CITY_LOVER
Active Member
Residential development shouldn't be scorned just because you think we need more office development. Moving people downtown makes for a more vibrant, dynamic city centre where people can work, live and play. It's also a sustainable way for a city to grow (public transit criticisms aside, in this case).
It's definitely good to strike a balance between office and residential, and I think we've done that in the last decade or two with the condo developments you're referring to.
To-enthusiast,
It's not about either or (office or non-office only)....obviously having more people living, playing, etc. in the core is beneficial (as you state above), however, Taal is correct in that the office development in the 'financial core' has been modest at best over the last two decades (inspite the new developments seen in the last five years). Toronto's financial district seems somewhat small...I'm hoping we'll see new non-residential developmens (like the other Bay-Adelaide tower, Richmond-Adelaide III, etc.) in the next few years. Another point I have wanted to make is that I find Mississauga to be quite the "force" in its new office (Meadowvale) and condo (MCC) developments - it has a lot of developments going on for a city its size and I really wish downtown Toronto could've captured some of its share (for example, regardless of what people say about the Absolute Towers, I would've loved to see them in downtown Toronto instead of near MCC)!
I also wish some of the current developments/proposals that we are seeing in the Entertainment District were taller in height.....(essentially something along Chicago's scale).
Cheers.