View Photos
View Video
View Attendees

View Regent Park Presentation
View Lawrence Heights Presentation
View Alexandra Park Presentation

“Mixed-use” has become a somewhat ubiquitous term in the planning and development world. It is a model lauded for creating healthy and successful communities that sustain in the long term, but what does it really mean and why is it considered an archetype for success? The Congress for New Urbanism points to several key elements to successful mixed-use development: livable streets organized into walkable blocks; housing choices to serve a diverse range of needs, a robust selection of shops and services accessible by walking, bicycling or public transit; and a human-scaled public realm where appropriately designed buildings bring life to streets and public spaces.

A mixed-use community, then, is not only a complete place in which to live, work and play, but also a destination in its own right. The Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) has embraced this mixed-use model, and in partnership with several private developers has begun ambitious revitalization projects in three of Toronto’s priority neighbourhoods: Regent Park, Alexandra Park and Lawrence Heights.

A large audience gathered in the Daniel’s Spectrum, a community hub in Regent Park, to hear from the TCHC and these development partners about the goals and objectives driving each project. Bud Purves, chair of TCHC, opened the event with introductory remarks where he placed emphasis on a holistic approach to community building. He explained that these three revitalization projects are not just about one building at a time, but creating a broader vital neighbourhood. As for what contributed to the decline of these neighbourhoods in the first place, Purves identified the original physical design of these neighbourhoods as their biggest downfall. Built approximately 40 years ago, Regent Park, Alexandra Park and Lawrence Heights were constructed in a planning era defined by the “Garden City” movement originating in Britain, one of the most negative attributes of which is a style of built form that faces inward and eliminates connectivity with the surrounding city. TCHC and its partners have set out to bring dramatic change to these communities and contribute to smarter, healthier city building.

Several themes emerged throughout the evening’s discussion, including an emphasis on community partnerships. Remo Agostino, Vice President of Development at The Daniels Corporation, described the evolution of partnerships throughout the 69-acre multi-phase Regent Park project. While the original founding partnership was between Daniels, TCHC and the City of Toronto, other partnerships with retailers, consultants and community groups have slowly formed over time. Particularly important have been the partnerships formed in the realm of arts and culture, a key element of the Regent Park revitalization. The Daniels Spectrum, for example, is now home to a variety of community arts organizations that were previously housed in substandard space.

Another cornerstone of the Regent Park development has been helping to facilitate micro-business opportunities such as the Paintbox Café Bistro, a partnership between Daniels, George Brown College and Toronto Employment Services that offers career training in the culinary arts. Also important has been a focus on the education and delivery of local food resources with a greenhouse, community garden and bake oven that are all part of the revitalization plans.

Stephen Upton, Vice President of Planning and Development at Tridel Corporation, focused on the importance of listening to and meeting the actual needs of the existing Alexandra Park community throughout the planning stages of the first 25-acre phase of the project. In particular, Upton noted the necessity of having regard for the delivery of job and education opportunities. Through its BOLT organization (Building Opportunities for Life Today), a partnership with George Brown and Centennial Colleges and the Hammerheads Program, Tridel has raised approximately $400,000 for education and job training scholarships in the construction trades offered to young Alexandra Park residents. “Construction can only happen if you have trades to work with you… our industry has to promote young people in our communities to get jobs within our projects,” said Upton.

Howard Cohen, president of Context Development, discussed the challenges of reintroducing the 100-acre Lawrence Heights project to a city that does not know much about it. “You don’t have the locational advantages of being downtown where everybody knows Parliament and Queen and Spadina, no one has ever heard of Ranee Avenue and Allen Road,” said Cohen. As a result, Context has been working hard to link the project to its proximity to Yorkdale Mall, naming its first condominium development The Yorkdale Condominiums.

Cohen also described the importance of introducing connectivity to Lawrence Heights by adding new pedestrian space, additional green spaces and shortened blocks. Cohen talked passionately about designing streetscape for both people and cars. “It is hard to believe that in 2014 there are planners in this world that want to have streets without cars on them, as if we’re going to repeat the mistakes of Regent Park and Alexandra Park all over again,” he lamented. “I can’t believe we’re still arguing.”

Bud Purves wrapped up the discussion by thanking the TCHC’s development partners, reminding the audience of their fortune to have an industry with such dedicated city builders. They do it because “they know that the community, themselves and the market all have to work together.” With the leadership of the TCHC and its development partners, Regent Park, Alexandra Park and Lawrence Heights are becoming vibrant mixed-use neighbourhoods with improved residential and community spaces, renewed retail activity and economic growth and contributing to the vibrancy of a more diverse and healthy City of Toronto.

EVENT SPONSOR

IN KIND SPONSOR