AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
From the Star:
Parks renaissance pushed for Toronto
Growing city lacks enough green areas, especially for new housing projects
May 09, 2007 04:30 AM
Jim Byers
city hall bureau chief
Toronto is growing every year, but the city has failed to invest in the parks that residents need, a city council committee was told yesterday.
A final report on what's called the Toronto Parks Renaissance Strategy won't be ready for a few months, but the company working on the concept says the growing city needs to invest more in parks and open space.
"There are issues with maintenance and a lack of repairs, but we also need new parks for new neighbourhoods," said Pino Di Mascio, a consultant with Urban Strategies Inc. "But there's no stable or predictable funding base" for the city's green spaces.
Another problem is simple geography: "We're not making any new land."
Di Mascio told the Star that Toronto has a little less than 3.24 hectares of parkland per 1,000 residents, compared with 8 in Ottawa – though better than Montreal, which has just 1.2 hectares per 1,000 residents.
Those ratios do depend somewhat "on what each city defines as a formal park," he said. "Montreal might have a lot of open space, but it isn't within the parks department. The situation varies from city to city, but I think the numbers are generally pretty comparable."
Di Mascio told councillors that Toronto should work at connecting ravine trails better, and protecting environmentally sensitive areas. It should also recognize that some neighbourhoods are getting older and changing ethnically. Sometimes, that means new types of parks are needed.
The city has done a good job of building parks that little kids like, but has not done so well at creating skateboard parks or basketball courts for teens.
Possible answers include cleaning up and revitalizing old industrial sites, or brown fields, and hydro corridors. Parks also could be built over underground parking, he suggested.
City officials say they'd like to add new regional or "city-wide" parks in all four quadrants of the city. Parks are being added along the central waterfront, and Downsview Park will provide new space in the north once properly developed. But Di Mascio said it may be tougher to add big new parks in built-out Scarborough and Etobicoke.
There are parks in Etobicoke, Brenda Lebrecz, the city's general manager of parks, forestry and recreation, told reporters. But many are no-frills affairs.
"If you go to their parks, they're not as animated. They don't have as many playgrounds or trees, for example. They might have an open field."
A 2006 city report showed Scarborough had 4.78 hectares of parkland per person, while Etobicoke had 4.10. Those numbers could be skewed by the ravine systems there, but the numbers are still larger than in other parts of town. East York had 3.06 hectares of parkland per person, while North York was at 3.01. The old city of York was at 1.89, while the former city of Toronto (the pre-amalgamation version) had just 1.84.
New developments provide the city with some money for parks, but Councillor Adam Vaughan (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina) said he's not seeing new parks being created amid the forests of condos going up in his district.
"We have a couple new ones on the waterfront, but nothing north of Queen St. I mean King St. Actually, nothing north of Front St. There's money to fix parks, but no money to build new ones. And we've almost doubled the size of the downtown core."
Lebrecz said her department is using the word "renaissance" to describe the parks project because it's a new era in Toronto.
"Park use has gone up," she said. "It's not just dog walkers, it's all realms. It's a combination of more urban development, perhaps, and lifestyle changes. People are more aware of health issues, getting kids more active, the trails, the bikes."
A 2006 survey found that 89 per cent of Torontonians use city parks, 53 per cent more than once a week.
AoD
Parks renaissance pushed for Toronto
Growing city lacks enough green areas, especially for new housing projects
May 09, 2007 04:30 AM
Jim Byers
city hall bureau chief
Toronto is growing every year, but the city has failed to invest in the parks that residents need, a city council committee was told yesterday.
A final report on what's called the Toronto Parks Renaissance Strategy won't be ready for a few months, but the company working on the concept says the growing city needs to invest more in parks and open space.
"There are issues with maintenance and a lack of repairs, but we also need new parks for new neighbourhoods," said Pino Di Mascio, a consultant with Urban Strategies Inc. "But there's no stable or predictable funding base" for the city's green spaces.
Another problem is simple geography: "We're not making any new land."
Di Mascio told the Star that Toronto has a little less than 3.24 hectares of parkland per 1,000 residents, compared with 8 in Ottawa – though better than Montreal, which has just 1.2 hectares per 1,000 residents.
Those ratios do depend somewhat "on what each city defines as a formal park," he said. "Montreal might have a lot of open space, but it isn't within the parks department. The situation varies from city to city, but I think the numbers are generally pretty comparable."
Di Mascio told councillors that Toronto should work at connecting ravine trails better, and protecting environmentally sensitive areas. It should also recognize that some neighbourhoods are getting older and changing ethnically. Sometimes, that means new types of parks are needed.
The city has done a good job of building parks that little kids like, but has not done so well at creating skateboard parks or basketball courts for teens.
Possible answers include cleaning up and revitalizing old industrial sites, or brown fields, and hydro corridors. Parks also could be built over underground parking, he suggested.
City officials say they'd like to add new regional or "city-wide" parks in all four quadrants of the city. Parks are being added along the central waterfront, and Downsview Park will provide new space in the north once properly developed. But Di Mascio said it may be tougher to add big new parks in built-out Scarborough and Etobicoke.
There are parks in Etobicoke, Brenda Lebrecz, the city's general manager of parks, forestry and recreation, told reporters. But many are no-frills affairs.
"If you go to their parks, they're not as animated. They don't have as many playgrounds or trees, for example. They might have an open field."
A 2006 city report showed Scarborough had 4.78 hectares of parkland per person, while Etobicoke had 4.10. Those numbers could be skewed by the ravine systems there, but the numbers are still larger than in other parts of town. East York had 3.06 hectares of parkland per person, while North York was at 3.01. The old city of York was at 1.89, while the former city of Toronto (the pre-amalgamation version) had just 1.84.
New developments provide the city with some money for parks, but Councillor Adam Vaughan (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina) said he's not seeing new parks being created amid the forests of condos going up in his district.
"We have a couple new ones on the waterfront, but nothing north of Queen St. I mean King St. Actually, nothing north of Front St. There's money to fix parks, but no money to build new ones. And we've almost doubled the size of the downtown core."
Lebrecz said her department is using the word "renaissance" to describe the parks project because it's a new era in Toronto.
"Park use has gone up," she said. "It's not just dog walkers, it's all realms. It's a combination of more urban development, perhaps, and lifestyle changes. People are more aware of health issues, getting kids more active, the trails, the bikes."
A 2006 survey found that 89 per cent of Torontonians use city parks, 53 per cent more than once a week.
AoD
