07-05-2022, 02:51 PM
(07-05-2022, 11:39 AM)ac3r Wrote: It looks quite brutalist right now (and not in a good way; I like brutalism but it's still just plain concrete) but the renderings made this seem like it could be okay. It's from Martin Simmons Sweers who are usually alright. Not a spectacular design but at least something new and nice for midtown. We'll have to see how it looks afterwards.
It'll be interesting to see how midtown develops. Not many plots of land along King or other streets for sale yet, but there have been a few. With the unfortunate SRM building going up across from the hospital, the Sun Life project (which seems to finally be progressing...?) and the CTV studios for sale next door, maybe that'll encourage property owners to think of selling whilst the market is still doing okay and then it could start drawing in more developers here. It feels like such an ugly, barren place to be right now. I don't want to see tons of towers go up here - mid rises and row houses would be great for now, but at least some change would be nice to see.
Agreed on that development pattern, but I also feel like the midtown streetscape is incredibly disappointing for having just been redone with the ION. I almost always take the IHT between downtown and uptown, whether walking or biking, because it's much more pleasant despite it being twice the distance. Drop in on any tram street in the Netherlands and you'll still find 2 lanes of car traffic and 2 tram tracks, but you'll also find cycling facilities, wider sidewalks, and more trees (sometimes you even find more car parking). Meanwhile midtown is just... grey and dead.
I noticed from a quick streetview trip that the Netherlands tends to locate their OCS poles in the edge of the sidewalk, which 1) hides them among the trees and other noise, and 2) reduces the amount of dead space between the tram tracks.
I really think streetscape improvements are needed in midtown alongside development, but I can't see it happening unfortunately.