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Alexandra Park

Pedestrian districts are quite rare in our city, and I stroll through this one now and then after work - in the good weather - if I'm going to Kensington Market. Spatially, I enjoy the maze of courts and lanes that constitutes the low rise section, and the rather unpredictable way they're linked - comparisons with the more regimented layout of the original Regent Park are inevitable. The gardens are an underused resource for the most part ( though one at the north end is riot of plastic flowers, while others have lush beds of bright dandelions, and one is covered in a network of low frames beneath which I assume plants are grown, etc. ). The angular way in which some groups of buildings are arranged, contrasted with the more organic arrangement of others as courts, appeals to me no end. The small windows are an oddity, though, and I've long imagine that one day they may be enlarged to allow more natural light into the homes.
 
Where does Adam Vaughan stand? I could imagine that if anyone can have, at least potentially, a paradoxical *positive* (and constructive) approach to what presently exists, it is he...
 
As a participant, along with members of other neighbourhood groups, in the intended revitalization I suppose we'll know in due course.
 
Knowing him, I wouldn't be surprised if he manages to finagle a heritage listing for Alexandra Park or parts thereof--not as an obstruction to its renewal, mind you, just as an antidote to the automatically assumed "clean sweep" panacea...
 
Yes, and since it differs from Regent Park in being a co-op, I assume the residents have more leeway in determining the fate of their future Jerome Markson Heritage Neighbourhood. Unlike his Market Square - which to me has a similar feel, with that laneway through the middle and the enclosed garden courtyard for residents - this one's been down so long it probably looks like up to some. An exciting opportunity, really.

http://archives.chbooks.com/online_books/eastwest/124.html
 
Not that its "downness" wasn't slightly trumped up in the first place, perhaps thanks to the American-style no-go-zone stigma attached to "projects". But really, as Jane's Walk-style casual psychogeography filters up into the mainstream, what's so "no-go" about Alexandra Park, other than its being a retail-less enclave where hipsters tend not to live or know anybody who lives there? Now's the perfect time for a post-Regent Park, post-clean-sweep solution...
 
Let's hope. One supposed problem, apparently, was that police cars couldn't roar through the low rise section in hot pursuit of miscreants ... who would thus melt into the night with their drugs or whatever naughtiness they were about ( demerit points for Markson for not anticipating the 1980s ). And the right to shop certainly wasn't anticipated when it was designed. The residents could, I suppose, advocate greater density and adding new buildings, or propose running vehicular traffic through, or something - but that doesn't appear to have been their goal. Mostly, the December 2008 report indicates that they want their homes renovated, their common land made greener and more aesthetically pleasing, with better security, and more effective communications within their community.
 
Cameron St, between Queen and Grange Court marks the eastern boundary of the community and unfortunately it is a real net negative. Alexandra Park on the west side of the street faces a desolate stretch of rank garbage bins, that AWFUL abandoned indoor mall running between Spadina and Cameron, dark shipping bays, the ass end of the two Chinese Malls, two entrances to underground parking lots, etc...its quite a formidable challenge.
 
Urban Shocker said:
Let's hope. One supposed problem, apparently, was that police cars couldn't roar through the low rise section in hot pursuit of miscreants ... who would thus melt into the night with their drugs or whatever naughtiness they were about ( demerit points for Markson for not anticipating the 1980s ). And the right to shop certainly wasn't anticipated when it was designed. The residents could, I suppose, advocate greater density and adding new buildings, or propose running vehicular traffic through, or something - but that doesn't appear to have been their goal. Mostly, the December 2008 report indicates that they want their homes renovated, their common land made greener and more aesthetically pleasing, with better security, and more effective communications within their community.
Click to expand...

just wanted to add what I remember from my childhood. I lived in the subsidized housing building on Vanauley right next to alexandra park with my parents from 83 or 84 until the summer of 89.
Police access to the area did create problems. They'd have to hop out at the end of the street and chase on foot from there. Towards the end there was even some heavier drug dealing, as it was easy to have a lookout up near queen that gave them enough of a drop on the police to escape easily.

Before the co-op it really was a full fledged "project" in every sense of the word. A lot of the kids there had free reign of the neighborhood, and parents that didn't seem to care what they were up to. I can remember leaving the apartment one morning with my mom, a cop car was parked on the street while the officers were off in the complex. One of the kids from the project who was roughly my age was jumping up and down on the roof of the cruiser trying to dent it in. He didnt even run when the cops came rushing back after him, he just laughed and swore at the cops while they put him in the back. another favorite pastime was riding the automatic garage door. our building had an older one piece door for the underground garage. the kids would hide and wait for a car to enter, then run up and grab on to the bottom of the door as it flipped up and ride it as long as they could.

That being said, I have lots of amazing positive memories of that area. that stretch of queen west in the 80s was incredible. When you became a regular at places like Bon's, Queen Video, Winston's grocery, etc you almost felt like family. I'm happy to see how much positive change has happened since the co-op came about and the area "turned around" for lack of a better term.
 
Interesting. I think a full site-wide redevelopment is for the best (Option E). If that's not possible, C would be my runner-up.

This can't happen soon enough, however I think it's not expected to start for at least 10 years.
 
Still, ten years from now the uptick in Alexandra Park's fortunes that prompted the community to commission this report may have gathered enough momentum to make radical surgery unnecessary. Modest change, maybe - renovate the buildings where necessary, add larger windows to allow in more daylight ... and carry on. I avoided the place when it had a "gone bad" reputation ten or 20 years ago, but I remember it from the early '70s when it was quite new and I now sometimes wander through again in the nice weather. I think the unique layout of rambling lanes, courts and gardens holds up quite well and is as charming as before. Tectonic plates haven't shifted, the buildings haven't been rearranged in space, they're exactly where they were when the place was built ... and all that has changed ( a few times ) is our perception of Alexandra Park. Like many neighbourhoods - Rosedale for instance - it has reflected social changes that don't detract from the spatial charm of the buildings. I'm glad one of the options in the report is to not build additional structures.
 
And at least there isn't the same degree of, er, catastrophic physical failure that there was at Don Mount Court...
 
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