{"id":2652,"date":"2008-01-10T12:29:35","date_gmt":"2008-01-10T16:29:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/?p=2652"},"modified":"2008-01-10T19:02:38","modified_gmt":"2008-01-11T00:02:38","slug":"lost-without-laneways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2008\/01\/10\/lost-without-laneways\/","title":{"rendered":"Lost without laneways"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

NEW YORK<\/strong> – In my unending quest to find unpopulated laneways to stroll through, I’ve made an interesting discovery. There are none. Thanks to a planning initiative from many centuries past which saw the loading of materials through sidewalk hatches, the laneway was never introduced in New York City. At first it was only a minor nuisance but, as I began to understand the city more thoroughly, I realized that the lack of laneways has stripped New York of a certain quality: a whole layer of the urban network has been eliminated, forcing all movement onto the main streets.<\/p>\n

<\/a>This network of laneways is so important to a city and the urban explorer. A deviation off the beaten path allows for the discovery of the cities hidden potential, its gritty reality. When walking down a laneway, there is no expectation to be a consumer. The streets are for business, shopping, restaurants, people, action. This is all well and good, but why does it have to be like this everywhere, all the time? Derelict streets; dead, quiet and run down, but open and exposed, the intimacy is lost. Residential streets; all eyes on you. Sometimes it’s nice to walk where you can be alone, unexpected, real. Not having to produce, consume or be a part of what is expected can be liberating and freeing. You can co-exist with the buildings, the graffiti and the ambiance. You can just be an observer without participating in the subconscious ritual of seeing and being seen.<\/p>\n

Block after block, the city is made up of solid buildings. My first observation about New York was the architecture; elaborate cornice moldings, carved lintels, expansive iron fire escapes, and ornate stone and cast iron buildings. It was so much for the eye and the mind to absorb. The entire city is like an ornately decorated wedding cake. So intense was the overwhelming mass, I was unable to immediately see the form which these buildings created, a solid block. I can only imagine what New York would be like if it had the benefit of Toronto’s laneways. I have found two streets in New York — only two — that bring about the feelings I have for the laneways back home. But it’s not just the laneway; it’s the network, the knowledge of discovery around every corner. Every lane leading to another hidden pathway, another piece of the urban puzzle.<\/p>\n

Over Christmas I spent my time wandering, reveling in the obscure corners of the city. Graffiti covered fences, dumpsters and hidden doorways, dirty puddles and even peace and quiet! New York may have some amazing architecture, incredible public spaces, and amazing transit systems, but it doesn’t and will never have Toronto’s laneways.<\/p>\n

If you want to know more about Toronto’s laneway’s, history, and potential laneway development, check out Site Unseen: Laneway Architecture and Urbanism in Toronto<\/em>, Edited by Brigitte Shim and Donald Chong.<\/p>\n

Top photo by Miles Storey<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n

Photo of Staple Street, Tribeca, New York — Joe’s closest brush with a pseudo laneway<\/em><\/p>\n

– – – – – – – – – – – – – –<\/p>\n

Joe Clement, a long-time Spacing magazine contributor, left his hometown of Toronto in the summer of 2007, and is now living in New York. He will be our Big Apple correspondent covering public space issues. If there are any particular ideas or topics you would like him to cover, leave a comment or email Spacing Toronto.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK – In my unending quest to find unpopulated laneways to stroll through, I’ve made an interesting discovery. There are none. Thanks to a planning initiative from many centuries past which saw the loading of materials through sidewalk hatches, the laneway was never introduced in New York City. At first it was only aContinue reading “Lost without laneways”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4035,"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":[50,18,32],"tags":[2437,3052,7824,6765,665,469,564,21,19,775,7822,7823],"class_list":["post-2652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-infrastructure","category-neighbourhoods","category-streetscape","tag-brigitte-shim","tag-correspondent","tag-donald-chong","tag-joe-clement","tag-miles-storey","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-other-cities","tag-toronto","tag-transit-systems","tag-tribeca","tag-urban-network"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLost without laneways - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2008\/01\/10\/lost-without-laneways\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lost without laneways - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"NEW YORK – In my unending quest to find unpopulated laneways to stroll through, I’ve made an interesting discovery. 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