Cloud Gardens

A tiny green space in the Financial core, great for an afternoon stroll or eating lunch on the go. The waterfall adds a nice touch and there are plenty of places to sit and people-​watch. This place is popular with office workers during the day, but I actually first discovered this place at night. It’s totally different at night, really quiet but not shady (unlike some other parks in the city, that become a little sketchy when the sun goes down).

I am glad that others enjoy cloud gardens, but I really think it’s a waste of an opportunity. It is a very unique space, and I appreciate the concept a great deal, but that doesn’t cut it for me. The park is poorly maintained and there is garbage everywhere, particularly in the park’s interesting watercourse. Homeless youngsters always seem to have little shanty towns set up on some of the park’s walkways — at least in the winter months — making it difficult to enjoy. An art installation along one wall is interesting, but not interesting enough to deserve its permanent installation. The same space could be used for art shows that change on a regular basis, like the nearby sculpture gardens.
I can’t enter this park without thinking that it is more of an urban eyesore than an urban oasis. Better urban resting spots are found nearby in all directions, including the great and curious fountain park, sculpture garen, Commerce Court, the cows of the TD towers, the beautiful parkette between wellington and front to the east, Nathan Philip’s Square and the park near Trinity Church. While less ambitious than Cloud Gardens, each of these other urban spaces is much cleaner and better maintained.
With buildings of 50+ stories going up all around it, Cloud Gardens, with its garbage and shanty towns, seems to me like a wasted opportunity. The revenue we could get from selling the space to a developer could help pay down the city’s debt, help alleviate homelessness and/​or pay for maintenance in other parks. And I’ll bet whatever building goes in its place would include a public resting space that is cleaner and better maintained than Cloud Gardens.
It was an interesting experiment, but I think it’s disgusting and a wasted opportunity.

It’s a favourite spot of mine where I unwind, enjoy my lunch and read my book.
In the warmer months, it’s a very popular spot, which isn’t surprising as it’s the only large urban garden available in the district. There are other public places like Arnell Plaza at the new Bay & Adelaide building and the large courtyard at CCW come to mind. But Cloud Gardens is one of the few places where nature and concrete meet cohesively and beautifully.
But if you’re looking for a quiet spot, it’s best to come early before noon and grab one of the private ledges near the waterfall, or on the weekend. Otherwise, expect your neighbours to be office workers and pigeons cooing about their daily lives.

Hidden, but not all that hidden, Cloud Gardens is my favourite urban park in downtown Toronto. Part of this is the fact that it’s located as downtown as you can get, and the other part is that it shows you just how great an urban park can really be.
With the small semi-​circle of grass, the walkway leading to the man made waterfall, and the enormous curtain wall that hides an ugly building from view, the makers of this park really thought it through.
This park is a great spot to take a date, but more as a passing by kind of thing. Don’t make a date out of sitting here. Unless it’s one of those dates where you just sit and talk and talk (you know what I mean)… then that’s ok.