hper
Active Member
So, first off, full disclosure: I am working on a doc project about Don Mills. So any discussion may be considered for use therein, upon proper consultation with the source thereof.
I used to live there many, many years ago. (Parents dragged us kicking and screaming downtown in the mid/late 70s. Thank goodness. ). So, with a personal history there, I'd like to explore the history of the place. The known knowns are given: E.P Taylor's land, Argus Corporation, Macklin Hancock, Industrial Modernism in the form of SFHs. So far, so boring.
Here's the thing that got me going though: A former planner and friend of the family long ago told me that the beginnings of Don Mills are, in fact, more interesting. When Hancock (Harvard, '50 - Design) was handed the planning reins, so the story goes, he looked for a functional precedent. The best he could find was Rome. Old Rome. Ancient Rome, if you prefer.
Thus, unlike, say,Levittown, we have the hub/spoke/wheel design where the Donway plays the Appian Way encircling a central commercial area (The old curling rink was the Forum, BTW). Basically an intended 'city centre' with business/commerce centralized and an ancillary residential area composed of varying wealth strata spoking off the hub. Each 'slice' had its own school and all were connected by a 'greenbelt' and pathway system. Further industry would (and did) exist on the periphery
So, any Don Millionaires or planning geeks who'd like to weigh in, I'd really appreciate thoughts or insights into this great, or failed, 60-year old experiment.
I used to live there many, many years ago. (Parents dragged us kicking and screaming downtown in the mid/late 70s. Thank goodness. ). So, with a personal history there, I'd like to explore the history of the place. The known knowns are given: E.P Taylor's land, Argus Corporation, Macklin Hancock, Industrial Modernism in the form of SFHs. So far, so boring.
Here's the thing that got me going though: A former planner and friend of the family long ago told me that the beginnings of Don Mills are, in fact, more interesting. When Hancock (Harvard, '50 - Design) was handed the planning reins, so the story goes, he looked for a functional precedent. The best he could find was Rome. Old Rome. Ancient Rome, if you prefer.
Thus, unlike, say,Levittown, we have the hub/spoke/wheel design where the Donway plays the Appian Way encircling a central commercial area (The old curling rink was the Forum, BTW). Basically an intended 'city centre' with business/commerce centralized and an ancillary residential area composed of varying wealth strata spoking off the hub. Each 'slice' had its own school and all were connected by a 'greenbelt' and pathway system. Further industry would (and did) exist on the periphery
So, any Don Millionaires or planning geeks who'd like to weigh in, I'd really appreciate thoughts or insights into this great, or failed, 60-year old experiment.
