No Vacancy

There's this one thing that's bothering me every time I take a stroll in the nearby park ('cause fresh air, you need it). It's a non-issue for most, but it just grinds my gear. Frankly, it's an epidemic, part of a huge problem.

It's the city's (Toronto) tendency of filling up empty knolls and communal spaces with random heaps of nonsense. Take these:

Every hole must be filled!

1. For a few years living in the area, there was this nice open area for people to sunbathe and have picnic and shizz. All of a sudden, BAM. 5 trees. 5 dumb trees to commemorate the death of some random person, nobody but the family gives a rat's-ass about. Plant it in your own goddamn backyard. Don't force your dead family down our throats. 

2. There used to be a open space-- just a small open space. Now? It's an ugly, un-inspiring caricature of the maple leaf. It's... It's so obtrusive. On top of that, nobody seems to care that weed is growing rampant on Canada's symbol. Seriously. Why.

3. The City Hall used to have this open lot for events and general breathing space in a rather busy-body area. The key phrase is "used to". A few years back, they got rid of a small garden and made it into a concrete wasteland. But that wasn't the end. The mere thought of negative space scared the cahoots out of someone. Enough to tear it apart and add a peace garden that goes under-used. They also have an eternal flame that's never on. No kidding, is it called an eternal flame because it's eternally unlit? Seriously. Why.

Please, give us some space. People, negative spaces are important.