Quote:
Originally Posted by TorontoDrew
I love it when people say Toronto is trying to copy Time square when Yonge Street has always been a street of lit up signs and advertisements. In fact it was one of the first cities on the globe to do this. Is London trying to be NYC with Piccadilly circus as well? What about Tokyo? They should really try to be more original.
|
It's the other way around. Anyone who visited Times Square in the 1970's would know that it was eventually "turned around and saved" by becoming an American version of places like Tokyo/Piccadilly. Granville street had more pervasive signage (neon) than Times Square. This is not to say Times Square was without commercial 'light' but, at night, it was a dark lonely place overall.
I don't mind it if Toronto is copying a model of an intensified commercial square. That doesn't weaken its originality anymore than any city that learns from the good things other city's have accomplished, like: parks and squares, street furniture, pavement types, integrated cycle paths, street food, etc. . . .