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Monday’s Headlines

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STREETSCAPE
• For an Island tunnel [Toronto Star]
• Listening to the sounds of the city [Toronto Star]
• Queen Street’s devastating fire was only the beginning [Globe & Mail]
• Still no Toronto Street View, but Google’s working on it [National Post]
• Cyclists take over Gardiner and DVP for annual Ride for the Heart [National Post]
• Residents stop the bridge that went too far [Toronto Sun]
• Waterfront Quay to city [Toronto Sun]

OTHER NEWS
• Province pushes secret deal for Simcoe [Toronto Star]
• Cities take the lead [Toronto Star]
• Free my WiFi [Globe & Mail]
• Wireless network making money [Globe & Mail]
• Region has a transit plan, now what the money? [Toronto Star]
• If you revamp it, they will come [Toronto Star]

5 comments

  2. One other note on maps — while Google Street View is a nice tool, the latest volley in the map wars is the in-browser 3D city modeling. Sure, Google Earth has had this for a while, but the new Bing Maps from sad-sack Microsoft actually has some tricks up its sleeves that push the bar higher. What used to cost thousands and thousands of dollars and hours from model makers is now available for free, and you don’t even have to open a separate program.

    Install the plug-in, and have fun flying through the city (use your mouse and hold down CTRL while clicking):

    http://snurl.com/jp4nk

    The view from the Porter Airlines ferry dock:

    http://snurl.com/jp545

    North Toronto:

    http://snurl.com/jp5fr

    The view down University from Queen’s Park:

    http://snurl.com/jp4vi

    You can only imagine how refined this will become in future versions but they are already able to pull tiny angled images off the aerial shots and map them to walls (check out the MaRS billboard in the above). What a great tool for architects, developers, city planners and anyone who wants to think about streets and cities.

  3. Bing’s a bit out of date, though. Varsity stadium is still under construction, as is the condo at Bloor & Spadina.

  4. uSkyscraper, Microsoft’s online map efforts are hardly new. Nothing has changed actually besides the name from Live Search Maps.

    I’ve boycotted Google Maps since they’ve switched data providers from Navteq to TeleAtlas. Their data is quite pathetic compared to Navteq. For example, they still have Woodbine Racetrack on there. And in many large Canadian cities (such as Ottawa) they show almost all major arterials as residential streets!

    I now use Bing Maps for my online mapping needs, and Rand McNalley online as a backup.

  5. Re: Island Tunnel

    Great idea! But only if the general public could also use it to access the islands, not just the airport. So a path alongside the airport would also have to be made.

    Overall, a pair of scenic pedestrian/bike, etc. bridges, one at each gap (western and eastern) would be best. That would allow people to bike or jog or whatever from the Humber to the Beach(es?) continuously. But a tunnel would be good (glass-topped maybe? like in public aquariums?)