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In many ways, Queens Quay West epitomizes Toronto’s urban renaissance in the late 20th century. Having usurped Montreal’s status as Canada’s largest city, and entered a period of significant population growth, the revitalization of it into what is now the Harbourfront neighbourhood was a major signifier of a new chapter in the city’s history. As it was transformed from a largely industrial area into a vibrant district complete with a streetcar line, walking & cycling promenades and numerous new residential communities, attention next turned to the eastern section of the city’s waterfront. Yet while Queens Quay East continues to be a burgeoning community that showcases some of the most distinct landmarks of Toronto’s development boom, the presence of the Gardiner Express way and the Union Station Rail Corridor serve to make it feel relatively isolated, a feeling that is exacerbated by the conspicuous lack of a streetcar line similar to its western counterpart. The absence of a streetcar and its effects on the neighbourhood are indicative of an issue that has become symbolic of how Toronto’s growth has occurred in a way that has left the city’s infrastructure struggling to keep up.
The saga of the streetcar line along Queens Quay East stretches back over twenty years. When redevelopment of the area was first proposed, it was planned that a new streetcar line east from Union Station would serve as the catalyst for development and create a walkable, transit-oriented community. Yet as condo buildings and George Brown’s new campus continued to pop up along Queens Quay, the project (known as the Waterfront East LRT) languished due to a lack of funding. As a result, residents (and real estate developers) who were for years promised a streetcar in dedicated lanes have had to make do with a series of bus routes - a level of transit coverage that is woefully inadequate for the level of development that has and is planned to occur in the corridor. While the necessity of providing better transit service to the redeveloped Port Lands has led to the Waterfront East LRT finally being funded, the years-long lack of urgency in doing the same for Queens Quay has laid bare the issue with not coordinating new developments with provision for necessary infrastructure.
As Toronto’s housing market recovers from its current slump and the wheels of development begin to turn once again, it is imperative that the creation of dense, new communities is accompanied by the transit infrastructure needed to adequately serve them. While the Waterfront East LRT will do much to connect Ookwemin Minising to the rest of the city, examples abound of other locations where investment in better transit in anticipation of upcoming development would do wonders. For instance, if the East Harbour neighbourhood is to reach the scale that has been proposed, then the planned Broadview streetcar extension should be considered an essential part of the project. In West Toronto, the St Clair streetcar’s long-proposed western extension — or even just a more frequent bus connection — will ideally come to fruition before the increasing number of new condos west of the Stockyards strains the existing, infrequent service.
Perhaps the best model for this sort of “transit-first” development is the Golden Mile area along Eglinton Avenue East in Scarborough. Currently occupied by a number of big box stores and other low-density uses, in the future it is set to be the site of large masterplanned developments, all of which are being designed as transit-oriented communities along Line 5. While the merits of whether this particular transit route should have been an LRT, light metro or heavy rail can be endlessly debated, what is clear is that Line 5 is set to anchor one of Toronto’s highest potential growth corridors. Thus, if all goes according to plan, it will showcase the ways that a transit line built in advance of new development can serve as the catalyst for the transformation of neighbourhoods - in essence, doing in Scarborough what was promised for Queens Quay East.
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Thomas Bamonte is an urban planner with extensive experience in the real estate industry. He is based in Toronto and blogs at https://theurbanistfoodie.substack.com/
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