If you're familiar with Toronto, you'll know that one ubiquitous feature of its urban landscape is street poles and overhead wires. They're everywhere. And even if you aren't acutely aware of their presence, they're probably impacting your experience in some way. It's one of the reasons why some streets just feel nicer than others.
As an example, here are two AI-generated images that show what the same street in Toronto might look like if you (1) removed the street poles/overhead wires, (2) added some trees, and (3) expanded the boulevard on one side. The AI images do look like AI — and that helps them appear broadly cleaner/nicer — but even still, the streetscape impact is dramatic.
As Toronto expands its Avenue network and works to rethink its Major Streets, we should also be thinking about bringing beauty and grandeur to our most important arteries. As it stands right now, many of our urban streets do not reflect the kind of global city that we have become.
Cover photo by Dmitry Gerasimenko on Unsplash
