{"id":10196,"date":"2010-03-30T12:30:53","date_gmt":"2010-03-30T16:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/?p=10196"},"modified":"2013-01-21T15:14:10","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T20:14:10","slug":"losing-a-city-square","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2010\/03\/30\/losing-a-city-square\/","title":{"rendered":"Losing a city square"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"yongeeglintoncentre71\"<\/p>\n

In Toronto’s new Walking Strategy<\/em><\/a>, adopted as official policy by city council just last year, one of the key strategy actions (5.6) under the mandate of “Creating spaces and places for people” is:<\/p>\n

Build public squares and plazas at key intersections in Toronto<\/strong> through the development review process, public-private partnerships and by converting under-utilized sections of roadways and public spaces<\/em>. [emphasis mine]<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the City is now poised to do the opposite — to let one of the few squares we do have at a major intersection be mostly built over.<\/p>\n

This week, City Council will consider a plan to build over two-thirds of the square at the north-west corner of Yonge and Eglinton. The new building would be a three-storey shopping area with some interior open space on the ground floor and a terrace on the roof (also included in the proposal is adding several storeys to the existing buildings).<\/p>\n

\"yongeeglintoncentre\"<\/p>\n

There has been a lot of opposition from the local community<\/a>, and there was a small protest at the square yesterday. But the proposal has the support of the local councillor, Karen Stintz, and has already been approved by city staff and by North York Community Council, so it is likely to go through.<\/p>\n

It’s true that this square is, currently, not a particularly good public space<\/a>. It’s also not a bad idea to create some interior space on the west side of this square that would be available and appealing to the public during all seasons. The problem is that under the current plan, the majority of the open space would be lost and the part that is left will be little more than an extended sidewalk.<\/p>\n

Yonge and Eglinton is one of Toronto’s key intersections — it’s even identified as a “centre” in the City’s Official Plan (and Spacing<\/em> featured it on the cover of our “Intersections” issue<\/a>). It deserves better. What’s needed is to use this opportunity to transform the square, to renovate it into a focal point that reinforces the intersection’s role as the centre of midtown Toronto. And doing so effectively would require that a lot more of the current open space be kept. <\/p>\n

It should not have been difficult to do so. To go ahead with their plans, the owners of the property need the City’s permission to change the zoning for this location, which is governed by its own bylaw. The City is already getting some money out of it ($250,000) for “public art”. The City could have bargained with the owners to reduce the amount of the square that is going to be built over in exchange for permission to build the additional storeys, and used the money to create a well-designed new square.<\/p>\n

The report by city staff on this project<\/a> (PDF) says that the new building on the square should be allowed to go through because Yonge\/Eglinton’s\u00a0 identification as a “centre” means it is a place that should have greater density.<\/p>\n

This argument is an example of city planning’s depressing lack of vision. New density is already being provided by the additional storeys on the towers — the three-storey shopping centre will not make that much difference. The fact that the Yonge\/Eglinton intersection should serve as the centre of midtown Toronto is precisely why it needs a focal, signature open space to give it the sense of place it needs to fulfill that role.<\/p>\n

It goes to show that good policies can’t work without people who believe in them. The staff report happily cites the city’s official plan requirements (p. 7) to “improve the public realm”, showing that the proposal technically fits the words of the policy even while it ignores its intent.<\/p>\n

The city staff report is also a depressing testament to the futility of public consultation and its role as mere window-dressing in so many Toronto projects. Within the staff report itself (pp. 9-12), it’s evident that when the proposal was presented to the community, the reactions varied but the one constant was “Do not build over the square.” The City’s response was to hold an intensive “design charette” with the community. Again, even the staff report admits that while everything else varied, the one consistent message was “do not build over the square”. A few minor alterations were made and presented to the community in an open house, where the response was that they had not changed the main problem because they were still building over the square. Yet no significant changes were made and the proposal went ahead to build over the square. The entire exercise appears to have been an attempt to persuade the community, rather than listen to it.<\/p>\n

The community also, very sensibly, proposed that since Yonge\/Eglinton is identified in Toronto’s Official Plan as one of only five “centres” in the city, the city should come up with a plan for the intersection as a whole before anything significant is done to it. The staff report responds by referring vaguely to other possibilities in and near the intersection without any kind of formal plan to make other improvements.<\/p>\n

The plan also proposes that the loss of public space is not as severe because of the new rooftop terrace. But, as the sociologist William Whyte demonstrated in his study of New York City’s plazas<\/a>, public squares need to be directly connected to the public space around them in order to be successful. Even a small change of grade discourages people from using a space — a terrace three stories up is not going to be heavily used, and it certainly won’t contribute to a sense of an expanded public realm at the intersection.<\/p>\n

Images are from Urban Toronto<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Toronto’s new Walking Strategy, adopted as official policy by city council just last year, one of the key strategy actions (5.6) under the mandate of “Creating spaces and places for people” is: Build public squares and plazas at key intersections in Toronto through the development review process, public-private partnerships and by converting under-utilized sectionsContinue reading “Losing a city square”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4006,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,6],"tags":[37,78,19],"class_list":["post-10196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-urban-design","category-walking","tag-intersections","tag-squares","tag-toronto"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLosing a city square - 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