Spadina WaveDeck

Like many other cities that we've lived in, Toronto's waterfront was perhaps more practical than scenic.  New York City's west coast was once that way too, but over the past decade or so, the City has been turning dilapidated piers into the beautiful Hudson River Park with interesting public spaces.  And Toronto's starting to catch the drift too.  Enter Spadina WaveDeck.

In our years of living in Toronto and the GTA (Tamar: 2, Jon: 19) we rarely ventured to the waterfront.  The waterfront is blocked off in parts by the Gardiner Expressway, and just never seemed like a "place to go."  We would rather walk through Kensington Market or into the Annex.  But now we have a hankering for the waterfront.

An effort by WATERFRONToronto, here's the architect's statement:

"Spadina WaveDeck is the first in a series of timber structures that explore variations of a simple articulation in the change in level between Queen Quay Boulevard and Lake Ontario along the Toronto Central Waterfront.  Responding to the current pinch-points where the streetscape meets the water's edge, a new public space gateway is created where the city kisses the lake, inspired by the sinuous contours of the shoreline of the Canadian lakefront."

Sounds romantic, eh?

Well check out these pictures.  

Can you imagine just strolling around at night?

Or enjoying the sun (and maybe a picnic) during the day?

To get here from one of the hotels, you have two options - both of which involve a subway and a streetcar.

You can head westbound on Bloor (from the Bloor-Yonge, Bay Street or St. George stations) to Spadina station, or just walk there, which will take 10-20 minutes.  From Spadina, hop on the 510 Spadina Streetcar southbound to Queens Quay and you're there.  

Alternatively, head southbound (from either Museum or Bloor-Yonge station) to Union Station and take the 509 Harbourfront Streetcar westbound to Spadina.  Remember - transfers are free on the TTC!