Building Tall in Toronto: Twitter Chat #TallTO

Mirvish+Gehry Toronto. Images source is credited as Mirvish Enterprises, Gehry Partners and Projectcore Inc.

On March 4, 2014, @MirvishGehryTO hosted an hour long discussion on Twitter about building tall residential buildings in Toronto with the hashtag #TallTO.

Throughout the hour, @MirvishGehryTO asked seven questions:

1) What are your thoughts on building tall? Do you think Toronto needs taller buildings?

2) What are the benefits of building tall towers in Toronto?

3) Do you live in a tall building? What do you like about it?

4) What are some of the difficulties of tall buildings? How would you overcome them?

5) What are some of your favourite cities with tall buildings around the world?

6) Do you think Toronto will ever be known for our tall buildings and architecture? What do we have to do to make that happen?

7) What amenities/retailers do you want to see more of in tall buildings?

In case you missed it, here are a few of the tweets from the discussion:

@MirvishGehryTO Building tall is fine, with appropriate constraints and in appropriate locations. #TallTO

— Sean Galbraith (@SeanPhotos) March 4, 2014

@MirvishGehryTO Absolutely (in certain areas), how does a city evolve in the ever increasing pressure from housing costs/land costs #TallTO

— Jeremiah Shamess (@JShamess) March 4, 2014

.@NewHomeBuyers @MirvishGehryTO Reason I like proposed Mirvish-Gehry Towers, tall but also accts for street-level. #TallTO #topoli

— Hassan Arif (@hassannb) March 4, 2014

New York embraced sky scraping and its made it the great city it is today.. Im all for building high in the sky #tallto

— Andrew Tomassetti (@andrewviprealty) March 4, 2014

@MirvishGehryTO Yes. The taller the better. Constraint on height should be technical, not regulatory. #tallTO

— Chris Spoke (@ChrisSpoke) March 4, 2014

@MirvishGehryTO Increasing efficiency of services, uses, etc in neighbourhoods (but only if sensitive to automobile use) #TallTO

— Jeremiah Shamess (@JShamess) March 4, 2014

@MirvishGehryTO Tall towers provide economies of scale opportunities (transit, business threshold mins, etc). #TallTO

— Sean Galbraith (@SeanPhotos) March 4, 2014

@MirvishGehryTO Increased supply of new housing to market-- downward pressure on prices. Also, economies of agglomeration. #tallTO

— Chris Spoke (@ChrisSpoke) March 4, 2014

@MirvishGehryTO Taller towers lead to more units, more units lead to greater affordability for younger buyers #TallTO

— Big Ben Myers (@benmyers29) March 4, 2014

@JShamess @SeanPhotos @mytributehome A great opportunity for car-sharing, cutting down on congestion in the downtown core. #TallTO

— Mirvish+Gehry (@MirvishGehryTO) March 4, 2014

@MirvishGehryTO hard to beat the view from a tall building! #tallTO pic.twitter.com/wB5W6dyUZ9

— Anna Oliver (@annaoliveryyz) March 4, 2014

Friends who live in #tallTO with workng elevators enjoy less street level noise and greater balcony privacy, amazing views @MirvishGehryTO

— Jumie O. (@zerovacancygal) March 4, 2014

@MirvishGehryTO Fire escapes. Becomes a huge challenge the higher you go. Rare occurrence but something to consider. #tallto

— André Darmanin (@UrbanPolicyPlnr) March 4, 2014

#tallTO building are more tricky given how to maintain structural integrity against material choice and weather constraints @ProjectcoreInc

— Jumie O. (@zerovacancygal) March 4, 2014

@MirvishGehryTO "One of the biggest factors when building up is the impact of micro climates." - @pkofman #TallTO

— New In Homes (@NewHomeBuyers) March 4, 2014

@MirvishGehryTO Chicago #TallTO Good mix of old and new.

— Sean Galbraith (@SeanPhotos) March 4, 2014

NYC, Dubai,Vancouver and Chicago seem to have successfully created and integrated #tallTO buildings into their cityscapes @MirvishGehryTO

— Jumie O. (@zerovacancygal) March 4, 2014

@MirvishGehryTO there should be a mix of tall bldgs with good design for both office and res. But form=function #tallto

— André Darmanin (@UrbanPolicyPlnr) March 4, 2014

@MirvishGehryTO Being known for being tall is useless. Be known for being better at integrating tall + city? That’s key, like Vanc. #TallTO

— Sean Galbraith (@SeanPhotos) March 4, 2014

@MirvishGehryTO the approval of your towers and even @PinnacleINTL's 1 Yonge will set a new standard for building heights and design #TallTO

— New In Homes (@NewHomeBuyers) March 4, 2014

.@MirvishGehryTO Need to consider suburban tower blocks where many low income live, strategies for renewal http://t.co/ZpgAVZGb0o #TallTO

— Hassan Arif (@hassannb) March 4, 2014

@MirvishGehryTO art galleries, grocery, schools. #TallTO

— New In Homes (@NewHomeBuyers) March 4, 2014

@MirvishGehryTO In your area: grocery store. #TallTO

— Sean Galbraith (@SeanPhotos) March 4, 2014