khris
Senior Member
Jarvis St. must change with evolving environs
Jan 16, 2009 04:30 AM
Christopher Hume
As Toronto goes, so goes Jarvis St.
In its heyday during the late 1800s, Jarvis was the place to live; Masseys, Mulocks and Cawthras could be seen there, as could Ontario Premier Oliver Mowat. The mansions were among the grandest in the city and the parks exquisite.
But then came the car and after that suburbia. Jarvis was abandoned and by the 1960s had been turned into a dreary north/south artery that was the quick way out of the downtown. The street had fallen into a downward spiral from which it has yet to emerge fully.
In recent years, however, Councillor Kyle Rae has led the charge to reclaim Jarvis. Specifically, he wants the reversible middle lane removed and space given to cyclists, pedestrians, trees and art.
But civic wheels grind glacially in Toronto, and only now are we reaching the end of an interminable EA (environmental assessment) process called for whenever such an alteration is proposed. Next Thursday, the last public meeting on the improvement program will be held at the National Ballet School's Currie Hall. As Rae makes clear, he doesn't expect it will be smooth sailing.
"It's gonna get ugly," he predicts. "My constituents north of Bloor hate the idea of losing their freeway. They don't recognize the residential urbanization that has happened around Jarvis south of Bloor in the last few decades."
"We want to make Jarvis beautiful, consistent and accessible," explains project manager and senior city engineer Penelope Palmer. "There is going to be some delay for drivers, but we feel we can make it work."
As Rae argues, Jarvis has become disconnected from the neighbourhoods that surround it. The fifth lane, which runs south in the morning, north evenings, makes the street problematic for the two-legged and two-wheeled. He also points out that Jarvis is a designated Cultural Corridor – think of the National Ballet School, the historic houses and waterfront connection.
"For me," Rae adds, "it's about revitalizing the city and making Jarvis part of the neighbourhood. It's been this way since people started to abandon the city for the suburbs. But there's been a huge cultural shift since then."
And according to Palmer, that same change can also be felt at City Hall. "We're in the midst of a big mental shift," she says. "There's a new culture; now we're moving people, not cars."
This kind of talk will put the fear of God into many Torontonians, especially the good burghers of Rosedale, North Toronto and Moore Park. Used to getting their own way, they must now learn how to share the city. This isn't easy for any neighbourhood in any city.
But as the postwar policies of multiplication by subdivision self-destruct, there's nowhere to run but back downtown. Which is what has fuelled the global condo boom of recent decades. Keep in mind, too, that current proposals for Jarvis include a hotel, an apartment building and three 40-storey condo towers at Shuter St.
If the EA gets through the city's public works and infrastructure committee, it will go to council in May. Rae says he expects members will do the "right thing."
They would be crazy not to; the signs all point to a high-density urban future increasingly serviced by public transit. Inevitably, Jarvis will simply become too valuable to remain a highway. Its worth as the main street of an evolving neighbourhood and cultural venue will be too great to leave unexploited.
Call it revitalization or gentrification, on Jarvis St. the road ahead is clear.
Source
Jan 16, 2009 04:30 AM
Christopher Hume
As Toronto goes, so goes Jarvis St.
In its heyday during the late 1800s, Jarvis was the place to live; Masseys, Mulocks and Cawthras could be seen there, as could Ontario Premier Oliver Mowat. The mansions were among the grandest in the city and the parks exquisite.
But then came the car and after that suburbia. Jarvis was abandoned and by the 1960s had been turned into a dreary north/south artery that was the quick way out of the downtown. The street had fallen into a downward spiral from which it has yet to emerge fully.
In recent years, however, Councillor Kyle Rae has led the charge to reclaim Jarvis. Specifically, he wants the reversible middle lane removed and space given to cyclists, pedestrians, trees and art.
But civic wheels grind glacially in Toronto, and only now are we reaching the end of an interminable EA (environmental assessment) process called for whenever such an alteration is proposed. Next Thursday, the last public meeting on the improvement program will be held at the National Ballet School's Currie Hall. As Rae makes clear, he doesn't expect it will be smooth sailing.
"It's gonna get ugly," he predicts. "My constituents north of Bloor hate the idea of losing their freeway. They don't recognize the residential urbanization that has happened around Jarvis south of Bloor in the last few decades."
"We want to make Jarvis beautiful, consistent and accessible," explains project manager and senior city engineer Penelope Palmer. "There is going to be some delay for drivers, but we feel we can make it work."
As Rae argues, Jarvis has become disconnected from the neighbourhoods that surround it. The fifth lane, which runs south in the morning, north evenings, makes the street problematic for the two-legged and two-wheeled. He also points out that Jarvis is a designated Cultural Corridor – think of the National Ballet School, the historic houses and waterfront connection.
"For me," Rae adds, "it's about revitalizing the city and making Jarvis part of the neighbourhood. It's been this way since people started to abandon the city for the suburbs. But there's been a huge cultural shift since then."
And according to Palmer, that same change can also be felt at City Hall. "We're in the midst of a big mental shift," she says. "There's a new culture; now we're moving people, not cars."
This kind of talk will put the fear of God into many Torontonians, especially the good burghers of Rosedale, North Toronto and Moore Park. Used to getting their own way, they must now learn how to share the city. This isn't easy for any neighbourhood in any city.
But as the postwar policies of multiplication by subdivision self-destruct, there's nowhere to run but back downtown. Which is what has fuelled the global condo boom of recent decades. Keep in mind, too, that current proposals for Jarvis include a hotel, an apartment building and three 40-storey condo towers at Shuter St.
If the EA gets through the city's public works and infrastructure committee, it will go to council in May. Rae says he expects members will do the "right thing."
They would be crazy not to; the signs all point to a high-density urban future increasingly serviced by public transit. Inevitably, Jarvis will simply become too valuable to remain a highway. Its worth as the main street of an evolving neighbourhood and cultural venue will be too great to leave unexploited.
Call it revitalization or gentrification, on Jarvis St. the road ahead is clear.
Source
