Toronto Waterlink at Pier 27 | 43.89m | 14s | Cityzen | a—A

[interchange42]

IYes, funding is an issue but personally i'd rather see contributions from section 37 benefits go on infrastructure/public realm improvements like this - as one possible funding option, for example - than on token art projects (yes, some are better than others I know).

Very little Section 37 money is spent on public art. Public art is funded, essentially, from the Percent for Public Art program. Section 37 funds are used, currently, to improve parks, streetscapes, community centres, libraries, and the like. As the hydro poles and wires are owned by Toronto Hydro, a quasi-public entity, and not the City directly, there would likely be some legal hurdles to overcome before Section 37 funds could be allocated to burying them.

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[Tewder]

Very little Section 37 money is spent on public art. Public art is funded, essentially, from the Percent for Public Art program. Section 37 funds are used, currently, to improve parks, streetscapes, community centres, libraries, and the like. As the hydro poles and wires are owned by Toronto Hydro, a quasi-public entity, and not the City directly, there would likely be some legal hurdles to overcome before Section 37 funds could be allocated to burying them.

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I was offering the idea as a possible source only, I agree there is no easy solution. I'm curious though, given the ownership structure of Toronto Hydro (and I confess i'm a little hazy on it) couldn't the city simply mandate the burial of wires as part of their regulation policies?

The mentions of above-ground hydro wires from the usual suspects are tiring, the references to 3rd-world cities are just misplaced and borderline offensive.

No, living with these overhead wires is tiring and offensive, as are those who enable them.

 

[Adjei]

No, living with these overhead wires is tiring and offensive, as are those who enable them.

It`s a disgrace. I will keep mentioning it until the city recognizes its a problem.

 

[Torontovibe]

We all need to be vigilant about that. Those wires are unacceptable in the downtown core of a major city and we need to bury them as soon as possible. (not just for aesthetic reasons but safety reasons too) It's not just that the wires are ugly but the poles are in dilapidated shape. There seems to be not even the slightest effort to keep them well maintained. Some of them look like they're about to keel over. For people to try justify that is just ridiculous.

 

[interchange42]

I believe you'll get nowhere if you battle this along aesthetic lines, but if you push on the safety front, you might have an effect. Lobby your City Councillor to push Toronto Hydro to bury the lines so that we don't have to worry about more weather-related outages in the future like we did when lines came down in the ice storm, and you might be heard. Of course, hydro rates will have to go up to pay for it (and that's why it's dead in the water if you're just talking about the look of it all).

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[DSC]

Though I would certainly like to see hydro (and other) wires buried it is, as interchange42 says, important to realise that there is a cost and getting permission for a rate increase from the Ontario Energy Board will probably not happen if it is 'only' for aesthetic reasons.
I have been involved in several wire-burying projects in St Lawrence and it is not easy. Last year the BIA (plus some s 37 $$ for 'heritage lighting') paid for burying most of the streetlight wires on Front from Jarvis to Parliament. The few wires remaining on Front are 'distribution wires' that are a higher voltage and more expensive to bury - it is hoped these will be buried when developments occur in their vicinity (primarily at the Sobey/Acura site).

This year it was hoped to bury all wires on Lower Sherbourne (again paid for by the BIA and s37 money) but unfortunately some will remain overhead because the water-table in that area is very high and burying was incredibly expensive. (Some of the wires that remain overhead may be able to be buried as developments occur.) Waterfront Toronto has buried almost all wires in the West Don Lands and along Queen's Quay but there are also areas downtown where there is really very little space under the roads/sidewalks.

 

[Tewder]

I believe you'll get nowhere if you battle this along aesthetic lines...
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Sad commentary on Toronto. I guess Rob Ford didn't create gravy city, he just recognized it.

 

[interchange42]

I want a more beautiful city too. Those hydro lines present quite the challenge for photographers. In some places it's baffling trying to get shots of a building that will emphasize its qualities when you know that the resulting images will really just highlight the mess of wires.

That said, raising taxes is nearly toxic because of the subways subways subways crowd who want everything but don't want to pay a dime. As there are so many things we could be spending more public money on if we had it—I would double Parks & Receation's budget, hire more planners, address aging schools, get TCHC buildings fixed up, triple the bikeways in this city, go for granite over concrete for curbs and sidewalks, roll the island ferry service into the TTC, throw the switch on a coordinated nighttime lighting scheme for our major buildings, and on and on, for example—BUT, I would throw everything at GO RER and everything related to it first. I would love to have the wires buried, but I think the likelihood of that happening is extremely low. Any politician that wants to raise my taxes can have them as long as the increase goes first to addressing our transit infrastructure and state-of-good-repair deficit.

AFAIC, bury the hydro and complete my wish list after that.

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[salsa]

High Park and NPS? Really? Sorry but they are not my idea of spectacular, grand or even near the world's best. They are actually pretty ordinary public spaces. You need to up your expectations. We are never going to become a top tier city with those standards.

I was in NYC this summer. Toronto doesn't hold a candle to NYC's public spaces, public realm, and architecture.

 

[Adjei]

Imagine any of this in Toronto...It`s too much gravy...

 

[Torontovibe]

Those streetlights and benches are quite nice. I also really like that fountain. It looks somewhat like the one that used to be in Allen's Gardens. There has been talk of building a replica of that historic fountain in the park but so far, it's just talk. I still retain a tiny bit of hope.

Sugar Beach is a pretty decent park, so I do look foreword to its expansion north of Queen's Quay. Who knows, there might be some really nice design elements in that park too. A few surprises would also be a plus.

 

[modernizt]

By Allen's Gardens do you mean Allan Gardens?

 

[innsertnamehere]

Imagine any of this in Toronto...It`s too much gravy...

I can think of plenty of parks like that in Toronto. Sugar Beach, Western Waterfront, Island, Queens Park, that park in Yorkville, etc.

then of course there is the endless ravine system, the huge waterfront trail running out to etobicoke, and tons of smaller park areas. Toronto has lots of great parks, you just have to look at them and use them.

 

[DtTO]

^ This. Some of you guys are so depressing and have a constant need to put down this city. How about you go for a walk and actually check out some of this city's parks before criticizing them?

 

[Adjei]

I can think of plenty of parks like that in Toronto. Sugar Beach, Western Waterfront, Island, Queens Park, that park in Yorkville, etc.

then of course there is the endless ravine system, the huge waterfront trail running out to etobicoke, and tons of smaller park areas. Toronto has lots of great parks, you just have to look at them and use them.

I`ve been to all those places, it`s just not the same...