Back in 2010, I did a video about Sherbourne Commons asking whether or not it would be a useful part of downtown Toronto.
The park has been completed, but I’m still not convinced…
Anything is better than what was there before. Right?
I’d rather see a concrete park than a dilapidated building or a parking lot!
But I’m not sure how this park fits into the “grand plan” for Toronto’s waterfront.
I absolutely love the skating rink on the south side of Queen’s Quay, but the “park” itself is nothing spectacular. And once there’s a giant condo on the east side of the park, it will seem tiny by comparison.
I think I’ll go back to Sherbourne Commons in 2014 – maybe in the summer this time, and then perhaps we can judge whether this is a useful space or just an attempt to placate residents of the area as more and more condos are constructed…
Cath
at 10:13 am
I think this park is awesome! I would like to think that they want to encourage families in those condo’s. Our daughter has played in this park and we spent quite a bit more time (now with the new restaurant in the Corus building)there this summer than anywhere else. It is an important part of extending the waterfront (now, they just need a path along the water to bring us there!).
This is a success in my eyes! Just slow on the roll out.
Matt
at 10:39 am
I bike around the entire downtown (bloor-bathurst-lakefront-don river) on warm summer evenings (usually after 1am). This park, along with sugar beach was a regular waypoint on my final leg. What I noticed was that the park actually had ‘normal’ people in it enjoying the fountains and views. Once the condos are all build, the views will probably be no more. But the parks are being used.
David
at 11:18 am
I think that park (and that general area) is getting better and better… I enjoyed Sugar Beach many times last summer. I just wish there were more plants! A little more greenery wouldn’t hurt.
David
at 11:18 pm
The ‘park’ is also a stormwater treatment facility. Better a park than a gated off single use facility no?
Chris
at 4:07 pm
People even use it in the winter. I certainly have. And also, because this video was taken on a cold, snowy day, you really miss a lot of the best things about it, like how cool the water feature looks when it is lit up. You also didn’t actually play on the playground equipment. Try spinning around on those things and you will wish that they had this kind of playground equipment when you were a kid. I am actually surprised that people use the park at all now, since no one currently lives near the area.
Stacie
at 10:41 pm
Have a look at David Sasuki’s – The Nature of Things – Suzuki Diaries episode and you will see that it is more than a park. Once all of the parkland is completed to the east, it will all make sense. It is part of a long term plan to convert the space. My kids and I love it in the summer.