Speaking of towers, below, Durning found this in the Toronto Star:
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Manhattanization could be the best thing ever for Toronto: Hume
Toronto certainly stands tall; more highrise buildings are under construction here than any other city in North America, including New York. This week alone, city council approved more than $20 billion in new development, the bulk of it highrise.
What makes Manhattan unique, however, is not the number of skyscrapers or their height; it’s that city’s passionate embrace of density.
That’s where Toronto has trouble. Though some believe the city has evolved too quickly, market and demographic forces won’t be controlled, and can’t be contained. People now want to live and work downtown. The condo allows them to fulfill that dream.
By contrast, Manhattan has no such doubts about its urbanity. It revels in its status as one of the great metropolises of the world. It enjoys the benefits of density more than just about any other city on Earth. It reinvents itself regularly and has led the rest of the world, let alone the continent, in its efforts to urbanize and open the public realm — especially city streets — to pedestrians and cyclists.
In Toronto, chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat worries that the municipal infrastructure can’t keep up with the pace of development. She’s right. This isn’t to say that growth should be slowed, but that development should be smarter and, just as important, that we need to make better use of the existing infrastructure. …
Rather than celebrate our high-rise fate, we have fought it. Rather than accept the fact we are a big city, we have chosen denial.
Rather than celebrate our high-rise fate, we have fought it. Rather than accept the fact we are a big city, we have chosen denial.
The future has arrived and you don’t have to go far to see it. Just look up.
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Full column by Christopher Hume here.
