Waterfront photos by Nikki Ormerod / Streeter photos by Diana Monge (east) and Nana Arbova (west) / Streeter interviews by Lara Zarum (east) and Jacqueline Perlin (west)

Thu Aug 11, 2011
Places

A day in the life of Toronto’s waterfront

Toronto’s waterfront is ~~beautiful~~/~~ugly~~/underrated. But no matter what you think of it, you can’t deny that it’s rich with history and interesting stories. We invite you to take our extensive photo- and info-graphic tour of the waterfront, from Ontario Place all the way to the Scarborough Bluffs.

Click on the links below for close-up, zoomable views of the pictorials (or click here for a 112-second video tour of the waterfront):

Part 1: from the Ontario Place Cinesphere to the Hyrdofuge Waterslide

Part 2: from The National Yacht Club to Harbourfront Centre

Part 3: from the Corus Entertainment headquarters to the International Marine Passenger Terminal

Part 4: from the Donald D. Summerville Olympic Pool to the R.C. Harris Filtration Plant

Part 5: from the Toronto Hunt Club to Bluffers Park

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BH

Toronto’s waterfront is a babyshambles. It shows decades of a lack of vision, creativity and leadership for shaping Toronto into a unique place — despite what the city’s billboards say, it is not a world-class destination. Chicago has done infinitely better.
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12:11 pm on August 11, 2011

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Hans Blix

+1
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12:33 pm on August 11, 2011
James

Be that as it may, it has improved since I was a kid (30 years ago). On the long weekend, my two kids and I swam at Ward’s Island and Ashbridge’s Bay… the water was fantastic.
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4:37 pm on August 11, 2011

Norm Turner

It appears that the waterfront is blocked to many Toronto residents. The genesis of the problem may have started with the decision to build the Gardner as an elevated thoroughfare rather than one at ground level. The second error seems to have been allowing condos to be built south of the expressway. Chicago do not make either of these mistakes. Buildings (with a few exceptions) are restricted to north of the thoroughfare. The land south of this expressway is restricted to parks, museums, athletic fields and an aquarium. Of course, Toronto derives a great deal of tax revenue from the condos south of the expressway.
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10:58 am on August 11, 2011

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James

Y’know, I think that perception is becoming a myth now. As the development of the rail lands has progressed, it has created a easier link between the core and the waterfront. (Mind you, I’m olny speaking about the area from Bay to Bathurst. Queens Quay east of Bay is at the beginning of redevelopment.) I frequently walk down from my office to the waterfront. The wide walk way under the tracks is OK and the section under the Gardner is not all that bad, a bit noisy though.
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4:33 pm on August 11, 2011
Giddy

Sorry Mr. Turner, but it’s a myth that the waterfront is blocked to anyone. I live on the waterfront and have never had a problem getting in or out of the area: no obstacles to climb over or under. At the fireworks celebrations for 2000, there were 3/4 of a million people that made it down here and they all made it back. And, there is further evidence by presence of huge crowds that stroll along the waterfront every weekend that access is not a problem. Also, pedestrians have access behind every single condo down here. Before those condos were built, there wasn’t even a path you could walk along.
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12:18 pm on August 14, 2011
Morty

That’s a little misleading. Most of Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive hugs the water—there’s no room for development. It would be like having the Gardiner on the edge of the beach, only if the Gardiner were three lanes in each direction and at grade. I don’t see how that would have made the lake more accessible.

The big difference between Toronto and Chicago is more prosaic: it’s money. Simply put, Chicago has been able to invest far more in its waterfront with far more more support, and far less interference, from higher levels of government. Toronto has long been the goose laying golden eggs as far as the rest of the province and the rest of the country are concerned. If the city were simply allowed to use a slightly larger fraction of the taxes collected within its borders the waterfront, and the rest of the city, would be jewels.
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1:55 pm on August 14, 2011

Je

Is there no waterfront west of Ontario Place?
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10:55 am on August 11, 2011

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James

Yea… I asked that about the article too. Aparently, to do all of the waterfront was too big a project… maybe they’ll to the West in another issue?
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4:39 pm on August 11, 2011
James Gass

Yeah they skipped bits in between too. What about Tom Thompson park?
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12:37 pm on August 12, 2011

Buddha

Spelling mistake: ‘The crane can lift’, not ‘life’.
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10:37 am on August 11, 2011

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Stuart Berman

An earlier proof of the story (with the typo) was accidentally uploaded here, but this has since been fixed. The text is correct in the print edition as well.
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1:56 pm on August 11, 2011

Dorothy Fraser

Thanks so much for this pleasant early morning tour. I grew up near the bluffs and have happy memories of standing as close to the edge as possible with my siblings and promising our parents that we wouldn’t fall off.

I’m going to call my sisters today and plan a little trip to “the edge”.

My favourite person in the montage is the “reverse cottager” who commutes to TO on summer weekends with her family to vaycay on their boat.
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7:45 am on August 11, 2011

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Wayne

Nice job but my dog already has had his breakfast.
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6:33 am on August 11, 2011

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JimD

This is a fun, entertaining feature! I hope you do more of them around the city.
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6:30 am on August 11, 2011

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