D. Bowes

Location

Joined

September, 2021

Recent Activity

Supported a comment by Cairns Deleway on Engage East Harbour 2 years ago
Cairns Deleway
Emphasis on ensuring streets don't feel bland: Signage, string lights, markets, arts and culture will make an office district not feel just like a place to do business. Nearby distillery district does this well, it would be nice to see a lot of offbeat shops and of course cool design that can be admired at grade.
Supported a comment by Cairns Deleway on Engage East Harbour 2 years ago
Cairns Deleway
Note for project team: Please learn from the Mirvish village development happening in Toronto - there seems to be a great mix of cultural space, one-of-kind retail spaces and pedestrian oriented streets with neon-lit signs that look very appealing. If east harbour has this unique mix and creates streets that appeal to pedestrians through these intimate laneway connections, this will invariably become a destination.
Followed Engage East Harbour 2 years ago
Supported a comment by Cairns Deleway on Engage East Harbour 2 years ago
Cairns Deleway
Nightlife. Young people in Toronto want more options that don't close so early. A way to keep East Harbour afloat past 5pm is to bring in a wide range of bars, clubs and cultural options that go through the night. Knowing Torontonians, I know noise is going to be a concern, so look at ways venues can reduce noise through insulation or certain design elements. We have to remember we are in a large city, a noise is inevitable. We have lost over a dozen music venues because of the pandemic, it is at a dire situation for us in the music/entertainment industry. The cultural industries are the hardest hit industry and it expected to take the longest to recover. Ensure East Harbour can accommodate a large number of these types of establishments to position Toronto as a competitive place to 'have fun'. Unfortunately, Montreal is the cultural capital of Canada... but East Harbour should seek to challenge this. Retail should be unique, focusing on shops that you wouldn't normally find in other retail districts downtown. Perhaps local designers, or international designers looking to open a staple Canadian location. Please ensure Live music and live performance is engrained in East Harbour's DNA, as well as give opportunities to artists/buskers being pushed out of Toronto.
Commented on Engage East Harbour 2 years ago
Partnership with the local businesses, commercial property owners, and BIA, who can help East Harbour become part of a wholistic neighbourhood, providing spaces for the unique businesses that can't or won't be viable in the brand new retail on the East Harbour site. East Harbour can't possibly be any good as a community if it becomes one with a view to being a "self-contained" neighbourhood: that would result in a bleak and soul-less place...just like Canary Wharf was for it's first decade or two of existence post-bankruptcy (I lived in London in the mid-2000's, and know first-hand how awful it was). With a bit of forward planning in collaboration with the thriving residential areas that currently surround the East Harbour site, East Harbour should be able to hit the ground running as a successful addition to the City. Don't repeat the shortsighted mistakes of the Canary Wharf developers who seemed to lack any understanding of how to develop with a view to neighbourhood planning for actual humans. They might have "won" by certain real estate metrics, but they could have made those same wins in a way that made Canary Wharf useful to real people a decade sooner than it was. Make this neighbourhood a win-win from the start. It's an outcome that it is within your grasp.
Commented on Engage East Harbour 2 years ago
Community Services & Facilities