Residents are getting nervous about massive condominium developments proposed for the heart of Toronto's Queen Street West arts district.

People in the area say developers are taking advantage of the city's goal of higher downtown densities by planning for buildings up to four times higher than normally allowed.

They say these behemoths, if built, will destroy the artistic character of the community.

AUDIO: Philip Lee-Shanok reports (runs 1:21)
REALPLAYER   WINDOWS MEDIA   QUICKTIME

After living on Queen West for 10 years, artist Misha Pilon is moving out rather than live in the shadow of a condo building.

" It's going to shroud everything else like a tower in a field, basically. Like a sore thumb sticking out," he says.

One hundred art studios could be replaced by a single 26-storey structure. For art student Tonya Osmond, that means more than the loss of the cheap studio where she lives.

"If you think about it, 26 storeys, it's going to cast a shadow over Queen Street for most of the day."

Ted Tyndorf , Toronto's chief planner, says that while one goal of the city's new official plan is to increase population densities downtown, that doesn't necessarily mean high-rise towers.

"That has been a concern basically forever, where neighbourhoods are concerned, basically about change for the worse and not the better," he says.

He says the city will not approve projects that obviously don't fit in with a neighbourhood.