Alleys as catalysts for smart growth? ...... progressive Toronto thinks so.

from the Toronto Star:



Toronto's 2,400 laneways offer great potential for development
They may be a solution for a city seeking a denser, more efficient future

By Christopher Hume


In Toronto, where they remain largely unnamed, alleys and lanes have never been fully integrated into the city. They hover forever just beyond the collective consciousness, not quite a part of things. We see them as dark, dirty and maybe even a little scary.

In fact, Toronto has a huge number of lanes where people live and work. And except for the fact that city planning policies are designed to keep residents away, the back roads of Toronto could be home to thousands.

There's no better demonstration of the vast potential of Toronto's laneways than Gilead Place, a tiny one-block thoroughfare that runs south from King St. east of Parliament St. In recent years, it has been transformed by the appearance of a row of townhouses on one side and a Jamie Kennedy cafe on the other. Only a few years ago, such a turn of events would have been inconceivable. Today, it seems natural.

Municipal officials would have us believe that lanes are unsafe because they're too narrow to accommodate fire and garbage trucks.

So let's use smaller vehicles. That's what they do in cities as diverse as Rome, Tokyo and Istanbul. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/707696--toronto-s-2-400-laneways-offer-great-potential-for-development

There is another short laneway just west of Jarvis and King that has a lovely courtyard, a low-rise residential building, a market and a very, very nice restaurant......and a small green space with a scupture garden. Cross the street and there is a park surrounding a church, with a fountain, a garden, wandering paths, a gazebo, and lots of lovely trees. It's an interesting area, a combination of old and new, crowded and busy spaces and little green vignettes....and it's home. It's one of the reasons I like to live here, in truth.

BTW, I ended up not making it to T.O. for the Film Festival (the freaking job :mad:), but VIA Rail graciously let me change the ticket (for a small fee of course) for two weeks from now.

And I'd rather use the train than try and find parking.........

..... arriving via the 401 at 4:30 in the afternoon is not such a good idea.