Portrait: Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Park, Toronto March 2015 This portrait was produced by the Toronto Centre for Active Transportation, a project of the Clean Air Partnership in Toronto, Ontario. Authors: Car Martin, Project Manager & Design Lead Mikey Bennington, Project Manager & Research Lead Overseen by Nancy Smith Lea, TCAT Director Graphics and Research support: Hannah Nogiec, Co-op Student Gaelen Pierce, Co-op Student *Special thanks to all members of the community mapping team who volunteered their time Local Partners: Flemingdon Health Centre Toronto Emerging Artivists (TEA) Thorncliffe Park Women’s Committee Evergreen, Health Promotion Department tcat Toronto International Film Festival, Special toronto centre for Delivery Program active transportation Architecture for Humanity, Toronto Chapter The Active Neighbourhoods project employs lessons learned from the ‘Green Active and Healthy Neighbourhoods’ pilot created by the Montreal Urban Ecology Centre and further develops the methods to suit local contexts. Each local project is divided into three phases. Documentation of phase 1 and 2 for Thorncliffe & Flemingdon can be seen on the following pages. Phase 1: Understanding The goal of the first phase is to understand the current context in the neighbourhood in order to identify potential improvements and constraints related to mobility. Different data collections methods are used to create a ‘Portrait’, including field surveys, documentation and consultation activities. Phase 2: Exploring Active Neighbourhoods Canada (ANC) is a The objective of Phase 2 is to establish a common vision, national partnership of organizations bringing define priorities for action, and create design solutions that participatory planning to 12 communities in respect the local identity and practices of the neighbourhood. Examples of methods used during this phase include a Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. We work with local Citizen’s Forum and workshops with professionals. partners in each community towards changes in the built environment that encourage active Phase 3: Building transportation, active public spaces and active, Local partners collaborate on a Community Plan outlining engaged citizens. This portrait illustrates the goals and design solutions. The plan is used as a tool first Ontario community to join the ANC project: to strategize and partner with local municipal officials, transit authorities, other levels of government, as well as Thorncliffe Park/ Flemingdon Park. It is a snapshot institutions, retailers and individuals towards the incremental of the community compiled through events, implementation of these goals. observations and secondary research. Active Neighbourhoods Canada • Thorncliffe Park & Flemingdon Park 3 CANADIAN ADVISORY TCAT LOCAL ACTIVE NEIGHBOURHOODS PARTNERS COMMITTEE tcat INTERNAL TEAM MEETING MEETING MEETING MEETING PHASE 1 AND 11 TIMELINE *Canadian partners *A group of local experts *meetings between *Local team include include the Montreal in urban planning/ design, Project Managers, TCAT representatives from local Urban Ecology Centre public health & community Director & students partner organizations (ie, and Sustainable Calgary engagement Flemingdon Health Centre tcat tcat tcat tcat tcat tcat tcat tcat tcat tcat tcat tcat tcat PREPARATORY PHASE PHASE 1: UNDERSTANDING THE NEIGHBOURHOOD January 2014 February 2014 March 2014 April 2014 May 2014 June 2014 July 2014 Activities: Activities: Activities: Activities: *Reach out to potential local *Held Negotiation fair with local *Lead exploratory walk as part of *Convened community mapping partners in Ontario communities partners to determine possible Jane’s Walk and collected team, trained participants in programming intersections & to qualitative data various mapping & data collection plan phase 1 activities *Collaborated with STEPS & TEA methods (5 days of mapping) on 100 in a Day: Pop-up public *Collaborated with TEA Youth to space and Miniature city mapping support successful application for activity Nxt City Prize Activities: Activities: *Determined partners and *Public Launch of project at community network for first project Neighbours Night Out *Drafted Memorandum of *Held booth at Neighbours Night Understanding as a group Out, collecting qualitative informa- tion about the neighbourhood and welcoming local officials to the project Active Neighbourhoods Canada • Thorncliffe Park & Flemingdon Park 4 CANADIAN ADVISORY TCAT LOCAL ACTIVE NEIGHBOURHOODS PARTNERS COMMITTEE tcat INTERNAL TEAM MEETING MEETING MEETING MEETING PHASE 1 AND 11 TIMELINE tcat tcat tcat tcat tcat tcat tcat tcat tcat tcat tcat tcat tcat PHASE 1: UNDERSTANDING THE NEIGHBOURHOOD PHASE II EXPLORING SOLUTIONS August 2014 September2014 October 2014 November 2014 December 2014 January 2015 February2015 March2015 Activities: Activities: Activities: Activities: *Lead ravine bike ride & discussion *Held TIFF teen mapmaking & stop *Share portrait draft with partners *Professional workshop planning group with staff from Evergreen motion workshop at the and incorprated feedback and advertising *Hosted Film Screening with TIFF Flemingdon Health Centre *Finalize Neighbourhood Portrait &Thorncliffe Women’s Committee *Participated in the Flemingdon *Held Young Urbanist Summer Urban Fair Camp at Flemingdon Health Centre Activities: Activities: *Compiled and synthesized *Held professional workshop at the qualitative data Aga Khan Centre with guest from all phase 1 activites speakers *Drafted Portrait document *Planning citizen forums to follow professional workshop Active Neighbourhoods Canada • Thorncliffe Park & Flemingdon Park 5 Contents INTRODUCTION TO THE Page 7 NEIGHBOURHOOD PHYSICAL & SOCIAL Pages 8-15 CHARACTERISTICS MOVEMENT PATTERNS Pages 16-21 PUBLIC SPACE Pages 22-24 SUMMARY OF KEY Page 25 CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES SOURCES Page 26 Active Neighbourhoods Canada • Thorncliffe Park & Flemingdon Park 6 Introduction Welcome to Flemingdon Park and Thorncliffe Park, two vibrant and unique neighbourhoods in Toronto, Ontario. Thorncliffe and Flemingdon were two of Toronto’s first planned communities, completed in the late 1960’s. They are considered inner suburbs, lying just North East of the Metro Toronto core and are easily accessible by public transit. The two communities sit on either side of the beautiful Don Valley Ravine and the Don River that runs through it. Most residents live in towers that overlook the greenery and the buildings are a common sight to motorists travelling along the D A Don Valley Parkway. O Y R A S W Thorncliffe and Flemingdon are diverse L K L I R neighbourhoods that serve as landing pads A M P don for new Canadians. The typical resident has a Toronto N riv Y er O E lower than average income, a fact common to D L R L O neighbourhoods of this type: ‘Vertical Poverty’, ID RR A O C TRIC V a recent study by the United Way shows that LEC N E O “poverty is becoming increasingly concentrated RO D D D VAR Y ULE vertically in the high-rise towers that dot the city’s H BO A skyline” (United Way 2011). e E v i r Flemingdon L th R o d rn E c k li r V ffe a This portrait will serve as a diagnostic tool to p O understand the local opportunities and challenges towards healthier, more active public spaces that Thorncliffe encourage walking and cycling. Active Neighbourhoods Canada • Thorncliffe Park & Flemingdon Park 7 Esri, HERE, DeLorme, MapmyIndia, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS user community, Esri, HERE, MapmyIndia, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS user community Physical and Social Characteristics Separated Land Use . D Thorncliffe and Flemingdon were developed in R S L the 1960’s following urban planning ideals that L I M promoted distinctly separated land uses. The N O D romance of the automobile was in full swing and the assumption that everyone would own a car in Thorncliffe Flemingdon these neighbourhoods was prevalent. Neighborhood Zoning 3 Zoning LVD CR - Commercial Residential B E - Employment Industrial LEA The illustrations on the left show us that land VER FZBL - Former Zoning By Law O O - Open Space OR - Open Recreational uses are clustered, first in a map view and second 1 RA - Residential Apartment 2 RD - Residential Detached from photos taken by members of our community RM - Residential Multiple RT - Residential Townhouse UT - Utility mapping team. When uses are clustered like this it takes a long time to walk from place to place, favouring automobile or transit users. Source: Official Plan, City of Toronto Source: Community mapping team Flemingdon Park and Thorncliffe Park are important areas because they were the first of their type to be built in Toronto, of which approximately 1000 were built in the 20 years 1 Thorncliffe Park Drive West, just North of Overlea following (ERA Architects 2008). Understanding the public realm in these communities could thus be useful for many other communities in the GTA. Recent research into these neighbourhoods has shown that restrictive land use planning is one of 2 Thorncliffe Park Drive East the biggest challenges to creating more vibrant public spaces. Through concerted efforts new mixed use zoning guidelines come into effect in the summer of 2015, allowing for new uses to be mixed into residential areas. 3Gateway Boulevard, just East of Don Mills Active Neighbourhoods Canada • Thorncliffe Park & Flemingdon Park 8 Physical and Social Characteristics Tower in a Park With some exceptions, the residents of Thorncliffe and Flemingdon dwell in high rise apartment . D buildings. These modern towers were