On the waterfront: Toronto's reinvention
*Chris just confirmed everything I said above*
On the waterfront: Toronto's reinvention
January 26, 2007
Christopher Hume
The biggest problem at the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp. these days might be where to find a space big enough to hold the crowds that show up for its public meetings.
The most recent, which was held Tuesday evening at the Radisson Hotel, was packed to the rafters. Hundreds were on hand to listen and ask questions about the TWRC's central waterfront plan.
That's the scheme being prepared by a team of landscape architects headed by Rotterdam-based Adriaan Geuze of West 18. His group won an international competition last summer and is now hard at work.
Though details are far from settled, the basic ideas of the West 18 proposal were given a dry run last August. The most notable and controversial aspect of the experiment was the closing of two lanes of Queen's Quay Blvd. between Yonge St. and Spadina Rd. Many drivers didn't like it, but once Geuze's plan is implemented, it will be permanent.
Though residents worry about the usual issues – parking and traffic flow – the response, Geuze reports, "has been very good."
As far as Mayor David Miller is concerned, the central waterfront remake ranks as a top priority. That's not hard to understand; the chief magistrate wants visible results so Torontonians can see for themselves that waterfront revitalization is a reality.
Sadly, construction isn't likely to begin in earnest until early 2008. Though Geuze hopes that he can get going on a bridge (across a slip) this year, the immediate tasks now are a feasibility study and the inevitable environmental assessment. These will take months and dissipate whatever momentum is left after last summer.
But Toronto is not a city known for being nimble – or bold; no one could accuse us of rushing into things. Don't forget the funding for HtO, the "urban beach" that will open next spring on the waterfront, dates back to the creation of Harbourfront more than 30 years ago.
Fortunately Geuze and his team, eternal optimists all, are not easily dissuaded. The discussion is all about creating a "village atmosphere" on the edge of the lake. They envision a "streetscape with small-scale buildings and uses" in the area west of Queen's Quay Terminal on the site of a parking lot.
"Toronto is a tourist destination," Geuze says, "but there's tough competition in the world. I think the waterfront has the potential to be made coherent and dynamic and attract people to the city. We still have to make connections with the city and within the waterfront. Right now, the Toronto waterfront is very underused; but it's an excellent place to invest money."
These links are critical to whatever happens; this means that at some point the city must decide what to do with the Gardiner Expressway – leave it as is or take it down – not to mention the railway corridor. Just last year the TWRC released a report that recommended demolishing the raised highway from Spadina to the Don Valley Parkway. But the issue is so emotional that no one should be holding their breath for action. And despite the mayor's brave talk about renewing the waterfront and completing the city, he has not shown much enthusiasm for tackling the Gardiner.
The West 8 project will carry on regardless; but at a time when cities everywhere are reinventing themselves through their waterfronts, the need to do something spectacular is greater than ever. No longer is it enough just to go through the motions; Canadian cities have been slipping behind their international counterparts for a decade or longer.
Above all, the waterfront can be the vehicle that allows Toronto to relaunch itself onto the world stage as a city that matters, that has something to offer and that demands attention. The transformation wouldn't end with the central waterfront plan, but it could begin there.
Louroz