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I was there during the Summer, dead atmosphere. It's just too small and disappointing, I much prefer Place Des Arts, that's a success. Dundas square is just, eh... too many screens. It's like they tried hard to rip off times square but failed miserably, maybe they'll improve it soon, but as of now, it's really nothing special.
You realize YD has a concert or special event scheduled on its events itinerary, almost every single day, since May of this year. You realize that YD is ranked the most busy intersection in Canada by pedestrian traffic - 100,000-120,000 pedestrians walk there every single day. The fact that you are calling it "dead" is bull (my office is 1 block from YD). Not to mention the plethora of shops, department stores - Nordstrom, Saks 5th Ave, Uniqlo's Flagship Store, and very soon Samsung's flagship North American storefront, 3 historic opera houses and theaters, and street pubs and eateries that line almost every single inch of space around around YD. Not to mention the 24/7 megaphone blast from the Christian and Muslim preachers and a dozen other street performers on YD at all hours of the day.
Place des Arts in Montreal is great, but it's a completely different kind of destination vs. YD or LA Live. And Montreal isn't even part of this thread's discussion topic.
You realize YD has a concert or special event scheduled on its events itinerary, almost every single day, since May of this year. You realize that YD is ranked the most busy intersection in Canada by pedestrian traffic - 100,000-120,000 pedestrians walk there every single day. The fact that you are calling it "dead" is bull (my office is 1 block from YD). Not to mention the plethora of shops, department stores - Nordstrom, Saks 5th Ave, Uniqlo's Flagship Store, and very soon Samsung's flagship North American storefront, 3 historic opera houses and theaters, and street pubs and eateries that line almost every single inch of space around around YD. Not to mention the 24/7 megaphone blast from the Christian and Muslim preachers and a dozen other street performers on YD at all hours of the day.
Place des Arts in Montreal is great, but it's a completely different kind of destination vs. YD or LA Live. And Montreal isn't even part of this thread's discussion topic.
1. I'm allowed to say I like another place better, even if it's not part of the thread
2. I'm aware of the amount of people around that area, but the actual square is garbage. When there aren't events going on, do you think people like seeing the same 50 ads bombarding them? I don't think so.
3. When I went, there wasn't an event and it was in July. The only thing that was there was city cinema during that week, other than that, many people but all going away from the square. SO when I mean dead, I mean the square, not the area, which shouldn't be that hard to understand
4. I'm not the only one who thinks this, many people in T.O, Canada and N.A say the same thing. They see the square, say "oh" and then go to Eaton Centre. In fact, I heard many tourists say that.
1. I'm allowed to say I like another place better, even if it's not part of the thread
2. I'm aware of the amount of people around that area, but the actual square is garbage. When there aren't events going on, do you think people like seeing the same 50 ads bombarding them? I don't think so.
3. When I went, there wasn't an event and it was in July. The only thing that was there was city cinema during that week, other than that, many people but all going away from the square. SO when I mean dead, I mean the square, not the area, which shouldn't be that hard to understand 4. I'm not the only one who thinks this, many people in T.O, Canada and N.A say the same thing. They see the square, say "oh" and then go to Eaton Centre. In fact, I heard many tourists say that.
Dude nobody goes to YD just to be on the "square" itself. That's an idiotic proposition. Just like nobody goes to Place des Arts just so they could stand on St. Catherine street. It's the holistic area that makes it unique - all the shops, restaurants, entertainment, streetcars, pubs, flashy bill boards, crowds, street performers. I don't know a single person living in TO who goes to YD just to stand in the middle of the square. It's simply a focal point, where other things around YD all come together, not the actual destination itself.
And yes, I whole heartedly agree with you that YD the "square" itself is tiny. It's basically a slab of cement surrounded by buildings and traffic. Nothing impressive. However, when most people refer to YD, they are not simply referring to the actual slab of cement that makes it a "square", but also the surrounding shops, restaurants, eateries, restaurants, and everything else that makes it the focal point of a city. Hence, very few Torontonians call it "Yonge Dundas Square" - simply Yonge and Dundas.
Last edited by bostonkid123; 09-19-2017 at 01:25 PM..
Why do both of Toronto's main squares (YD and Nathan Phillips) have to be concrete slabs? Why not a little landscaping, like Union Square in NYC? And who let that eyesore at YD get built...the one with the fans on the outside? It's worthy of a protest movement to get it torn down. Whoever designed/approved it should have their head examined. And the people of Toronto should be outraged. I mean, I'm not a person of Toronto, and I'm outraged. That being said, Toronto's a great city.
Why do both of Toronto's main squares (YD and Nathan Phillips) have to be concrete slabs? Why not a little landscaping, like Union Square in NYC? And who let that eyesore at YD get built...the one with the fans on the outside? It's worthy of a protest movement to get it torn down. Whoever designed/approved it should have their head examined. And the people of Toronto should be outraged. I mean, I'm not a person of Toronto, and I'm outraged. That being said, Toronto's a great city.
- YD square is actually quite small - no more than the length and width of a very small city block, hence impractical to have any sort of landscaping when 120,000+ pedestrians pass through it everyday.
- Nathan Phillips is a different story. Built in the late 1950s/60s when this kind of brutalist/futuristic architecture was taking off in many cities throughout north america (Boston's (in)famous brutalist City Hall comes to mind as well, designed by I.M.Pei). On the one hand you can say that brutalist architecture are an eye sore and should be taken down asap, but on the other hand, it's also an integral part of a city's post-war history.
It's the sign of hard struggles of both downtowns trying to revive themselves such as Toronto being dull and dead in the 80's and early 90's and L.A in the 90's and early 2000's. It's really not the best way of revitalizing downtowns. They both need density and tons of more housing in the downtown core mixed with alot of new offices and shops that lure suburban types back to center city, both of them. These two districts are just sugar coating the real efforts of revitalizations. More parks and people gathering spots would help these two downtowns to be legitimate downtowns.
While there may be more events at LA Live, as a city center/meeting place, it feels contrived. I’ll give this to TO for now, but don’t underestimate DTLA’s potential. It’s gone from a near ghost town to one of the top downtowns in the country in a very short time, and they have much more planned.
It's the sign of hard struggles of both downtowns trying to revive themselves such as Toronto being dull and dead in the 80's and early 90's and L.A in the 90's and early 2000's. It's really not the best way of revitalizing downtowns. They both need density and tons of more housing in the downtown core mixed with alot of new offices and shops that lure suburban types back to center city, both of them. These two districts are just sugar coating the real efforts of revitalizations. More parks and people gathering spots would help these two downtowns to be legitimate downtowns.
Toronto is more than a legit Downtown, and has been for years.
I LOVE L.A., but when it comes to the Downtown's Toronto is on an entirely different level in every single category - except weather.
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