THE OLD DAME OSSINGTON DESERVES A BREAK

Frankly, I think the old dame Ossington deserves a break rather than be relegated to condo-ments.

At least she should be given a second glance, a second chance.  There's a lot of urban memory here that can be worked with – to enrich the old city experience, which otherwise future generation may presume started today.

WHICH IS THE HIGH SIDE OF A HIGH STREET?

QUESTION: What's more important to a successful streetscape?

• an active edge of shops
• sun-washed sidewalks
• a broad footpath 

I've taken the time to study these two streetscapes in downtown Toronto, both of which are shown looking westwards.  

Frankly I was a bit surprised by the results...

NEVER JUDGE A TALL BUILDING BY ITS HEIGHT ALONE

"go for the cape, go for the cape"

Tall buildings are nothing more than an intense amount of building mass, which in contemporary urban conditions goes hand-in-hand with a minimal footprint of land.  Where before towers-in-the-park (toasters) might be built at three times density, today we're contending with the same magnitudes of building mass on smaller sites resulting in densities of ten times and more.

GOOD FENCES DO MAKE GOOD NEIGHBOURS !!!

I like to believe...

• development will reflexively improve our community's condition,
• that improving the public realm is a guiding star in every developer's bucket of ambitions

and though the road to fulfillment may be a long one, nevertheless,

• the existing public realm should not be diminished, and where possible, be improved.