It's the top attraction in the city (perhaps the country).

17 million is not an impressive number considering it is the entire waterfront, although it looks big. The V&A Waterfront in Capetown has 50% more visitors in a much smaller city. Millennium Park alone has 4 million visitors. Navy Pier as a single destination attracts 9 million a year. The Bund in Shanghai attracts half a million visitors on a normal day and over a million a day on holidays.

Let's face it. Toronto's waterfront is underperforming. It is not pretty and not exciting. Most cities I traveled to have better waterfronts than ours.

 

[AndreaPalladio]

Underperfoming? Is there some sort of waterfront performance metric that I'm unaware of?

Cape Town and Shanghai don't have to account for winter, of course.

 

[ksun]

Underperfoming? Is there some sort of waterfront performance metric that I'm unaware of?

Cape Town and Shanghai don't have to account for winter, of course.

the denial of shortcomings of Toronto never crease to amaze me.
Toronto's downtown waterfront is a dull and uninspiring place that is neither interesting nor beautiful. The sooner we admit that, the earlier we can make real improvements. Seriously, do more international travel and you will realize that soon enough.

 

[freshcutgrass]

17 million is not an impressive number considering it is the entire waterfront

Nope. We are talking about Harbourfront Centre, which is a 10 acre facility located on the waterfront.

Millennium Park alone has 4 million visitors.

Millennium Park is a multi-disciplinary event facilty (like Harbourfront) on 24.4 acres. It is 2.5 times larger in size than Harbourfront Centre and draws 1/4 of the visitors

Navy Pier as a single destination attracts 9 million a year.

Navy Pier is a 50 acre multi-disciplinary event facilty (like Harbourfront). It is 5 times larger in size than Harbourfront Centre and draws only 1/2 the visitors.

 

[AndreaPalladio]

the denial of shortcomings of Toronto never crease to amaze me.
Toronto's downtown waterfront is a dull and uninspiring place that is neither interesting nor beautiful. The sooner we admit that, the earlier we can make real improvements. Seriously, do more international travel and you will realize that soon enough.

I've done plenty of international travel. However, I think what makes Toronto dull and uninspiring to you is you.

 

[ksun]

I've done plenty of international travel. However, I think what makes Toronto dull and uninspiring to you is you.

Your first sentence is not apparent from your conclusion while the second sentence makes absolutely no sense. Engaging personal judgment serves as an argument?
Anyway, let's keep our opinions about the waterfront. International travelers will be the judge of how great it is.