Last week the Waterfront Regeneration Trust hosted a conference entitled Beyond Regeneration: The Trail Ahead. The conference was both a celebration of the organization’s accomplishments and a forum for exploring what more could be achieved along this significant stretch of waterfront real estate. The subject of the conference was the Waterfront Trail, a 650-kilometre trail that runs along the Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River shorelines from Niagara to the Ontario/Quebec border. A number of local and international speakers gave presentations outlining their visions for waterfronts and large-scale cycling paths like this one.
Though still a work in progress, the trail is the result of 15 years of work and partnerships between 41 communities across Ontario. In many ways, this provincial path is like Toronto’s Martin Goodman Trail (which is, in fact, a part of the larger route): it has made a fair amount of progress but remains disconnected in a few key areas because of physical barriers and difficulties in procuring land. The Waterfront Regeneration Trust is looking to build on that progress and make sure the trail is used to its fullest potential.
Among the speakers was Fred Kent, President of Projects for Public Spaces, who asked the question, “What if we built our waterfront around places?” He reminded the audience that “parks should not be destinations†by themselves, an idea that was prominent in a recent Projects for Public Spaces article about waterfront regeneration. Adrian Geuze of West 8 also spoke, reiterating the importance of human scale development and multi-use transport corridors as are present in his firm’s design of the Central Waterfront. Joe Berridge, a Partner with Urban Strategies, offered a slideshow detailing the different ways Toronto’s waterfront is already a great place, showing how canoe rides down the Humber, boat rides on the lake, swimming at the city’s beaches, and cycling along the Waterfront Trail boost the quality of life for those who take advantage of these “magical places.”
Part of the conference was spent in small groups working towards ideas for how to build on the regeneration of the waterfront, whether through partnerships or public events. A panel discussion featuring individuals who had already made significant strides promoting use of similar trails in Canada and the US offered some exciting thoughts. T.J. Juskiewicz, organizer of the “Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa†(RAGBRAI) showed how their cycling event, a seven-day ride across the state of Iowa, knits together several small communities, brings international attention, and attracts 10,000 registered participants per year (along with their tourist dollars). A similar ride also occurs on Quebec’s La Route Verte, called La Grande Tour. Such a venture along the Waterfront Trail seemed like a very good idea after these presentations, especially given the diversity of the sights and communities it passes through.
Justin Lafontaine, the Project Lead and Founder of the Toronto-Niagara Bike Train, also offered some insights on how a motivated and energetic public can help create initiatives to facilitate use of the trail, while Gil Penalosa, Executive Director of Walk & Bike for Life, reminded the audience of the importance of physical activity for “happy and healthy people.” The always-energetic David Crombie (the Founding Chair of the Trust) and the Executive Director of the Waterfront Regeneration Trust, Marlaine Koehler, also offered their insights on the project, expressing pride in what has been achieved and hope that even more will be accomplished in the coming years.
Having entered the conference knowing only the Toronto section of the trail, I left excited by the possibilities the path offered not only this city, but the rest of the province. Sometimes Torontonians have a tough time looking outside their city’s borders, and this trail offers an opportunity to explore not only other areas of the city, but some of the rest of Ontario, too.
The Waterfront Trail website has a number of helpful resources and guides for those who want to explore the shoreline, whether within Toronto or across the rest of Ontario.
