City
Tracking the rise of South Core (before and after photos)
I doubt anyone needs reminding of the onslaught of condo development in Toronto, but every once in while the rapid transformation of this city is thrown into relief. Case in point: on a recent stop at the parking garage at Queens Quay and York streets — an old favourite for skyline-hunting photographers — I was almost startled to see how much the area has changed.
Just over two years ago, I wrote a somewhat nostalgic post about the loss of the Royal York's iconic spot on the skyline, then devoured (as it were) by the rise of the Telus and PwC towers. This is something of a follow up, as the condos have now moved in, once again changing the shape of the area. Given that vantage points that allow one to track growth like this are at least somewhat rare, I thought it worth adding the latest iteration to the timeline I started back then.
From a visual standpoint, the scale of change is impressive, especially given the period of time in question. In a span of three years, what was once a swath of parking lots has become something that you might even call a neighbourhood. A similar landscape change happened when CityPlace was built further to the west on old railway lands, but at a much slower rate and without much by way of commercial development (decidedly not the case here).
With South Core, the pace of development has been downright frantic. Follow the changes in the photos below.
2008
2009
2010
2010 (different angle)
2012
And it continues...
Discussion
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You know, even if I had to work downtown i'd go-train or subway it in rather than living in a glass shoe box.
Enjoy your poor investment/fish bowl sucka's
Very bad thing for the waterfront and (already stressed) infrastructure, therefore it's terrible for city building.
Who actually looks at "South Core" and thinks, "wow, this is a success"?
It's called progression and moving forward. It's called change -- sometimes, it happens.
Downtown will suck if its nothing but rich people. The variety of people, from students to corporate types to minimum wagers and everyone else is what makes this a fun and interesting place to live and work. Don't mess with something that's not broken.
You'd think that at least one iconic building would have emerged from this now-ending boom. But no, the 'Well it's better than a parking lot' mentality has resulted in 100's of poorly built investoboxes in poorly planned instahoods like South Bore, City Place, Liberty Village..
Mediocrity rules in Toronto and these charmless POS lost opportunities are the result.
I wonder how long before the corners cut during this construction become apparent.
High-rise towers in close proximity need ample walkable spaces and parkland surrounding them. Greenery eases congestion (physical & mental) and allows people to come together in their neighbourhood and develop a sense of community.
One day we will look back and regret not putting more thought into the layout of these neighbourhoods as congestion and crime become rampant.
WHY aren't these things being built in suburban Toronto, instead of here? And why can't people slog through public transit to get to downtown like everybody else? Why is what makes the the ONLY good part of Toronto that people want to visit being destroyed for buildings that can't house enough people to live in, and that, in many cases, have no windows in the bedroom or no space to store anything other than a small pair of shoes?
I wonder which to choose?
Have a read: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/11/13/tor-glass-walled-condos.html
I don't care if you don't like condo living. I don't like suburban living, but I don't feel the need to sit at a PC whining about it. There are pros and cons to both.
Toronto is a booming success story. It has it's problems, but Rome wasn't built in a day. So quit complaining! You're boring me!
The condo I was visiting was nicely finished and such, but teeny tiny and not soundproof. Much like every other condo out there, I guess. I wish developers would build more 50s style rental buildings (solid as a rock and with more square footage and storage space, not to mention cheaper to live in).
- the Telus building
- the angle of the Gardiner
- the sign on the Gardiner
That building just exploded out of nowhere!