New Urbanism on the Pickering waterfront

[wyliepoon]

If you haven't found out over at SSP, miketoronto and I took a drive around the Town of Pickering. (You can check out Mike's photos in the SSP photo section)

What's the first thing you think of when I mention the Pickering waterfront? The nuclear power plant? Perhaps the new wind turbine? Those were the only things I knew about the Pickering waterfront until I drove to the foot of Liverpool Road. Here, almost in the shadow of the nuclear plant and the wind turbine, is a pretty decent stretch of waterfront. There's a nice park on Front Road facing Frenchman's Bay (an inlet of Lake Ontario.

At the foot of Liverpool Road is the Great Lakes Nautical Village, a New Urbanist nautical-themed community with a well-used (for a suburban location) mixed use strip on Liverpool Road. Where Liverpool Road meets the lake is Millennium Square and a beachfront park which appears to be quite popular with the locals (even though the nuclear plant looms over the other end of the beach). Kids were playing in the playground and wading in the lake, without fear of water and/or radioactive pollution.

(I apologize for the odd photo sizes and the way they look... my Photobucket account is acting up again)

Park overlooking Frenchman's Bay

Homes on Annland St.

Looking south on Liverpool Road

Entering the Nautical Village

Street parking on Liverpool Road

Residential units on Liverpool Road...

... and a storefront on Liverpool Road

Look at the mix of uses

Millennium Square

Rules of the park

 

[Observer Walt]

Good pictures Wylie, thank you. I've never been to this area, and I'll have to find some excuse to check it out. It looks great.

The Pickering sign maker needs a proofreader. I see at least two errors on that sign (last pic). :rolleyes

 

[simply Dan]

"New Urbanism" would make a lot more sense with narrower streets, more mixed-uses and no SUVs in that Nautical Disney-Village.

 

[TdotTrickyRicky]

I love those shots with the beach and the nuclear reactor cooling towers in the background. Well at least the hot water discharged in the bay will help warm that frigid Lake Ontario water.

 

[spmarshall]

Nuketastic!

More seriously, looks a lot like Seaside Florida. Had no idea that existed.

 

[jcapitain]

You gotta love that sign in the last pic..."No obnoxious or annoying behavior"...awesome!

 

[building babel]

It makes "No Golfing" seem rather redundant.

 

[cassiusa]

This is a few blocks away from where I lived in Pickering up until July. I was quite surprised to see ground-level retail on most of the houses fronting onto Liverpool. That area has undergone a very dramatic change since I first moved out there 4 or 5 years ago - it's barely recognizable now. It's a pretty decent mixed-use neighbourhood though I hear property values aren't doing terribly well as far as increasing goes. From what I recall, the homes were quite affordable for the setting.

There were rumours of having the waterfront trail extended west to meet up with the Rouge Valley trails and beaches. If that ever happens, Pickering will have a huge waterfront trail considering it's rather tiny population (just over 100,000)

 

[Jarrek]

Siding cheapens the product.

 

[cdl42]

Those pics with Pickering Nuclear in the background really are something else. I need to check it out for myself sometime.