Parks
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40 in the shade: Toronto’s worst heatwave
For an excruciating week in July, 1936, Toronto, the province, and much of Canada burned. An unprecedented and deadly continent-wide heatwave...
By Chris Bateman -
Creating places for people as we grow
As municipalities in the Greater Golden Horseshoe shift from building sprawling single-family housing neighbourhoods to denser neighbourhoods filled with...
By Jake Tobin Garrett -
MESLIN: Digital megaboard proposed for West Don park corridor
UPDATE: 68 letters were sent to the Committee, in opposition to the billboard proposal (you can read them all, at the bottom of this page). Rather than...
By Dave Meslin -
Growing the community-building power of our parks
By Dave Harvey and Jake Tobin Garrett Just over two years ago, City Council approved a five-year Parks Plan. The plan was created with the input of...
By Jake Tobin Garrett -
What Amsterdam taught a Torontonian about urbanism
Tulips, windmills, and all those salacious, smoke-filled thoughts aside, Amsterdam is internationally regarded as a haven for urbanism and as a hub for...
By Katerina Ryabets -
Exploring Black Creek, Toronto’s mini-LA River
I’ve been reading a lot about the LA river recently because of the announcement that Frank Gehry is working with the City of Los Angeles on plans to...
By Jake Tobin Garrett -
Blending public and private space at Winchester Park
When you boil it down, there are really two basic types of open space in a city: public and private. You’ve got your beaches, ravines, parks, and plazas...
By Jake Tobin Garrett -
PARKS CRISIS conclusion: 10 ideas to help solve Toronto’s parks acquisition crisis
In May 2014, council gave the city’s planning team the green light to embark on a three-year planning exercise, branded TOCore, that’s meant to figure out...
By John Lorinc -
PARKS IN CRISIS part 6: Are privately owned public spaces the answer to parks deficit?
Over the next year, City of Toronto politicians and planners will be faced with an unprecedented challenge: how to create amenable public open spaces in...
By Kimberley Noble -
PARKS IN CRISIS part 5: The system worked (slowly) for a west end park
On a warm spring afternoon, the park on the corner of Sorauren and Wabash avenues in the west Toronto neighbourhood of Parkdale looks like a perfect dream...
By Kimberley Noble -
PARKS IN CRISIS part 4: A tale of two parks
By John Lorinc and Alex Steep Over the past few years, the city has seen a handful of examples of park construction that offer impressive illustrations of...
By John Lorinc -
PARKS IN CRISIS part 3: The perils of cash-in-lieu
By John Lorinc and Alex Steep At its final meeting of the fractious 2010-2014 term, City Council gave its blessing to what will become one of the few new...
By John Lorinc