Triple the amount of people on front street today still isn’t much. That’s the problem - there is this massive public realm that has a handful of people in it at any given time.
Any time I’ve been down there I could probably count the amount of people on Front Street on my hands. Tripling that isn’t going to make a bustling urban environment- it’s going to create the bare minimum required to support any sort of retail. More is needed to actually make the neighbourhood thrive.
This statement is borderline preposterous. '
The density shown above is greater than the vast majority of vital retail streets in Toronto.
We could argue for more; and that's fine; but to suggest that that is required for vital retail.....???
Let me refresh your memory on the density of Greektown:
And Chinatown:
And the Esplanade:
The issue w/the sidewalk busy-ness in this area is a function of:
Lack of a critical mass of retail.
Lack of a destination retail draw.
Lack of a patio culture that the sidewalk affords room for in spades.
Excess sidewalk and road width which make the number of pedestrians seem smaller than it is; and that then lends that deserted feeling even when its not.
Half the width below would be ample for pedestrian flow; the remainder either shouldn't exist, or it should be patio-row:
The cold colour palate here is also an issue.
Notice extensive use of brick and warm tones in the examples I provided above.
Also, typically, a finer-grained retail form. The buildings feel bulky, and sterile.
By all means we could have put some additional density here; but when I see the exaggerations in this thread................I don't think its helpful....
