The View From Here - Toronto Islands

Location: Taken from Franklin Children's Garden, Toronto Islands, looking north to the CN Tower
Date photo taken: 29 May 2014

In case you hadn't noticed, Toronto is undergoing a building boom. New construction is changing our streetscapes and altering our neighbourhoods, in some cases creating brand new ones where none existed before. It's nice then to have a landmark like the CN Tower, familiar and visible from so many different parts of the city. Even parts that feel miles removed from the city, like the Toronto Islands. Every now and again I intend to post a picture like this one, which documents one particular view in the city at one particular time. I think it will be interesting to look back in future years to see how those views have changed.

The Fish Hut - Stormwater Management

Location: The Queensway at Moynes Ave.
Date photo taken: 5 May 2014

When I first spotted this small hut sitting on the sidewalk I assumed it was a fish and chip stand. The painting on the side features a stylized fish so it seemed like a good guess but I was wrong. This structure is part of the monitoring system for a new stormwater runoff project being tested by the city. The project is called The Queensway Sustainable Sidewalk Study.

In the normal course of things, when it rains in Toronto the stormwater runs off through grates on the street and then flows completely untreated through tunnels to nearby streams or Lake Ontario. Along the way the water picks up debris and pollutants from road surfaces and lawns. This new system redirects rain water to two large chambers under the sidewalk. These chambers are filled with sand and mulch and have trees planted in them. When the water enters the chambers, it is filtered through layers of cloth and then is further filtered by the tree roots, sand and mulch. The result is cleaner water entering nearby Mimico Creek and happy, healthy trees providing shade on the sidewalk.

The small painted hut holds the monitoring equipment necessary to determine the effectiveness of the project. If it's a success, more chambers will be installed throughout the city. The painting on the hut was carried out by the Cecil Community Centre's Graffiti Transformation Project. It was designed and painted by program coordinator Erin Zimerman and a team of six youth artists.

For more information on stormwater management, visit the Toronto Water website, or check out this earlier post about the Yellow Fish program.

Walk Here

Location: In the sidewalk, Bloor St. W. at Brock Ave.
Date photo taken: 9 June 2014

This little bit of sparkle in the sidewalk is part of a street art project initiated by the Bloordale community called the Walk Here Bloordale Community Garden. Local residents were invited to a drawing workshop where they were encouraged to think about the many ways that flowers pop up in our lives, then to draw a flower that reminded them of a time when they either gave or received a flower. One hundred of these drawings were transformed into small stainless steel sculptures by artist Dyan Marie which were then embedded in the sidewalk along Bloor Street when the city re-paved it in 2013. This is a great example of how a local Business Improvement Area can work with city services to positively influence their neighbourhood.

The Bloordale BIA formed in 1976 and their mandate is: Improving the atmosphere, appearance and the economic viability of Bloordale, Bloor Street from Dufferin Street to Lansdowne Avenue. Coming up on July 19 - 20, they are presenting the BIG on Bloor Festival.

Immersion Land

Location: Sheppard-Yonge station, subway platform
Date photo taken: 28 April 2014

This rural view is one small portion of a large wrap-around artwork created on the Sheppard subway platform by artist Stacey Spiegel. Taken all together the images represent the varied landscapes to be found along Yonge Street as it stretches from Lake Ontario to North Bay. The image looks pixelated because it is a mosaic - 1,500,000 small porcelain tiles were used to create the range of landscapes. When viewed up close the scenes can be hard to decipher but when viewed at a distance, say from the opposite platform, the images are clear.