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Quay to the City

- jeeff - Monday, October 16th, 2006 : goo

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this summer toronto held a test of plans to remodel the central strip of (pronounced "key"). these changes were suggested as part of west 8's winning entry for the central harbourfront redesign competition.

www.towaterfront.ca/dynamic.php?first=43fa75b221b08&second=43fa7f3cddad8&third=442c38f26aee1&fourth=442f3fec4b33d

the test ran from august 11th to the 20th, and included replacing one eastbound lane with grass, a row of geraniums, and the missing link in the .

this test cost several million dollars, so there was plenty of flashy marketing. the marketing seemed to do its job, as there were tons of people testing out the new amenities when i dropped by. if judged successful, the 'quay to the city' changes could be made permanent in some form within a couple of years.

here's the map:

image 16533

and my photos:

image 16534
there were apparently two of these, one at each end of the installation. i only saw this one.

image 16535
cute idea, but kind of imposing.

image 16536
one guy asked if it was okay to walk on the grass.

image 16537
the geraniums were nice.

image 16538
here's the marketing.

image 16539
and here's a stealth streetcar, covered in marketing camo.

the official page (with survey):
www.towaterfront.ca/dynamic.php?first=43fa75b221b08&second=43fa7f3cddad8&third=442c38f26aee1&fourth=44ed0ffc8f8d3

did you check out 'quay to the city'? what did you think?

This article has been viewed 10200 times in the last 7 years


kricket: 16th Oct 2006 - 01:30 GMT

i meant to go to that but i never got around to it. this is the first i've heard about what went down at queen's quay.

i like the way the grass looks a lot. the bike tower seems like a bit much though. of course, it would be novel if you could grab a bike from it at one end, cycle down queen's quay blvd, and then drop it off at the other end (or can you?).

zagg: 16th Oct 2006 - 02:02 GMT

funny, dispite the times i've been to toronto (i live 3 hrs south-west) ---- I never knew thats how you pronounce queens quay.

i still want to pronounce how it looks.

jeeff: 16th Oct 2006 - 12:44 GMT

kricket - you couldn't, but i like your idea. i don't think the bike towers will be incorporated into the permanent version.

chiamattt: 16th Oct 2006 - 22:11 GMT

You cannot walk on the grass in Seoul. Grass is at a premium here. You pay about 30cents to go into a walled park to walk on designated paths. There are benches to sit on...but don't think of stepping over the cute fence to sit on the grass. They pay old people to shoe you away.

zagg: 16th Oct 2006 - 22:31 GMT

Ok, question... because I just don't understand why it's pronounced "KEY" --- how can QUAY be pronounced any different than how it looks (k'way)

WHY? HOW? WHEN?

Micah: 16th Oct 2006 - 22:45 GMT

Quay is an alternative (British) spelling of key, like Key Largo, key lime pie. Origin late Middle English key, from Old French kay, of Celtic origin. The change of spelling in the late 17th century was influenced by the modern French spelling quai. Yay Oxford Dictionary of English (Oxford: 2001, Oxford University Press)!

barry: 17th Oct 2006 - 01:49 GMT

Co,Fermanagh.N,Ireland.The word Quay is used on road signs to let people no were thay can get their boat on,off the water.

kricket: 17th Oct 2006 - 03:03 GMT

for the most part, i'm sick of big empty sterile manicured green fields of grass that no one walks on (usually it just looks like a poor excuse for green space) - but here i like the way it works along the waterfront.

zagg: 17th Oct 2006 - 03:04 GMT

webster.com shows it can be pronounced three different ways, including mine -- so even if i'm just a silly sarnian, i think i'll say it my way ;x

Peter: "marketing camo"... nice.

Kat: 21st Oct 2006 - 15:28 GMT

now it doesn't seem to make any sense to pronounce it "K'way to the City" but I shall as well! For the longest time I had no idea what people were talking about when they said they were going to Queen's Key- isn't it a kway?

jeeff: 21st Oct 2006 - 19:36 GMT

i think its just one of those silly things people hang on to in order to seperate "us" from "them". just like the endless argument over "the beach" or "the beaches" neighbourhood.

my own opinion about the 'quay to the city':
the addition to the martin goodman trail and the calming of traffic are the big improvements, and both are definitely nice. the geraniums looked good, but i guess that's not hard to manage for 10 days. over the longer term, i wonder if the city can manage to keep them looking nice, or whether they'll get scraggly, patchy, or just plain boring after a while.

the lawn looked nice, but i wonder if it won't just be another strip of empty weedy grass in a year or two. i think i'd prefer the space be more socially well-defined, with plenty of seating and some sort of shade (there's a new-ish park on king west with a cool shade structure).

i'm curious to see whether the final version includes any significant changes to the landscaping or whether it pretty much stays the same. time will tell...

barry: 22nd Oct 2006 - 00:23 GMT

image 16652

Killmore Quay.

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