Front or Back Streets

For those who come from or frequently visit Europe, one of the things one easily notice is there is really not a lot dumpy "back streets" there like here in North America. Alleys are full of life and living activities with restaurants and boutique stores, and at the least they are the good spots for cooling down in the summer and avoiding the bitter cold wind in the winter. These second class spaces are the jewels over there. But it is the opposite in here. One prominent example: The Ryerson building's back street is our front street at the Loft building. Ironically, at the east side of the loft is also the back street to the Government Services building!

Why was it that city planning and architect focus its frontage on the rather high traffic automobile Church and Jarvis streets instead of turning their front to Dalhousie and Mutual? It really come down to bad planning and the false perception of a "back street" and utility ways ....