Queen West

Queen St. West was long considered the grunge and "alt" areas of Toronto, I believe some of this has moved further west. Its also the edge of the fashion district, meaning that there are several fabric, bead and ribbon stores, etc.
It had a very unique but also very Toronto feel ... slightly grungy, ;-)

Brickworks

Toronto is not without some interesting initiatives. This one was mentioned in a conservation article I read about. The site is called the Brickworks and it was once of the most prominent brick factories in the area. Now on site there is an exhibition space, market and mini-museum as well as a healthy dose of walking paths etc. Its difficult to say how the site fits into the rest of the city because we had limited sight. First it is located in the Don Vally, which is a strange place to begin with, a sunken ravine with park, river and ... autoroute. As it was so foggy when we went we could only see parts at a time and not appreciate the whole thing. This lead us to feel like the site was surrounded by a huge forest and of course which I don't think it is in reality. Of course the fog added an air of mystery to the whole visit.
The site is not yet fully realized, that is to say, there are areas which have building garbage and construction is still ongoing. At least however some of the spaces are kept as they are, that is to say in the state they were left as a brick factory. My other sites in TO would take another approached, keep the name and demo the rest. Some pictures from the visit.

Fog

Saturday night the city was blanketed in fog.
Coming back from a lovely dinner at a place called the Harbord House, the streets were perfect for a mystery.
The next day we went to something called the brickworks. The site used to be a brick factory and is now a farmers market, visitors center, gallery space and park. Quite interesting and unusual but not complete. 

Sunset

M and I went to the AGO, when we realised the sun was setting, we raced to the balconies (Franks little mushroom staircases) to see it.

M took some good pics, I only had my camera phone, so here you go. The colours are nearly as vibrant as in real life, the sky was streaked with the most gorgeous pinks and oranges.

U of T

This morning we went for a bike ride through UofT. There are some very pretty corners on campus, especially on a Saturday morning when there arent many people around. The buildings are very 1800's with many revival styles present. But mostly particularily are several courtyards which are a rare but lovely finding here.
We also popped into the Hart House, one of the earliest student centers in North America. It is a Gothic Revival building also with a courtyard. But to add to the experience, when we walked in there was choir practice going on. And the sounds filled the builiding. It quite felt as if one had walked into Hogwarts.

Buildings

Looking up John street towards the Grange and the AGO.

Urban shapes

Leafs fans.

Condoville

Places: Sugar Beach

One of the more interesting urban areas is the strip between the water and the Gardener Expressway. It is interesting because it may be an oportunity to "correct" some of the more dissapointing aspects of the downtown. That is to connect the city with the water and provide some human scale pathways. As its under construction its unfair to judge it yet. There are a couple of interesting places. The Harbourfront Center is a multi-use performace and gallery area and thats already attracting people. One of the completed project is called Sugar Beach, the name is a bit decieving and true to form our innitial reaction was dissapointment at this place, which was more of a landscaped park. However I actually stopped this morning and walked around. Taking it as a park and only a step to a larger development project, then I must say I found it quite enjoyable. It's a study in contrasts. As you can see, from the pictures, looking out towards the water it looks like a seaside resort. But then looking back towards the city you are reminded you are downtown and actually surrounded by more industrial functions.
The official speal
"Canada’s Sugar Beach is a whimsical new park that transformed a surface parking lot in a former industrial area into Toronto’s second urban beach at the water’s edge. Located at the foot of Lower Jarvis Street adjacent to the Redpath Sugar Factory, the 8500 square metre (2 acre) park is the first public space visitors see as they travel along Queens Quay from the central waterfront. The park’s brightly coloured pink beach umbrellas and iconic candy-striped rock outcroppings welcome visitors to the new waterfront neighbourhood of East Bayfront.

The design for Canada’s Sugar Beach, by Claude Cormier Architectes Paysagistes draws upon the industrial heritage of the area and its relationship to the neighbouring Redpath Sugar factory. The park features three distinct components: an urban beach; a plaza space; and a tree-lined promenade running diagonally through the park.
Canada’s Sugar Beach reminds us that Toronto’s waterfront is a playful destination. The beach allows visitors to while away the afternoon as they read, play in the sand or watch boats on the lake. A dynamic water feature embedded in a granite maple leaf beside the beach makes cooling off fun for adults and children."
So here are pictures from Sugar Beach (not a swimming beach, its quite the beach irony) designed by Claude Cormier.