Urban Living

North of Dundas St., Simcoe St. is a dark urban thoroughfare that one imagines exists in permanent shadow.Lined with tall buildings but narrow, this north/south artery is one of many such roads in downtown Toronto. It sounds a bit like the movie Blade Runner, but it’s more a case of honest urban chaos than a future dystopia. These streets may not stand out, but their importance cannot be underestimated. They constitute much of the landscape of the city; ultra-versatile, they are the location of residential towers, office buildings, parking garages and everything in between. They also form the network of roads that make downtown Toronto so accessible.

The condo boom of recent years has taken particular advantage of these urban byways, remaking them as residential neighbourhoods. Though not everyone agrees, this generally has been a good thing; the issue is that of design. Do these buildings take more than they give? How seriously do these buildings take their responsibility to context? Some do better than others, of course, though one is tempted to believe Toronto condo architecture continues to improve.