For advertising ISLINGTON information, please contact TIMES Toby Gardiner at [email protected] Volume 05 • Issue 02 • Summer 2017 Edition photo courtesy of BUILD TORONTO New Development Coming Soon – How Design Influences Community By Ken MacSporran, Architect Design affects our day to day lives in ways that we are immediately aware of and in ways that take more time to evolve. Just in the past month, two quite different public events focused upon design plans for the area around the Six Points Interchange at the west end of the Village of Islington Business Improvement Area (BIA). In April, a public presentation by the finalists in an architectural competition for a new Etobicoke Civic Centre was held; and in May, a Public Open House about the Six Points Interchange Reconfiguration was held. Both events were hosted by the City of Toronto for different reasons. The architectural competition for a new Etobicoke Civic Centre Design proposed at the intersection of Bloor Street West and Kipling Avenue included highly detailed proposals for designs that evolved over the course of several months, whereas the Public Open House about the construction process and new street design for the Six Points Interchange Reconfiguration has been over ten years in the making. However, these two recent community events are closely related in that they are both based upon the design decisions that will create a new urban street system resulting from the Six Points Interchange Reconfiguration plan. City staff from Name That Mural The first person to email various departments continue to provide progress updates through Meghan Bratt, City of Toronto field ambassador [email protected] with the responsible for communications with the public about the Interchange Reconfiguration. correct name and address of the mural above will WIN a $40 Gift Certificate The ideas of the great urban writer and activist, Jane Jacobs, continue to have a positive influence on the design of from Village Paint cities that better meet the needs of communities, and perhaps the elements we take most for granted turn out to be continued on page 03 2 My 2 Cents New Developments Coming Soon Sharing Financial Literacy Ideas continued from front cover By George Liolis the most important. The armature of the city - a system of streets and sidewalks I used to dread taking my kids with me whenever I had to run errands. - has a tremendous influence on life in and around a community. Jane Jacobs Stopping to pick something up seemed to be such a chore when children suggested that “Streets and their sidewalks - the main public places of a city - are are involved. Buckling kids in and out of their seats, taking out the stroller, making sure we over emphasized looking both ways before crossing the its most vital organs.” The best streets support all aspects of life in a community street or walking across a parking lot. We’re now 15 minutes into the errand – walking, biking, driving – and they provide vital connections to live, work and and we haven’t entered the store yet. play, both locally and beyond. Regardless of these factors, I remind the kids of our prime directive. Oh yes, I just From underground infrastructure to street-level public realm, parks and civic, quoted Star Trek! For those of you not familiar with Star Trek, the prime directive commercial and residential spaces, central Etobicoke is poised for significant is Star Fleets guiding principle. It prohibits personnel from interfering with the development over the next decade. The transformation of the Six Points internal affairs of alien species. How does this correlate you ask? Well, the grocery store is the alien planet, my children and I are Star Fleet officers, picking up milk Interchange and the former Westwood Theatre lands into a network of streets is the objective and the candy strategically placed at the checkout counters is and sidewalks (including Dundas Street West, Dunbloor Road, Bloor Street West the interference. No matter how much I remind my crew of the prime directive, and Kipling Avenue) will make the area that was largely developed in the 1950s they always seem to want to interfere with the mission and ask for things that unrecognizable in 2020 and beyond. The current interchange design lasted 60 are not on the list. years or so; if the proposed design better meets the needs of the community, it will last more than 60 years. At first, my solution was to not take the kids with me when running errands. This was not always possible so my wife and I decided that we would give the kids an allowance of $5 a week, $20 a month. Our reasoning for this was quite simple. The 200 business and property owners in the BIA along Dundas West from Over the course of the month, we found that we would spend on average up Montgomery Road to Kipling, are excited about the possibilities that this to $30 on each child. Treats at the grocery store, a small toy at Winners or a development will bring. However, as one group in the area, the BIA is carefully book at Chapters all added up by the end of the month. Giving the kids $20 a watching and listening as the City-driven, $70 million construction project moves month meant that they would have to use their money to buy the things that forward. Throughout the various phases of construction, the BIA will continue they wanted. When they asked for us to buy them something, we would reply to provide information to the City as the changes from the development affect “use your allowance.” At first, they spent their money foolishly on candy and Pokémon cards but they soon realized that if they wanted that Lego set at Toys the local community. R Us, they would need to develop better saving and spending habits. Teaching children how to manage their finances and develop good spending habits are As people look for better ways to get around the city, upgraded transit at Kipling essential skills that need to be taught at an early onset and teaching them to Station orchestrated by the provincially run Metrolinx will be a valuable asset play an active part in their financial learning is equally important. to the Central Etobicoke community. The Kipling transit hub is approximately half way between the two largest employment zones in Canada downtown Toronto and the Pearson Airport zone. Significant upgrades at Kipling Station are planned to create new passenger pick up and drop-off areas, bus platforms for Mississauga Transit and some GO Transit buses. So, as we consider the opportunities that a new urban street infrastructure may create, beyond the usual concerns about traffic, it is clear that the sidewalks will accommodate pedestrians better than the bridges across Kipling Avenue ever did, and improved connections to a redeveloped Kipling transit hub will be welcomed by residents and businesses near the Station, including the Village of Islington BIA. The proposed design will influence community through the new sidewalk and street pattern, but we will have to wait to see what is planned for the individual blocks of land that are created by the new urban street system, effects on the existing area and how, ultimately, community influences design. Ken MacSporran Moffet & Duncan Architects Inc. [email protected] www.mdarch.ca 3 Happy 150th Canada Canada’s 150th celebration is a chance to reflect on everything that has made Canada what it is today. Village of Islington Times The logo that was created to mark the 150th year represents an important milestone Community Newspaper in Canadian history. Chosen from multiple entries as a product of nationwide student Volume 05 | Issue 02 design competition, the creation is by Ariana Cuvin of Toronto. It is a composition of Quarterly Publication ~ Circulation 17,000 diamonds brought together to create an iconic maple leaf. The four diamonds at the base of the image represent the first four provinces of confederation: Ontario, Quebec, Delivered by Canada Post New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The remaining nine diamonds were added in addition For advertising information, to represent all 13 current provinces and territories. please contact Toby Gardiner at Take this year to check out our amazing nation. There is so much to see and do! [email protected] www.rjentpub.com Happy Canada Day! Village of Islington BIA Check out the celebrations in the GTA! 5048 Dundas W. Toronto Ribfest - torontoribfest.com Toronto ON M9A 1B9 To Canada with Love - www1.toronto.ca www.villageofislington.com Contact: Linda Plater E-Mail: [email protected] BIA Mobile Line: (647) 703-4802 @VillageofIsling @ villageofisling villageofislington Editorial Contributors: Toby Gardiner | Publisher Linda Plater • Lindsay Howe [email protected] Follow us on Twitter @RJentpub and like us on Facebook @RJEntertainmentPublishing. Visit our new website @ www.rjentpub.com & www.rjentertainmentpublishing.com graphic design The Village of Islington Times is printed on 100% recycled fibre. Please recycle. 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