JUST RIGHT?

Re Tall Buildings Are Missing From Toronto’s East Downtown Plan. Why? (May 5): I find that tall buildings do not address climate change, sustainability, pandemics and wind shears. Meanwhile they often create hostile streetscape for flora and fauna, including citizens.

If we are concerned about leaving a legacy for future generations, we should stick with proven design solutions that have stood the test of time. These are blocks, on a human scale, that range in height from four to seven stories, that are within the stair-climbing capabilities of most adults. They can adapt to changing needs over generations. They allow the sun to penetrate street level. They shelter those streets from high northerly winds and wind chill during winter months.

I see high-rise glass towers as 20th-century follies that have no place in the 21st.

John Newell Toronto

Is Toronto really inescapably destined to a Manhattanized future of endless canyons of faceless glass high-rises? A large number of Torontonians prefer to live in a human-scaled city with treelined neighbourhoods and lowdensity development.

Granted, the conflicting pressures between promoting population growth and protecting existing character are a difficult balance to achieve. But must endless high-rises be the only option? If the rate of growth and intensification continues, Toronto may no longer be the city we’ve come to love.

Rob Lachance Toronto

I am an architect and city planner with close to 50 years experience in Britain, Italy and the Middle East. Decisions on densities and heights of towers should not be decided on an ad hoc basis, but rather in the context of an overall master plan for the Greater Toronto Area. The entire region is interconnected by employment, housing, transportation, etc., and should be viewed as such in planning terms.

I think columnist Alex Bozikovic is absolutely right in pushing for homes and jobs to be in close proximity. This is sound planning practice and has already been implemented in downtown Toronto with the massive number of new high-rise residential towers. The quality of the urban design and architecture, however, leaves much to be desired.

Abbad Al Radi Toronto