4 ms·

The backlash against this is pretty ridiculous. Despite the dystopian rhetoric, in reality it was a small project of 12 acres that would have held a few condos.

The backlash against this is pretty ridiculous. Despite the dystopian rhetoric, in reality it was a small project of 12 acres that would have held a few condos. By comparison CityPlace is 44 acres and was also done by one company. So shat do people imagine will happen now? Instead of trying something new and interesting on a small scale, that same land will be given to another generic developer (Concord/Tridel/whatever) and they'll just do more of same. It's not bad, just meh. But honestly, Toronto is a fairly conservative place, so it makes sense.

saltedonion 6y ago
I think most people were bothered by the technology integration, and not the urban planning.
hn_check 6y ago
For most of its lifecycle it was a 190 acre project, not 12 acres. https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/06/21/google-sister-company-pitches-190-acre-toronto-plan-vows-quayside-will-be-economic-windfall-for-city.html https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/06/21/google-sister-co... "By comparison CityPlace is 44 acres and was also done by one company" That company owned the land, and via the normal development process they ended up dedicating 8 acres to parks, etc.
cmdshiftf4 6y ago
>that same land will be given to another generic developer (Concord/Tridel/whatever) and they'll just do more of same Pre-COVID I'd likely agree with you, however due the new realities of COVID I believe the future of cities has drastically changed. I personally don't believe Toronto will recover from COVID to anywhere near the state it held at the end of 2019 and therefore further expansion/housing/real estate development will likely look drastically different. >Toronto is a fairly conservative place, so it makes sense. Compared with where? And why would you believe that to be the case? My own interpretation, having lived there for years, is that the appetite for further infrastructure development has been strangled from Torontonians via very high costs of living, low wages compared to similar cities and high direct & indirect taxes.
catalogia 6y ago
If it really were nothing more than mundane construction work, then why was Google involved in it?

saltedonion 6y ago

I think most people were bothered by the technology integration, and not the urban planning.

hn_check 6y ago

For most of its lifecycle it was a 190 acre project, not 12 acres. https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/06/21/google-sister-company-pitches-190-acre-toronto-plan-vows-quayside-will-be-economic-windfall-for-city.html https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/06/21/google-sister-co... "By comparison CityPlace is 44 acres and was also done by one company" That company owned the land, and via the normal development process they ended up dedicating 8 acres to parks, etc.

cmdshiftf4 6y ago

>that same land will be given to another generic developer (Concord/Tridel/whatever) and they'll just do more of same Pre-COVID I'd likely agree with you, however due the new realities of COVID I believe the future of cities has drastically changed. I personally don't believe Toronto will recover from COVID to anywhere near the state it held at the end of 2019 and therefore further expansion/housing/real estate development will likely look drastically different. >Toronto is a fairly conservative place, so it makes sense. Compared with where? And why would you believe that to be the case? My own interpretation, having lived there for years, is that the appetite for further infrastructure development has been strangled from Torontonians via very high costs of living, low wages compared to similar cities and high direct & indirect taxes.

catalogia 6y ago

If it really were nothing more than mundane construction work, then why was Google involved in it?