ponyboycurtis
Active Member
The Bow is such a cool building. The idea of a head across from a Library makes sense. Something symbolic to involve thought process and whatnot.
I saw a cool post on Reddit the other day of a fountain in Budapest where it's a granite slab shaped like an open book and the fountain laps from one side to another like its turning the page.
I think something intentionally thought provoking/education related would be great. Have a couple of industrial spec community lending libraries. A bike repair station. Some covered gazebo areas with Adirondack chairs. Drinking fountains for both people and pet. Hire an arborist and planner and figure out how to put some sound attenuating on the perimeter with shrubbery in proper beds. Have open public WiFi. Have the library or some entity host a monthly outdoor drop in art thing. Play some soft symphony and classical music.
I don't know what the vehicular traffic is like though, going E/W these days. I used to goto school at Tech and sweet jesus it was loud. My sister used to live right there on the corner and her ground floor balcony would have looked directly out at the exact spot we are discussing. The black diesel soot on her balcony made it unusable and her windows had to stay shut on an average day. We've reduced the number of busses by a factor. We are going electric for the remaining busses sooner or later. Even EV cars come with lower noise/resistance tires (at least from the factory). The days of a Detroit diesel putting everything it has from a dead stop up the hill at Bronson are over.
Noise and automobiles would be the largest obstacle here. But at the same time the city has spent a pile of money on road re-alignment, planter beds, bike lanes etc.
You just have to find a way to make it work. Take Garden of the Provinces for example. It's a cool spot but its hard to find a reason to go there unless you skateboard. Which personally.. I dig it. I like passing by and watching them do stair sets and drop offs. The dog park at Tech Wall is nothing but a fence and spray painted wall and yet it's busy because it has an actual reason for being.
I know there is a very vague plan to put a staircase/elevator at the bluff of Bronson Park to connect to Pooley's Bridge but that might be a pipe dream. At the very least a common space here could help connect the continuous urban space of your walk down Sparks/Laurier and then slink down into Lebreton and the eventual Aquaduct and fleshed out Zibi and Preston etc.
I've happily walked from mid-town Toronto to the waterfront but that's only possible because of the continuous environment. At least for me. I like the city just as much as any nature walk.
Edit... and.. hey if you're like.. Japanese or Arabic you can just stand on the other side of the fountain and we all win
I saw a cool post on Reddit the other day of a fountain in Budapest where it's a granite slab shaped like an open book and the fountain laps from one side to another like its turning the page.
I think something intentionally thought provoking/education related would be great. Have a couple of industrial spec community lending libraries. A bike repair station. Some covered gazebo areas with Adirondack chairs. Drinking fountains for both people and pet. Hire an arborist and planner and figure out how to put some sound attenuating on the perimeter with shrubbery in proper beds. Have open public WiFi. Have the library or some entity host a monthly outdoor drop in art thing. Play some soft symphony and classical music.
I don't know what the vehicular traffic is like though, going E/W these days. I used to goto school at Tech and sweet jesus it was loud. My sister used to live right there on the corner and her ground floor balcony would have looked directly out at the exact spot we are discussing. The black diesel soot on her balcony made it unusable and her windows had to stay shut on an average day. We've reduced the number of busses by a factor. We are going electric for the remaining busses sooner or later. Even EV cars come with lower noise/resistance tires (at least from the factory). The days of a Detroit diesel putting everything it has from a dead stop up the hill at Bronson are over.
Noise and automobiles would be the largest obstacle here. But at the same time the city has spent a pile of money on road re-alignment, planter beds, bike lanes etc.
You just have to find a way to make it work. Take Garden of the Provinces for example. It's a cool spot but its hard to find a reason to go there unless you skateboard. Which personally.. I dig it. I like passing by and watching them do stair sets and drop offs. The dog park at Tech Wall is nothing but a fence and spray painted wall and yet it's busy because it has an actual reason for being.
I know there is a very vague plan to put a staircase/elevator at the bluff of Bronson Park to connect to Pooley's Bridge but that might be a pipe dream. At the very least a common space here could help connect the continuous urban space of your walk down Sparks/Laurier and then slink down into Lebreton and the eventual Aquaduct and fleshed out Zibi and Preston etc.
I've happily walked from mid-town Toronto to the waterfront but that's only possible because of the continuous environment. At least for me. I like the city just as much as any nature walk.
Edit... and.. hey if you're like.. Japanese or Arabic you can just stand on the other side of the fountain and we all win
