News   Feb 18, 2026
News Roundup for February 18, 2026
 170     0 
News   Feb 18, 2026
Infraconstructure
 421     1 
News   Feb 17, 2026
155 Elm Ridge Tops Off in Briar Hill as Crane Comes Down
 609     0 

Toronto's sidewalks set to undergo extreme makeover

It's about time, we need more benches. New art and a few quality fountains would be nice. Oh, get rid of those god awful garbage cans. Why is it cities like Paris and London can have such beautiful street furniture and we gat crap?
 
Cities like London and Paris are bad examples because they're tiere 1 cities. Your point still remains however. It would see the city is just too poor for that kind of thing these days.
 
It's true that we're cash-strapped but we can do better with what we have. There are other Canadian cities, that aren't exactly rolling around in cash, that do a better job than we do.
 
"Why is it cities like Paris and London can have such beautiful street furniture and we gat crap?"

I haven't been in London or Paris for a good five years and they certainly have well programmed and furnished parks to put us to utter shame but I seem to recall them not having much in the way of "street" furniture at all. Garbage cans? Basically none. Garbage is something you throw on the ground such that it is piled literally knee deep in some subway stations in the Latin quarter.
 
No garbage cans in London? I remember seeing lots of them all over the place. Maybe that's just in the touristy areas.
 
The glass and the bench at my bus stop have been fixed, but the new bench is very splintery and was possibly treated with arsenic. The shelter's glass has now been broken at least 4 times in the past 2 years, and instead of building a new-style shelter, they just keep fixing the old one, pane after pane after pane.
 
Street furnishings can become iconic to the city, part of the identifiable surroundings. It'd be nice to see something like this for Toronto.
 
No garbage cans in London? I remember seeing lots of them all over the place. Maybe that's just in the touristy areas.
Click to expand...
Garbage cans were a rare species in London for many years during the height of I.R.A. terrorist attacks. Since those years, garbage cans have started to re-appear in some areas, but due to new security concerns, they aren't exactly ubiquitous.
 
I remember it depended on what part of the city you were in. In Westminster they had them (I think -- AND public washrooms) -- while in other parts, there were none.

There were certainly none in the Tube. Terror.
 
If I'm not mistaken, that sort of thing is the responsibility of each borough in London, like street cleaning--which would explain the variations between neighbourhoods.
 
Everytime I see the title "Toronto's sidewalks set to undergo extreme makeover" I think to myself that it's about time they poured some new concrete and fixed those asphalt patched sidewalks. Then I realize the topic has nothing to do with the concrete.
 
I found London and Paris had lots of garbage cans, benches, fountains, as well as art. Just look at how distinct the entrances to the Paris metro are. Toronto should do the same. Hell, even Chicago has really cool sculpted, cemrnt planters that are lined with attractive seats. It may be cheap to make but they are well designed and give the riverfront a really nice feel.
Yonge street needs more benches. North of Collage Park there is nowhere to sit and relax. Years back there were so many places to sit and watch the the world pass by but slowly they have all been taken away.
I love the fact that Montreal has a different style of lights on every major street. No two streets look the same. Toronto should do that with the street furniture, make each neighbourhood distinctive and charming.
 
We've already got far too much "distinctive" and far too little "charming".

It'll be interesting to see how City Hall will reclaim design control over the public realm and set uniform standards having ceded responsibility for it to local BIA's - all of which have differing visions, bank balances, and degrees of political savvy - over the years.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top