The Uptown | T/O | 48 st | 158 m | Bloor-Yorkville

[Travis007]

Pinnacle and Concord developments are fueled immigrants and/or investors. French Quarter and RoCP have been built for years now and were developments at the beginning of the condo boom. The downtown condo market is more competitive than ever right now, which is why most developers are increasing the quality of design and marketing. Offcourse, there will be developers proposing below-par buildings but they generally appeal to a certain market. The majority of downtown buyers who are young urban professionals/families are more architecturally and aesthetically savvy. While mundane developments will continue to sell in Boroughs/Burbs.

Anyways, I'm over this discussion. And it's getting way off topic.

[Taller, Better]

French Quarter was a missed opportunity... it just somehow failed to convey the look they no doubt had initially intended to go for. There was a mini wave of condos went up in the 80's/90's with a "French" theme (read: attempt to look posh) and almost all of them looked waaay better in the romantic artist's conception than the harsh light of reality.

[Mollywood]

Originally Posted by HipHopCanada

You're sure not afraid to speak your mind. :o

Hoods north of Bloor along Bathurst, Avenue Road, Royal York, Dufferin, etc are all great suburban areas.. maybe you should check those out!

But we aint no Europe so coming over here expecting quality architecture (on par or greater than Europes) shouldn't be your number one objective as you'd be either hard pressed to find it, or it doesn't exist.

Much of the historic city has been long gone for many decades. Not on the same level as a city like Warsaw but urban renewal sure did its number on the fine city of Toronto.

Hoods on Bathurst & Duffrin are great? Are you kidding me? Those are 2 of the ugliest streets in Toronto. Both are unfriendly to pedestrians and lined with terrible strip malls. I used to live in that area and I hated it. If those are what you call "great suburban areas" then your definition of great is radically different than mine. Duffrin great?

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Mollywood

Hoods on Bathurst & Duffrin are great? Are you kidding me? Those are 2 of the ugliest streets in Toronto. Both are unfriendly to pedestrians and lined with terrible strip malls. I used to live in that area and I hated it. If those are what you call "great suburban areas" then your definition of great is radically different than mine. Duffrin great?

I agree. I cringe just looking at those streets and try to pretend I never saw what I just did. They're depressing, grim, and ramshackle.

[AndrewJM3D]

I don't know why, and I know it's not a great building but I like the French Quarter and how it looks as it gets older and dirtier. Don't judge me :P

[Taller, Better]

I wish it were set back a bit from that busy street, and had some sophisticated landscaping. To drive by and have it smack up against the sidewalk always seems a bit abrupt. But, in that respect one could say it was "European", because so many new European buildings seem to meet a narrow sidewalk abruptly in an offhand manner.

[isaidso]

If it had a proper mansard roof, it would have gone a long way to making this building more successful.

Originally Posted by AndrewJM3D

I don't know why, and I know it's not a great building but I like the French Quarter and how it looks as it gets older and dirtier. Don't judge me :P

I do hate it, but I'm sure there are tons that I like that you don't.

[Travis007]

Originally Posted by Mollywood

Hoods on Bathurst & Duffrin are great? Are you kidding me? Those are 2 of the ugliest streets in Toronto. Both are unfriendly to pedestrians and lined with terrible strip malls. I used to live in that area and I hated it. If those are what you call "great suburban areas" then your definition of great is radically different than mine. Duffrin great?

I grew up in the West End so Dufferin was pretty much my main corridor. And I totally agree that it's rubbish. It's basically a working class inner city suburban strip, anchored by the Dufferin Mall, the Galleria, and Yorkdale. Houses line up to the street consistently, but it's all architecturally unremarkable.

Bathurst does have its trashy parts, but the stretch from St.Clair until Eglinton isn't bad. It's lined with many nice low-rise early 1900's apartment buildings.

[Mollywood]

Originally Posted by Travis007

I grew up in the West End so Dufferin was pretty much my main corridor. And I totally agree that it's rubbish. It's basically a working class inner city suburban strip, anchored by the Dufferin Mall, the Galleria, and Yorkdale. Houses line up to the street consistently, but it's all architecturally unremarkable.

Bathurst does have its trashy parts, but the stretch from St.Clair until Eglinton isn't bad. It's lined with many nice low-rise early 1900's apartment buildings.

Yeah, I agree, Bathurst does have some parts in the north, around Eglinton, that aren't too bad but Duffrin, is butt ugly from King Street, all the way up. Even the houses are preety bad. It needs a complete make-over.

[monkeyronin]

I love Bathurst! (south of the 401 anyway) I've also got a soft spot for Dufferin (at least from Bloor to Eglinton)...classic working-class, inner-ish Toronto.

[InTheBeach]

Originally Posted by isaidso

I agree. I cringe just looking at those streets and try to pretend I never saw what I just did. They're depressing, grim, and ramshackle.

While I share the sentiment, sometimes you need to find a good bagel or samosa shop, and they exist more often in these streetscapes.

So it's all grim until you get your fix, then the sun comes out.

[ONE HUMAN]

Originally Posted by Mollywood

Yeah, I agree, Bathurst does have some parts in the north, around Eglinton, that aren't too bad but Duffrin, is butt ugly from King Street, all the way up. Even the houses are preety bad. It needs a complete make-over.

Is there a particular reason you keep calling it Duffrin? Is this because you're from Tronto?

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Travis007

Although the quality of urban consistency does drop off once you hit north of Bloor, there are still decent pedestrian hubs scattered throughout the city.

I don't think Charlotte is alone in her views about what's north of St. Clair, east of Jarvis, and west of University. I've never been much impressed with anything outside of the core. It's not my cup of tea at all and only venture out there when I have to.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by InTheBeach

While I share the sentiment, sometimes you need to find a good bagel or samosa shop, and they exist more often in these streetscapes.

So it's all grim until you get your fix, then the sun comes out.

Hey I've been to Costa Rica, so I'm not averse to the occasional trek to Kensington in the summer. Costa Rica has monkeys, anteaters, beach, and sun to divert oneself from the dredge. These areas of Toronto? I'll wait till the sun comes out so I won't have to notice the surroundings.

[Taller, Better]

I'm interested in all of the older, urban nabes of town; each one has its own little quirky secrets you can unearth if you nose about. Even the ones that haven't been poncified yet, and sometimes especially in those ones. Beyond those, up into the hinterland of suburbia, I lose interest rapidly and reach coma/flatline by the time streets and avenues start being called "Highways", followed by three digit numbers.

[Innsertnamehere]

could a mod move this into completed? it's been complete for quite a while now.

[Nouvellecosse]

I really like the proportions and overall style of the building, I just wish it wasn't all a single monotonous tone of beige concrete. It would have looked stellar with some tactfully applied accent colours. Maybe some gold, silver, or black. And honestly, it really isn't too late. Even though it's complete they could make that type of small change to the finishes. Unlikely, but possible.

[isaidso]

The deco detailing was a little disappointing. It wouldn't have cost more to get it right. Did no one at this architecture firm not notice it looked really amateur?

[AndrewJM3D]

This is still one of my favorite projects even if they didn't execute it as well as they could of. It's not green, it's not blue, and it's not glass so I like it.

[Taller, Better]

The silhouette really adds to the skyline.