Pioneer Village Subway (New)

Pioneer Village Station runs diagonally under the intersection of Steeles Avenue West and Northwest Gate and is intended to provide access for existing and future developments, along Steeles Avenue West. Station surface buildings have been laid out to maximize the potential for transit oriented development to occur.
Commuter parking for 1,881 vehicles and associated access roads are located in the hydro corridor to the north of the station. The main entrance to the subway is located on the north side of Steeles Avenue West and provides access to the YRT bus terminal, the on-street Passenger Pick-Up and Drop Off and commuter parking. Between the main entrance and the YRT bus terminal is the TTC substation. The YRT bus terminal will be operated and maintained by York Region. A pedestrian walkway from the commuter parking lot through the YRT bus terminal will be designed to provide a protected route for passengers moving to and from the main entrance.
An automatic entrance is located south of Steeles Avenue West on the east side of Northwest Gate, adjacent to the TTC bus terminal. The bus terminal has access from the new Track & Field Road, Northwest Gate, and a new east-west road link south of the bus terminal. A second automatic entrance is located at the south end of the TTC bus terminal.
There are two concourses, one at each end of the station, allowing utilities and to allow future utilities and services to cross over the top of the station. The additional weight of backfill also helps reduce the impact of buoyancy caused by the high water table.
The Pioneer Village Station project incorporates the following environmental initiatives:

• Cool roofs and green roofs;
• Increased daylight levels to reduce electric lighting power usage;
• LED lighting in pylon signs, and energy efficient lighting in illuminated wayfinding signage to reduce power consumption;
• Water efficient plumbing fixtures;
• Energy efficient HVAC system;
• Reduced storm water runoff into the municipal drainage system by utilizing green roof landscaping and soft landscaping areas adjacent to other building runoff areas;
• Short term bicycle parking spaces; and
• Landscaping with native and drought tolerant species.

The roofs over the entrance buildings are cool roofs and the roofs over  the TTC bus terminal and substation building are green roofs. Glazing is clear bird-friendly fritted glass. The façades are clad with weathering steel metal panels with matching porcelain enamel panels at the base. The TTC bus terminal, entrance buildings and substation are clad in solid weathering steel panels above the touch zone with glass or porcelain enamel below.
Hard landscaping will be white and grey concrete in a pattern to match the architecture. Soft landscaping will be hardy and low maintenance for durability in the local environment.

York University (New)

York University Station is located in the heart of the York University Campus, crossing diagonally under Ian Macdonald Boulevard, with the main entrance in the Harry W. Arthurs Common. The York University Station is intended to remove the existing bus service currently circulating through the Common, and to provide pedestrian access for existing and future facilities and developments on the York University campus. The necessary TTC, YRT, Viva, and GO bus services will be relocated to bus terminals at Pioneer Village Station and Highway 407 Station.
The main entrance is located on the west side of Ian Macdonald Boulevard with two covered entry wings rising up to the north and south side of the Common. The entrance also has a lightwell from the Common providing daylight into the concourse and  views to the campus. A roof structure links the two entrance pavilions and the lightwell. Glazing on the east side of the entrance structure provides natural light down to the concourse level. The lightwells in the Common provide passenger orientation and opportunities for daylight harvesting according to the Toronto Green Standard.
The York University Station project incorporates the following environmental initiatives:

• Cool roof and green roofs;
• Increased daylight levels to reduce electric lighting power usage;
• LED lighting in pylon signs, and energy efficient lighting in illuminated wayfinding; 
• Water efficient plumbing fixtures;
• Energy efficient HVAC system;
• Reduced storm water runoff into the municipal drainage system by utilizing green roof landscaping and soft, landscaping areas adjacent to other building runoff areas;
• 26 short term bicycle parking spaces; and
• Landscaping with native and drought tolerant species provided.

A major element of this station design is the roof over the upper concourse and entrances in the Common. This metal roof is considered a cool roof as it has a high solar reflectance and absorbs little heat.
The roof is clad in standing seam anodized aluminum panels with anodized aluminum cladding to the ring beam. Glazing is bird-friendly fritted glass in painted steel curtain wall framing. The emergency exit buildings and secure bicycle storage will have green roofs and will be clad in opaque glass panels. Hard landscaping will be concrete. Soft landscaping will be generally hardy and low maintenance for durability in the local environment.

Finch West Subway (new)

Finch West Station is located under Keele Street, north of Finch Avenue West. The hydro corridor to the north of the station and can accommodate up to 350 cars in the parking lot.  There's also a pick up and drop off across from Keele Street.

Passengers that approach the station from this area cross the Four Winds Drive extension to enter the station through an automatic entrance on the east side of Keele Street.

The automatic entrance, bus terminal, and secure bicycle parking are located under an elevated substation facility. The northern end of the substation box extends over the automatic entrance doors providing a canopy to this entrance. This extension is back lit to form a glowing panel to further highlight the entrance point to patrons from the parking lot and the passenger pick-up and drop-off.


The main entrance is located on the west side of Keele Street just north of the intersection with Finch Avenue West. The cool roof over this entrance and the green roof over the elevated substation box meet the Toronto Green Standard and the Green Roof Bylaw.

There is a bird-friendly fritted glass, with occasional panels of coloured art glass, in clear anodized aluminum curtain wall framing. The parapet wall and façade above the glazing are clad with fibrous cement panels in a black and white graphic pattern.

Finch West Station incorporates:

• Cool roof and green roofs;
• Increased daylight levels to reduce electric lighting power usage;
• LED lighting in pylon signs, and energy efficient lighting in illuminated wayfinding;
• Water efficient plumbing fixtures;
• Energy efficient HVAC system;
• 

  Reduced storm water runoff into the municipal drainage system by utilizing green roof landscaping and soft landscaping areas adjacent to other building runoff areas;
• 100 secure and 13 short term bicycle parking spaces; and
• Landscaping with native and drought tolerant species.

Toronto Christmas Market - Distillery District

The Toronto Christmas Market opens the month of December.  It's inspired by the Old World and influenced by the new. It celebrates the sounds, sights and scents of Christmas. Set in the Victorian-era, cobblestone-lined Distillery Historic District, the Christmas Market brings together local craftspeople, musicians and artisanal food-makers for a truly festive experience. 

Relax sipping on mulled wine and European-style Christmas cocktails as you browse through the selection of hand-made ornaments, wood carvings and crafts. Then cozy up by the fire or listen to carollers and brass bands and check out authentic European dancers. Don’t forget to stop by the giant Christmas tree for your kodak moment (I know I'm showing my age here!).

Free admission Tuesday to Friday; $6.00 admission Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday. The Market is closed on Mondays.



The the Lowe's Christmas Market as it was christened is a great time for all ages, especially for the kids (which is what I think Christmas is really for anyways).  
You'll find on weekends, the crowds are over the top leaving little for wiggle room.  So if you can take some time off during the week, it may be easier to keep your eye on your kids. 
 
Every year the Market opens with the traditional Christmas tree lighting ceremony on the 22nd of November, there are Christmas carolers and dance performances, ferris wheel and a horse carousel and lots of lots of foodies. 










The kids will love activities like Santa’s House and the life-sized gingerbread house.   You will love the cold and warm brews in the beer gardens.  

A Christmas market, is known as Christkindlmarkt where it  originated in Germany and although they are held all over the world now, the basic feel to the market still remains in the Germanic theme with the street market associated with the celebration of Christmas during the first four weeks of Advent. This also will explain why Santa Claus has the appearance of wearing long robes rather than a red suit as they are keeping his attire akin to the Germanic Christmas traditions.

It's definitely worth a visit, whether you make it a part of your annual Christmas family time or just a one time visit. 

Happy 150 Years to Canada

Without the risk of jumping on the familiar band wagon and screeching Happy Canada Day in a crowd full of happy and drunken Torontonians or wherever these people are from, we all celebrated the sesquicentennial incoming with the question, "what's with the duck?"

But I was there to photograph it along with so many others trying to get that perfect shot, feeling stupid.  I even witnessed some man from Hong Kong yelling at his girlfriend for moving because he was looking for that perfect night shot of her profile in front of a giant yellow duck.  I had to laugh. 

Never before have I ever felt so stupid for being part of a 'once in a lifetime' moment.

Next up! Fireworks from the CN tower.  Are we all that spoiled that we are not fascinated by fireworks anymore?  I never heard an ooooh  or an ahhhhhh  from the crowd while these beautiful flowers of light were coming from the sides of the CN restaurant.  I did my best to take the shots as they came, but I couldn't help but feel a little bored of the colours of red.  My personal favorite is blue, so perhaps the hues of blue would have brought some more activity from my camera.

The final show was from the docks of the Asbridges Bay, where I had to chuckle as we all, as a crowd felt compelled to move and shuffle to a different direction to view because we didn't know where the fireworks were coming from.  Here's the best of the lot! :)

Scarborough Bluffs

I have often wondered if they had ever done a yearly analysis on the erosion rate of the Scarborough Bluffs, since I had noticed over time a substantial decrease in the height of the mountainous height of sand level. I did find this from a study in 1979. 

"Bluffer's Park, a 2.41km reach of Lake Ontario shoreline in the Borough of

Scarborough, was used as a case study.  The erosion rate, being an annual measure of a volume of material eroded from a linear metre of shore linehaving a bluff height of 1 metre (m3/m/m/yr), was found to be 0.34m3/m/m/yr.)  This rate is an average over the face of the bluff and is in the same range as the rates normally associated with other areas of Scarborough Bluffs. "

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Springs first thaw has created flooding in certain parts of Toronto this year.  I've never seen the bluffers with so much overflow, leaving muck piles everywhere.  Water is rising due to global warming and I've heard the cottage is flooded, but we'll wait until we can get closer to check it out.

There are certain looks that the Bluff cliffs give that makes me think of Arizona for some reason? 

The layers of sand and clay exposed in these cliffs display a remarkable geological record of the last stages of the Great Ice Age. Unique in North America, they have attracted worldwide scientific interest. The first 46 metres of sediments contain fossil plants and animals that were deposited in a large river delta during the first advance of the Wisconsinan glacier some 70,000 years ago. They are covered by 61 metres of boulder clay and sand in alternating layers left by four subsequent advances and retreats of ice. The final withdrawal of the glacier occurred some 12,000 years ago.

They also found clay minerals int he triassic rocks in the colorado plateau, which would explain why I relate the two North American sites.

Glen Rouge Campground

Lately, it certainly doesn't feel like camping weather, but it's nice to plan ahead sometimes and dream about warmer days even though it seems they'll never come again!

Located at 7540 Kingston Road is Toronto's only campground.  Even in winter, there are tons of trails to hike each with an average of about 1.5-2.5 km taking you through valleys, meadows, orchards, along creeks and streams and vista overlooking the Rouge River.

It was a cool afternoon after a nice lunch, and I was burning up calories to make up for the chocolate ice cream I had for dessert.  A lot of the Rouge Valley is perfect for camping and this place has its fill of customers from May - October.  It's far enough from the city (about a 20 minute drive) to get a look at the stars at night.  I think one of the bonuses of the Glen Rouge Campground is that it's close enough to home (just in case an emergency comes up) and yet it doesn't feel like you're in the city at all when  you are meandering through the forests.  Even in the winter, the trees are alive with birds, most of which never migrate.


I hadn't walked over to the beach area and why would I in January? However in mid-summer, you'll enjoy sandy beaches and if  you have kids, there's a few swings in a small playground for them and plenty of power stations and water at every camp site.


My favorite trees last all year long here, and this is really what I love about this place, the Jack Pines.  It's really a toss up between them and the melancholic willow tree.

 Funny to see a little woodpecker, I think that's what it was.  It was a little blue bird, with a long beak making a rat-a-tat-tat sound against the trees.  If anyone knows what kind of bird it is, feel free to send me a line.


Other activities besides hiking, and swimming at the beach are paddling on the creek, cycling on a few of the trails and for a change a scenic drive though the valley along Reesor Road, Lapps Cider Mill (built in 1872), Glen Eagles Vista, Bailey Bridge (1954) and through Bob Hunter Memorial Park.

So that's about it, it took an hour or so to finish a trail stopping to take the occasional picture.  If you are interested in checking out this campground this year, they take reservations as early as January, so get your name in there soon before it fills up.

Happy Trails!

Samuel Smith Park

I have to admit, I really am NOT a winter person.  I chill to the bone and search for warmth wherever I can find it.  Just yesterday on my way into work, I wrapped myself up for a 5 minute walk going by a downtown construction site where men were out already at such an early hour in the morning.  I felt bad for them because I thought in a few minutes, I'll be warm as apple pie and they may be spending the entire day out here! 

Weekends can be tricky as I find myself having all sorts of ideas and itineraries in the evening while curled up in front of my computer, but by morning I'm still curled up in bed thinking about all kinds of reasons why to go outside at all.

I think it looks better in B & W

A positive experience I wanted to share was Arrowhead Provincial Park, located in Huntsville.  It offers a lot of outdoor activities in winter.  One of which is the over kilometre long skating trail which we did last year and loved!

The only 'con' was that it can get a little crowded which takes away from the 'man against nature' feel, but it's still something to do at least once in a lifetime!

Since I put my camera down for over a year, I never took any pictures of the day except for some on my phone which really aren't any better than anything you'll find if you do a search on Arrowhead ski trail.

Right here in the city, we have our own version of the skating trail, at Colonel Samuel Smith Park - actually several of them including one at the Brickworks so there's no need to travel north if you want to stay close to your warm bed.


Here's the unofficial but well maintained site which I found to be an excellent resource.

http://www.cityrinks.ca/wiki/wiki.php?n=CityRinks.FrontPage

Happy New Year 2017

  Every new year we wish to come up with some way to begin again.  To apologize for  our past, to mend broken hearts, broken dreams, broken promises, but in the end we need to learn from our mistakes.

To be better people, to learn from the pain from loss, the hope for the future and to give more of ourselves than we have done before.  If that means we come up short, so be it.

Nothing is more precious than family and friends, and that means no matter how much money, or job status, or goal mines we discover, our friends and family or really anyone we hold precious and dear in our lives, are worth all their weight in gold.

Let this year, not be a way to begin again or struggle with ourselves to correct what mistakes we think we have but rather to move forward.  To learn from the past and continue walking forward one step at a time.