海角社区官网

Pretend to be a tourist in Toronto. What would you do?

I would head to legendary Yonge Street to see what all the fuss was about. Since 海角社区官网is a city on a lake, I鈥檇 follow it to the water in anticipation of greatness.

Perhaps something like the聽 in Lisbon, the civic square the whole city seems to flow towards. There, a small pier called the聽 has steps down to the Tagus River where two pillars rise from the water. It鈥檚 beautiful, grand and feels important, as if the city and all its history can be discovered from here.

In 海角社区官网disappointment awaits. Yonge and Queens Quay is not a grand entrance to the city or a dramatic reveal of the harbour. Instead, it feels like two highways meeting where few would want to pass through outside of a motor vehicle. You would never know the Island ferry docks and other great, new waterfront parks are steps away 鈥� or that the city itself once had grand plans for such an ordinary-looking location.

Right at the water鈥檚 edge, names of Ontario cities and towns are laid into the concrete along with their distance from Toronto, a cool nod to the聽 claim that Yonge Street is, or once was, the longest street in the world. However, the short metal grate balcony there allowing people to stand and walk over the water feels precarious and inelegant, unfitting of the location鈥檚 importance to the city.

Across the street are buildings boastfully named 鈥淩esidence at the World Trade Centre鈥� where a recently renovated semipublic square out front, the one with the eye-catching egg beater sculpture called “Between the Eyes” by artist Richard Deacon, marks the corner well. New planting beds are already shabby and worn out, though the pub among ground floor shops has a nice big patio by an outdoor waterfall, so there鈥檚 potential, and more space, to expand commercial and public life here.

The other corners are more difficult. On the lake side, one of downtown Toronto’s last remaining surface parking lots lingers as an anachronistic blight. Where Captain John鈥檚聽sometimes-sinking seafood ship restaurant once was are water taxi berths. They鈥檙e a godsend that have helped make 海角社区官网Island easier to get to as the city聽dithers on improving access, but the docks on either side of the Yonge slip feel temporary, also inelegant.

Kitty corner from each other are the former 海角社区官网Star building and the Westin Harbour Castle hotel. Both are fortress-like, but it鈥檚 important to remember these two buildings were pioneers, built on a dirty, post-industrial waterfront in the early 1970s, so their standoffishness to the public realm is understandable.

Much of Toronto鈥檚 harbourfront has been a decades-long monumental effort to change from that earlier state to a welcoming people place. To continue that, improvements are needed in both the public and private realms at Yonge and Queens Quay.

The quick fixes

Do basic maintenance and clean up the intersection. There is loose asphalt rubble in places, especially by the large bike-share station. The road markings are faded and need to be repainted. Doing so could give more space to the crowds of pedestrians and make the intersection seem less sprawling and hostile, especially if planters with trees and other elements are added to the dead space to add vegetation and even shade.

The serious changes

Implement plans languishing on the books. A decade ago the City of 海角社区官网and Waterfront 海角社区官网ran a high-profile design competition for the 海角社区官网Island ferry docks.聽 by Toronto鈥檚 KPMB and West 8 in Rotterdam, had an undulating wood structure and green roof, and was envisioned by the鈥� architects to reimagine 鈥渢he site as a gateway, north to the city and south to the lake, as well as a destination in its own right.鈥� Perfect. Do it.

The city鈥檚聽 mentions that the 鈥渇oot of Yonge Street should be treated as a special place on the waterfront鈥� and should be a 鈥渄istinctive gateway to the city鈥� with public amenities for culture, tourism and that a 鈥渄ramatic new pier should be built at the foot of Toronto鈥檚 historic main street.鈥� That would improve the Yonge Street Slip where the taxis dock as well. Let鈥檚 go!

The pie in the sky

Why not create Toronto鈥檚 own Pra莽a do Com茅rcio? If cities around the world can have vast pedestrian areas, why can鈥檛 Toronto? Add kiosks, trees and patios. One day the planned Waterfront East streetcar line should pass through here too, on its way to the Port Lands. It will be a hub.

Though private property, perhaps the owners of adjacent buildings would feel inspired to make their edges more human scaled, especially the Westin with its concrete maw hostile to people arriving or passing on foot.

This kind of treatment would be fitting for one of Toronto’s most important places.