[getsmart-l] Toronto Star: Letter to the Editor

[CCO]

LETTER TO THE EDITOR 

TheStar.com | comment | Sense of community missing 

Sense of community missing

Nov 20, 2007 04:30 AM 

HYPERLINK
"http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/277905"http://www.thestar.com/commen
t/article/277905 

 

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Re: “Vertical village”, Christopher Hume
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"http://www.thestar.com/article/276890"http://www.thestar.com/article/276890

Ideas, Nov. 17

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Jane Jacobs may be twitching, if not rolling over, in her grave. Toronto
faces tremendous challenges in accommodating growth, but we should never
lose sight of Toronto's brilliance as an integrated network of urban
villages. If Toronto is to continue to be a meeting place for the world,
then the recent trend in condo towers needs to be carefully integrated into
neighbourhood designs that encourage the daily face-to-face contact Jacobs
espoused.

How are we doing so far? Not so good, I'm afraid. Take the redevelopment of
the Etobicoke motel strip at the mouth of the Humber River. The condos are
elegant, and there is a beautiful bike path alongside a butterfly garden.
But there are no restaurants, food marts or any community amenities. It is
the planning equivalent of a desert. I cycle daily past the new towers going
up on the railroad lands at the foot of Spadina Ave. Same thing, and it's a
long walk to King St.

Each of these new towers is the equivalent of a new neighbourhood. They
deserve to be the centrepiece of a new urban village. And this is where the
planning system lets us down. As Christopher Hume points out, Toronto's
official plan promotes intensification along major transportation routes. It
should also promote a stronger link between intensification and community
development.

Be it downtown Toronto or the suburban fringe, we need a new approach that
starts with an integrated and people-centred urban-village model. We need to
support the development of community visions, empower citizens to be active
stakeholders, and ensure that all new developments contribute to enhanced
amenities and services.

   _____  

Chris Winter, 

Executive Director, Conservation Council of Ontario; 

Chair, Ontario Smart Growth Network, Toronto

 


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