The aerial view in the picture below shows the change the area surrounding the Y-E intersection is undergoing (coloured buildings are future additions)
Midtown in Focus is an initiative led by City Planning as a response to the rapid intensification and change underway in the Yonge-Eglinton Secondary Plan area, which encompasses all of SERRA. The study includes a review of the Growth, Built Form and Hard/ Soft Infrastructure (pipes and wires, parks, social services, schools, etc) in our area. The final report will be a planning blueprint for the next 20 years or so. It is also intended to identify capital upgrades needed to ensure local transportation, municipal servicing and community infrastructure keeps pace with development.
It’s probably the most impactful planning activity in our area and SERRA is front and centre to ensure our views are heard. The study has been ongoing since 2014 and is expected to wrap up this year!
Read more about the City’s Midtown in Focus initiative, click here
The current phase of Midtown in Focus deals with Parks and Open Spaces in the SERRA area.
Paul Farish, the Senior City Planner, responsible for leading the Midtown in Focus initiative arranged a workshop on green infrastructure for our area. The Yonge-Davisville neighbourhood is the latest to be singled out, and through Mr. Farish the City of Toronto sought public input into the future of the area’s parks and public spaces. The meeting was well attended despite the cold, rainy weather and groups of attendees walked the streets of Davisville with a city planner, looking for opportunities to preserve and enhance green space. We await the results of that consultation, which should arrive early in the New Year.
In planning for this event SERRA had mapped out a potential route on side streets and lanes which would allow pedestrians and cyclists to move from the Yonge-Eglinton area to the beltline and Mt. Pleasant Cemetery without having to use major roadways. We would like to see the city develop a number of inside neighbourhood routes which would be a quiet oasis and passageway in Davisville. With the planned arrival of 35,000 new residents in the Y-E area over the next 15 years, green spaces and parks will become ever more precious.