Toronto waterfront enters Hall of Shame

5 comments

1. I think there’s a good reason for the schizophrenic take on the relative success of Toronto’s Waterfront as a great public space. I’d say that most of it comes from a deep seeded inferiority complex in this city evidenced by our almost non-stop criticism alleging that the Waterfront/Harbourfront has been screwed up. And yet for supposedly being a design disaster it is immensely popular. It is certainly one of only a handful of vibrant pedestrian precincts in the city (I’m thinking of the stretch of Queen’s Quay from the Music Garden to the Ferry Docks where one doesn’t have to cross a street for that entire length). The fact is that this stretch of Queen’s Quay is unrecognizable from the uninhabited, derelict industrial wasteland that it was before the Harbourfront development got started. Has the development to date been beyond criticism? No. But does that make it a failure? I’d say that its popularity is evidence that it isn’t. Could it be done better? It is being done better. A lot has been learned from earlier missteps. For instance none of the newer developments has built another above grade parking structure. And better things still are coming. The HtO Park that is currently under construction will be a delightful addition to the open space along the waters edge. The problem is equating some valid criticism of the current Waterfront/Harbourfront with its being a failure and so a candidate for a Hall of Shame. This is just a silly overreaction and that’s the reason that the critical commentary for why it is a new inductee sounds schizophrenic.

2. Reading some of the comments on that page piss me off. Once again the Gardiner is blamed for the shabby waterfront, but the Gardiner is not a wall, it’s a highway under which people can drive and walk to get to the waterfront if they really wanted to.

   The big problem is that no one wants to because there’s nothing there worth visiting. Expensive parking and poor foot access are just two of the issues there.

3. Jeremy: you’re completely right. The Gardiner can easily be bypassed on foot or bike with some minor signal changes and we working or ramps to make it a bit more pedfriendly. It doesn’t have to come down, and in fact I think (think) that the architectural beauty of the Gardiner could be better utilized as this floating concrete ribbon through the air, it’s kinda graceful when you look at it with a clear mind. The Waterfront’s issue is the monsterous condos, tourist traps, recreation that only usable for four months of the year, a too wide Queen’s Quay and complete lack of the urban ambiance that makes College, Queen, Bloor, Danforth, Parliament, St Clair, or Yonge so much more appealing and destinations. The Waterfront is a series of gated communities in the sky, why bother with that?

4. I completely agree with Dave and Jeremy’s position on the Gardiner. We should shift the discussion from why the Gardiner is killing the waterfront to how Lakeshore could be transformed as a roadway to allow for greater circulation in the north-south direction. It is Lakeshore’s 8 plus lanes that divide Toronto from its waterfront. Need it be an arterial road-way; or could we reconfigure it into a variegated boulevard with multiple north-south connections.

5. I believe that the Gardiner/Lakeshore combination is a significant psychological barrier to the waterfront, it is several blocks of ugly, noisy, polluted space with very fast vehicular access. Dave’s comments about the graceful Gardiner combined with monstrous condos leave me scratching my head, in fact, several of the residential buildings down there are quite beautiful. I’ve never really understood whose view is being “blocked” by the condos, or how the condos “inhibit” access to the waterfront. You don’t have to walk through their lobbies to get there – most people walk on roads. Does 18 Yorkville block views of Yorkville? Does it make a barrier to Yorkville? It’s all nonsense.

   I’m much more on side with Ken on this one – yes, it is touristy (as all waterfronts are) but that is part of what cities are as well, and though it is not my cup of tea either, there is a legitimate audience for it. Yes, huge mistakes have been made, but almost everything done in the past 10 years has either been outright great (like the Music Garden and the recent landscaping efforts) or merely banal without being harmful (some of the taller condo buildings). Queens Quay is ugly, but I remain optimistic that some of the current plans will come to fruition and it will become better.