Toronto Mayor John Tory made the announcement a week ago. “Great parks make great cities” he states in the news release on August 3rd, 2016. Now the municipal players are organizing to create an 8.5 hectare green space that will stretch from the base of the city’s iconic CN Tower, 16 football fields west.
“The population of downtown Toronto will double in the next 25 years to nearly a half a million people”
Jennifer Keesmat, the city’s Chief Urban Planner, says the need for the green space is overdue. She cites a baby boom going on in the condo towers in the area. She says while many families would like to stay, most move by the time their first child is six.
During their research the planning department discovered that access to day care and schools is limited. Along with the lack of these services the other challenge is the lack of green space and recreation facilities.
Joe Cressy is the municipal councillor for the area. He says in 20 years the area, located just north of the lakeshore, went from under a 1,000 residents, to 30,000 today. And he says when everything that’s been approved is completed, the area will be home to half a million people.
“If you want to build a neighbourhood, as opposed to just adding density and building towers then you need to have the infrastructure to support that neighbourhood,” Cressy says.
“People see the transformational element”
The idea is to build a deck over the railway corridor that is now below ground level. The politicians and planners see the benefit in this signature public space, for nearby residents, for the one in three Torontonians who work downtown, and the many visitors to Canada’s largest and most multicultural city.
“As our city grows, we have to be a little more creative around how we create public spaces… we know our focus has to be on building neighbourhoods as opposed to just towers,” Joe Cressy says. “It won’t happen overnight, it will take years and be costly but it’s exactly the type of big thinking and creative thinking I think our city’s ready for.”
There is a lot of negotiating, however, before families will be taking a stroll. The air rights, above 27 feet have to be agreed on. The city is hoping to declare the space above the rail deck park, officially park space.
Joe Cressy says “people see the transformational element.” But Toronto is facing a lot of challenges as a result of the extraordinary growth in the downtown core. Public transit is running at maximum capacity and a new subway line will cost $7 billion dollars.
We’ve a history in Toronto of talking about big ideas but not delivering on them. We get scared off by of the investment required.” Cressy says. Time will tell if this one is different. He says if all goes well, they can begin in four or five years.
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