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Have you been? And what are the "huge walls" you speak off? Like I moved here couple months ago and have yet to encounter any walls.
Of course I've been. Probably over 20 times.
The walls I am referring to are the skyscrapers. Simply too much going on in that department. Looks nice from a distance, but when inside the city, it's pretty ugly.
To be honest, I liked it more in the early 90s, before they went overly crazy with the overabundance of skyscrapers.
Ignoring the power lines, I don't find this to be appealing at all:
Towers are fine, but imo what's important is the thing planners refer to as 'human scale'. It's what's at street level that counts, so a well designed podium will have a lot more impact on the street than the tower itself, ie. having tower setbacks where appropriate to mitigate the visual impact of the tower, that the podiums are activated where necessary and contribute to the street life around the area, etc. Importantly the podium needs to relate to the streetscape.
Of course I've been. Probably over 20 times.
The walls I am referring to are the skyscrapers. Simply too much going on in that department. Looks nice from a distance, but when inside the city, it's pretty ugly.
To be honest, I liked it more in the early 90s, before they went overly crazy with the overabundance of skyscrapers.
Ignoring the power lines, I don't find this to be appealing at all:
Have you been to Old Toronto west of the DT core? T.O is more than a CBD and is a large and dense city by anglo standards... The best places are west of the core be it for nightlife, restaurants, bars, clubs and other things to do ie.. QSW, Kensington Market, College St, Bloor West and the Annex, Little Italy etc.. The Distillery District just east of the CBD is great as well. T.O is more than a CBD and Yonge st.
Skyscrapers are just a way of life in Toronto now.. The city has pretty much extended as far as it can go due to surrounding farm/marshlands which are some of the most valuable in Canada and are protected from development - therefore increased densification within the Greater Toronto Area is just a way of life - if you don't like the level of growth now in terms of scrapers, you haven't seen nothing yet!!
Hey - you could always just walk across the lake to the Toronto islands and go for a cross country ski lol..
Toronto? Really? It's really just "big." There's nothing else impressive about it.
Montreal has a MUCH livelier and active downtown than Toronto. I'd place it second only to Manhattan in NA for downtown action.
No, Toronto's downtown is just as if not more busy and active than Montreal's.
No, Toronto's downtown is just as if not more busy and active than Montreal's.
Not by a long shot. Look it up. I'll admit to partial bias towards Montreal on my part, but this is actual statistical fact.
Toronto is a bigger city, yes, and has an impressive amount of high-rises, but the amount of foot traffic and activity in its city core simply does not match Montreal's "Centre-Ville."
Show me some stats that prove such a thing. The intersection of Yonge and Dundas in Toronto is Canada's busiest pedestrian crossing by far. Post your supposed proof that downtown Montreal has more foot traffic. Toronto has blown well past Montreal at this point and is not even looking back.
Show me some stats that prove such a thing. The intersection of Yonge and Dundas in Toronto is Canada's busiest pedestrian crossing by far. Post your supposed proof that downtown Montreal has more foot traffic. Toronto has blown well past Montreal at this point and is not even looking back.
It shouldn't come as a surprise, considering more people use public transit in Montreal than in Toronto, despite its smaller population.
Couple that with the smaller land area of Montreal, and you have a city core with more people not using cars -- i.e., walking.
Also
Ste-Catherine St. is Canada's busiest commercial avenue.
By the way, Ellington/Yonge is the busiest. Yonge/Dundas only LOOKS busy because of its layout.
It shouldn't come as a surprise, considering more people use public transit in Montreal than in Toronto, despite its smaller population.
Couple that with the smaller land area of Montreal, and you have a city core with more people not using cars -- i.e., walking.
Also
Ste-Catherine St. is Canada's busiest commercial avenue.
By the way, Ellington/Yonge is the busiest. Yonge/Dundas only LOOKS busy because of its layout.
well there is truth to the fact that Montreal's core is smaller so you will see more compression but in terms of overall size of a DT core T.O's is by far the busiest DT core in Canada with the highest population density.. Many people live right in the DT core so there's not even a need to use PT for many.. If they do its literally a few subway stops.. Anyway - its really a moot point about one busy street.. Toronto's core is the largest in population, density and in addition is growing far more than any other DT core in the country.. Its not even close.. Its like a bullet train vs a conventional train in terms of DT growth rates in Toronto vs other CAD cities.. Plus I'd posit rather comfortably that T.O's core has more large arterials so average ped vibrancy would be higher since there are more Ie Yonge, Bloor, King, Queen, Front, Dundas, College, Jarvis, Wellesley, Spadina, Bay - prolly missing more plus it anchors a bigger city than Montreal.. Plus, you have to account for the fact that the CBD is Huge in T.O vs the rest of the country so daytime ped vibrancy also needs to be accounted for..
The DT core in Toronto is growing at a phenominal rate yoy so stats from 2011 in the case of Toronto are extremely outdated..
Look, I like Montreal - its a great and urban compact city and a busy DT core with great nightlife (T.O's nightlife is west of its core NOT in it unless you're talking gay villiage).. It even has a busier commercial street than Toronto but in terms of mass of humanity either working or living or working and living in a DT core - Toronto's core is not comparable in Canada in terms of built and human scale.
Hey - at least you admit to a Montreal bias which is something you are entitled to.. As an American I can see why Montreal offers something more in terms of a different experience than T.O but if you haven't experienced the places I suggested to you in an earlier post re: Toronto you're conclusions are incomplete.
Last edited by fusion2; 02-15-2015 at 03:59 PM..
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