Sometimes, a huge potential problem has a very simple solution.
Is this up to property management, or should it have been addressed by the developer?
Ah yes, my old stomping ground at 230 King Street!
Trust me when I say that this is one of the best buildings in the downtown core, and this building is perhaps the star of the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood!
I lived her for almost five years, and yes, that story I told in the video is one-hundred-percent true.
I hit a rollerblader one morning as I came out of the parking garage, and even though I was completely at fault, it made me wonder why nobody has addressed this concern before. Why isn’t there a mirror on that corner so that drivers can see what is on the other side of the fence? I think this problem plagues half of all downtown Toronto condos!
When you’re driving in the underground parking garage, and you see oncoming lights in the mirror, don’t you slow down? Don’t you proceed with caution?
Sometimes, you have to think outside the box – or in this case, outside the condo itself. The same planning and thinking that goes into the underground parking garage should go into the grounds that surround a condominium, and a mirror on that fence would ensure the safety of all rollerbladers from here on out!
All joking aside, I often wonder what could have happened if that wasn’t some burly 200-pound female rollerblader with a body sculpted from iron…
Paully
at 8:56 am
I believe that there are specific bylaws in Toronto regarding fence heights in close relative proximity to the street and sidewalk. That fence is almost certainly taller than the bylaws allow at the sidewalk. A quick call to Bylaw Enforcement at the city would get someone out there to check it out and if it is illegal, they will compel the owner(s) to change it to the proper, safer height.
Alternatively, a letter to the board at the condo pointing out the huge liability potential of the tall fence might have them fixing it even sooner. My time living in a condo proved to me over and over that the way to get something fixed or changed at a condo is to point out the liability risk. Condos and their boards hate to get sued.
Deez Nuts
at 12:27 pm
Almost hit several people there as well the few times i parked at your place. Brutal design- great building!
DavidP
at 11:05 pm
Have you ever noticed that half of the mirrors in the underground parking at VU are usually pointing in the wrong directions? I crawl at the slowest speed down there just so I don’t get hit in a turn.
Graham
at 2:30 pm
Today, I was walking by the development at 90 Broadview Ave and they have a similar situation. It’s not a fence, but the actual building/garage entrance comes all the way to the sidewalk. Plus, there is a laneway immediately adjacent to (south of) the driveway entrance.
To improve vision, they put in a giant window that drivers can look through to see if a car is in the lane/driveway or if a pedestrian is on the sidewalk.
Check it out if you are in the area.
Krupo
at 10:36 pm
In Europe garages open right up on the sidewalk like that – there are lovely loud flashing lights and alarm klaxons to warn people of cars exiting… actually some downtown office garages have the same too.