M II A II R II K
Senior Member
A neighbourhood is reborn
March 7, 2010
By TOM GODFREY
Read More: http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/03/07/13146151.html
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Lawrence Heights is one of 13 high-risk communities slated to be razed and rebuilt in a long-term plan by Toronto Community Housing. Efforts to rejuvenate and reduce crime in problematic areas have spawned a $350-million, 20-year blueprint to transform the Allen Rd.-Lawrence Ave. area with the construction of about 6,000 townhomes and condo apartments. Architects of the plan are calling for public and private financing and want to create a mixed-income community. Driftwood, in the Jane St.-Finch Ave. W. area, is next on the list to be revitalized — after Lawrence Heights — and Alexandra Park is slated for rejuvenation some years later, said Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti, who sits on the TCH board.
“Much of what is there will be torn down and rebuilt,†said Mammoliti, who’s also chairman of the city’s affordable housing committee. “There will be less crime at the end of the day when the communities have been rebuilt.†He said the gun and gang-plagued communities of Jamestown and Firgrove, in north Toronto, are also targeted for an overhaul. The costs of some of the projects will be shared through a series of public and private funding agreements.
Population to triple. “Criminals can’t stand being around people who work for a living,†Mammoliti said recently. “We are turning these places into trendy communities.â€
According to plans for Lawrence Heights, 1,208 subsidized housing units will be replaced and as many as 4,800 market-value units will be added, more than tripling the population of 3,500. Add the possible redevelopments at a neighbourhood high school and a commercial plaza, and the area may one attract as many as 16,000 people, planners said.
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March 7, 2010
By TOM GODFREY
Read More: http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/03/07/13146151.html
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Lawrence Heights is one of 13 high-risk communities slated to be razed and rebuilt in a long-term plan by Toronto Community Housing. Efforts to rejuvenate and reduce crime in problematic areas have spawned a $350-million, 20-year blueprint to transform the Allen Rd.-Lawrence Ave. area with the construction of about 6,000 townhomes and condo apartments. Architects of the plan are calling for public and private financing and want to create a mixed-income community. Driftwood, in the Jane St.-Finch Ave. W. area, is next on the list to be revitalized — after Lawrence Heights — and Alexandra Park is slated for rejuvenation some years later, said Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti, who sits on the TCH board.
“Much of what is there will be torn down and rebuilt,†said Mammoliti, who’s also chairman of the city’s affordable housing committee. “There will be less crime at the end of the day when the communities have been rebuilt.†He said the gun and gang-plagued communities of Jamestown and Firgrove, in north Toronto, are also targeted for an overhaul. The costs of some of the projects will be shared through a series of public and private funding agreements.
Population to triple. “Criminals can’t stand being around people who work for a living,†Mammoliti said recently. “We are turning these places into trendy communities.â€
According to plans for Lawrence Heights, 1,208 subsidized housing units will be replaced and as many as 4,800 market-value units will be added, more than tripling the population of 3,500. Add the possible redevelopments at a neighbourhood high school and a commercial plaza, and the area may one attract as many as 16,000 people, planners said.
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