Here are some shots from a recent walk around a small area in the Annex, just east of Bathurst and north of Bloor. I was only in the area photographing for about 30 minutes, so this collection is far from comprehensive. My intention was simply to show a variety of different architectural styles that existed in just a few city blocks. As the weather warms I will be revisiting the Annex and other Toronto neighbourhoods to take photos. While many people like to take beautiful shots of the skyline and the downtown, my photos are going to focus on the neighbourhoods outside the downtown core where most Torontonians live and where, in my opinion, the very best of the city can be found.
Also, I was hoping someone could tell me the best way to post photos on CD. I couldn't find an option to attach photos to my post, so I was forced to open an account on Flickr and use the links to each photo to display them. Hopefully it will work, because I haven't done this before. Okay, having posted the links I see that no picture appears and you must click on the link to see the image. How can I ensure that the image appears directly in my post?
A view of Bathurst St., looking north from Bloor:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9506289...ream/lightbox/
A building on Bathurst St. just north of Bloor with streetcar wires overhead:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9506289...ream/lightbox/
Some unique residential architecture:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9506289...ream/lightbox/
A traditional bay-and-gable style Toronto Victorian:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9506289...ream/lightbox/
A wider street view showing rows of semi-detached bay and gable Victorans:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9506289...ream/lightbox/
A very modern residential building alongside a more traditional pre-war building. I think they look quite nice together:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9506289...ream/lightbox/
A typical Annex-style Victorian. While not one of the finer examples, it is still quite nice and shows how the Annex-style Victorian is quite different from the bay and gable homes from the earlier shots, and are ubiquitous throughout much of Old Toronto:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9506289...ream/lightbox/
A pre-war walkup. Another example of the kind of building that could be mixed with other low and mid-rise residential and mixed-use buildings to create a dense new
neighbourhood, as opposed to the condo
developments that are being built on vacant land and do not have a traditional neighbourhood feel:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9506289...ream/lightbox/
A taller, larger residential buildingkwith simple but elegant architecture that offers an example of the kind of buildings we should be building in this city to create new neighbourhoods:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9506289...ream/lightbox/
Some unique older buildings flanked by an old church:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9506289...ream/lightbox/
Here is great old building that I imagine was once residential but now is some sort of school. This kind of taller building with its traditional Toronto-style brick facade would fit perfectly in a dense, low / mid-rise neighbourhood:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9506289...ream/lightbox/
These photos are not meant to capture the beautful homes of the Annex, or to be a comprehensive photographic survey of the neighbourhood (I will be putting one of those together shortly). What I really wanted to do was show the types of buildings that could be utilized in our new neighbourhoods. Built on a grid pattern and combined with mix-use buildings with commercial/retail at street level with apartments on the upper floors would IMO be a far better way to develop diverse neighbourhoods with good architecture that reflects Old Toronto's aesthetic (because our older buildings have a simple, elegant style that is timeless and perfect for our climate) as opposed to building condo developments that alienate residents and aer not on a human scale, and are not the types of neighbourhoods that would draw people in. In fact, these condo developments force people to leave their area to find bustling urban neighbourhoods where they can shop, dine, go for a drink, hit a bookstore or convenience store, lounge on a patio on a bustling street, or relax in a small cafe just around the corner from their place. Taken separately, these examples seem to have nothing to do with one another, but imagine a neighbourhood that utilizes all of those styles, from rowhouses and semis to mid-rise apartments and condos to taller buildings that do not dwarf the people on the street, and mixed-use buildings that bring people out into the street and into the neighbourhood, making it a destination rather than simply a place to live.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
