More beautiful city something we should build toward

Re Ugly Toronto: Why can’t we have beauty? Editorial, Nov. 30

Kudos to the Star Editorial Board for backing the Toronto city council’s motion asking the public for ideas to “help build a more beautiful and engaging city.” It is true that “dozens of new but mostly banal buildings have opened their doors” over time in Toronto. And the best time for more modern architecture would have been before much of the city was remade.

Toronto the Good is one of the cities that has much to offer to residents and visitors alike. But it is clear that we are falling behind other global cities such as Prague, Sydney, Johannesburg and Vancouver. It’s time to raise our voices in favour of change — for the better. Nothing wrong in shooting for the sky — Toronto the Good and Beautiful! Rudy Fernandes, Mississauga

I couldn’t agree more with the Saturday editorial. I have travelled to many cities and have recently come back from Australia. I always am amazed at the wonderful architecture in places such as Shanghai, Barcelona and Sydney, where architectural contests are often held for new buildings in the city centre. And the waterfronts have pedestrian walkways, or central squares. In Auckland they are putting in millions for a new LRT and redevelopment. Barcelona has done an amazing job with their waterfront. We have much work to do. Get the city council working and not arguing. Mona Strasberg, Thornhill

If Toronto City Council is in a recent motion is calling for ideas to “help build a more beautiful and engaging city,” reforming our Committees of Adjustment and Toronto Local Appeal Body would be a great place to start. These tribunals routinely approve new oversized homes that look out of place and create a visual dissonance with the existing streetscape and surrounding homes. In neighbourhoods where these monstrosities now dominate there is no “sense of place.” Toronto’s Official Plan policies requiring development in established neighbourhoods “respect and reinforce the prevailing physical character” are routinely ignored thanks to slick planning consultants who glibly persuade these tribunals that their clients’ zoning variance requests represent “good planning” while the residents who object and live with the aftermath are frequently ignored. In our neighbourhood, this phenomenon has become an epidemic of bad taste. It’s a scandal of Toronto’s own making thanks to insufficient staff, bureaucratic indifference and powerful industry lobbyists. Harold B. Smith, architect, Toronto