On a recent trip to Montreal, my host pointed out a new, larger type of info/ad pillar the city has introduced. Montreal has always had info/ad-pillars with ads on two sides and a map on the third, but these new ones are more aggressive.
What has to be said about the Montreal pillars (by contrast to Toronto’s) is that at least the information they provide is genuinely useful. Each map is a detailed local map custom-made for that location (they even switch from north to south orientation depending on which way you’re facing). And the tourist information is invariably placed where a walking tourist would actually see it as they pass by.
So while the concept may be unfortunate, at least the city cares enough to make sure the execution is well thought out. Unlike Toronto.
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The pillar gives it a more European look.
The city government in Montreal cares about a lot of streetscaing stuff way more than Toronto’s does…they seem genuinely interested in doing urban design things right, whether minor or more major.
Rather curious why they can do it, and we can’t, since the conditions of “civic poverty” in Montreal are at least as bad if not worse than those in Toronto. I suspect the answer is that the difference isn’t money but rather having a relatively coherent approach to urban design incorporating all concerned city departments. A lot of Toronto’s aesthetic problems seem to be the result not of a lack of money but of different municipal stakeholders (say, transport dept., urban design dept., and TTC) not being on the same page at best and actively fighting each other at worst.
I don’t want to stray into Montreal-grass-is-greener territory. But it does seem that that city gets the little things right more consistently than does TO.
Also helps that Montreal had the foresight to bury most of its hydro wires–maybe the single biggest aesthetic thing Toronto could do for itself.
Actually, when my wife and I were in a Montreal a few months ago we got disoriented and stopped and used one of those to get our bearings. They’re pretty useful in tourist areas, really. The one in the top image at least has some style.
I live in Montreal, and those giant round pillars are a menace, since they often take up something like 1/3 of the sidewalk.
And just so that I can poke another hole in the “Montreal is so much better than Toronto” theory, I thought I’d add that the (marginally less offensive) 3-sided info/ad pillar nearest to my house has been missing its map section for more than a year and only harsh, glaring white light shines out onto the sidewalk from the place where it should be.
And when a friend and I covered up the eyesore with some nice wrapping paper, it was unceremoniously torn down no more than 12 hours later. We thought it might have finally spurred the city to put the map back. But alas it’s just the glaring light box again, and the whole thing merely serves as a giant billboard for the other two advertising sides (not to mention a blocker of sidewalk traffic at a narrow point on the sidewalk).
Paris also has info/ad pillars with a local area map on at least one side. The pillars there also dispense maps – I will send a photo along sometime. The local-scale maps are very handy, I find.
For what it’s worth, I prefer the triangular ones in Mtl.
I like the styling of the circular pillar, but it’s wrecked by looking absolutely *enormous.* What’s up with the grotesque scale of “street furniture” nowadays? If advertisers think they’ll grab my attention more easily, they do, but only because they offend my sense of aesthetic proportion so much.
They have similar pillars on St. George street near U of T’s Sidney Smith, but are much thicker and shorter. I’m not sure I care for the rotundity, but the shorter height makes it much handier for reading posters.
“Unfortunate†makes ad pillars seem unavoidable, like getting a wart or slipping on ice in the winter.
In this context, I was aiming for the meaning (from dictionary.com) “regrettable or deplorable: for example, ‘an unfortunate remark’.” It incorporates a sense that it could and should have been avoided.