Welcome to my blog on housing, culture and design in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Just when we were enjoying a nice thaw… back to snow! But now that the Spring is officially here – as of March 19th – the warmer weather shouldn’t be too far off!
Although many people will rank a city based on how many ‘world class’ experiences they can have, whether those be cultural (like a museum, symphony, theatre), at a resto (“how many Michelin’s stars, do you say?”), sports-related (baseball and hockey!) or transportation (yes, there is an efficient train from the airport to the downtown core), if there’s one other aspect about a city that I’m going to notice and judge, it’s how they weave in their green spaces creatively and how much green there is amid the brick, concrete, and glass. Moreover, how engaged are the locals with their parks and forests? That’s what I want to know!
Fortunately, Toronto has its fair share of green space. Even more than fair! Our city of neighbourhoods has an eclectic assortment of them – some being spaces for contemplation or laying out a blanket to read or enjoy a picnic, and others boasting playgrounds, dedicated recreational fields, and facilities. Each park or parkette is unique, but they all offer the opportunity to take a moment to stop, be still and BREATHE.
Toronto has some destination parks – such as High Park for the ritual of welcoming the cherry blossoms in Spring or spending a summer evening at the High Park Amphitheatre to attend Dream In High Park, Canada’s longest-running outdoor professional theatres events – as well as – The Village Of Yorkville Park, an award-winning design by Architects Oleson Worland of Toronto, and Schwartz Meyer of San Francisco featuring 10 different gardens that represent the diversity of the Canadian landscape includes coniferous and deciduous forests, a meadow, a marsh, wetland, a fruit grove, and a 650-ton granite rock taken from a farm in Muskoka. It also features a dreamy rain curtain and fountain in the summer. It’s truly ‘Landscape Art’ and, well, a destination!
Toronto parks have their own life cycles, just like cities and neighbourhoods and people. For example, over the decades I’ve watched Trinity Bellwoods Park evolve from a dangerous place to venture at night into a beloved community park actively used throughout the seasons. In fact, in the early days of the pandemic, this park hit the news because “10,000 people flocked to the park to the dismay of everyone who wasn’t present” prompting the city to paint rings on the grass to demarcate the appropriate physical distancing requirements. Now that pandemic has passed, it’s a great place to spend an afternoon. Check out my post Picnicking In Toronto’s Trinity Bellwoods Park.
A lot of city parks – with their ordered sequence of playgrounds, fields and flowerbeds – appear plain, perfunctory and uneventful at first glance, especially when compared to the destination parks. I suspect it’s because – for many years – the City of Toronto focused on the function and utility of a park serving as an outlet for recreation, exhausting your children, or getting some sun on your face, which can be a priority in urban locations where mid-density living may not have much in the way of personal outdoor space. However, there’s been a shift in awareness that has been refocusing landscape design in park spaces as an opportunity to create natural ecosystems to support flora and fauna, birdsong and butterflies and all the resulting environmental and experiential benefits.
That is the perfect segue to talk about the revitalization of David Crombie Park which began last summer!
They are now in Phase 2 of this major makeover.
The Revitalization Design was “prepared using a Parks Without Borders approach in collaboration with City of Toronto Transportation Services. It includes both the park and the adjacent right-of-ways in a comprehensive and integrated design. This includes the well-used promenade along The Esplanade and the bisecting and framing local streets around the park.” (Toronto.ca)
The main goal of this project is to improve the fabric of the community by encouraging congregation and recreation, improving land use, and providing access to features and facilities that cater to a more diverse population with a wide range of lifestyle wishes and needs. The entire process was overseen by a variety of consultants to ensure the resulting network of green space is not only appealing and usable but also safe; the final concepts for each park block were curated with an eye to the principles of sustainability and environmental design, as well as crime prevention.
I love that they’re keeping the fenced-off-leash dog park (seen below) and that it will have more trees, plantings, and seating than before! After all, it’s one of the very few off-leash parks in the downtown core!
Improvements include more seating throughout; better lighting and sight-lines; more trees and plantings; a fitness circuit with equipment stations; an upgraded off-leash area for dogs (with irrigation solutions!!); traditional and non-traditional play elements that include water features and splash pads, sports courts and fields, wave/dune structure, and fenced playground equipment; a promenade; a plaza with flexible seating; pavilions; art installations… and more!
To limit infrastructure disruption, the park will be undergoing construction and revitalization in blocks. The final report and implementation plan – representing years of research, public inquiry and coordination – was released in May of 2022, and includes renderings and inspiration images alongside a thorough breakdown of technical details. You can view it here!
This green space is going to be even more beautiful – and more usable! – when the revitalization is complete! Can’t wait!
(*The above images are courtesy of the Revitalization Design Report. All rights belong to the City of Toronto.)
Whether you have an hour or an afternoon, spending time in your neighbourhood park – or exploring new parks – is a great way to get some fresh air, soak up some much-needed Vitamin D, and even engage with your community. David Crombie Park is just a size minute walk from our listing at The St Lawrence Market Lofts! The Dog park there is the perfect place for the lucky new owners of this loft to take their furry friends on walks!
Here’s a fresh-to-market 1bed/1bath brick and beam loft offering that we call: A Heritage Hard Loft In The Heart Of Historic St. Lawrence Market ….NOW SOLD!!
This loft has a fantastic, efficient layout; we always prefer having private zones tucked away from an open-plan entertainment space. But more than that, this intelligently designed suite – with its careful preservation of original details – is a great example of scale and proportion, allowing you flexibility and fun in tailoring it to your liking. Blonde laminate wood floors ground and unify this one-bedroom suite, and you can’t help but be drawn in by the south-facing windows that glow with natural light.
If you’re a ‘make-it-happen’ millennial looking for a swag pad in one of Toronto’s most historic neighbourhoods, a busy professional couple who doesn’t have time for the maintenance of a house with a yard, or a downsizing Zoomer seeking turn-key swish in proximity to your downtown-dwelling kids (and grandkids), these dare-to-dream downtown digs like these are worth your consideration!
Here’s another listing we sold nearby!
A Royal Suite At King’s Court Condominium, Steps To Toronto’s Beloved St. Lawrence Market – NOW SOLD!!
How many of these other 34 amazing Toronto parks located near properties we’ve promoted for sale or rent have you visited?
Getting Back To Nature On The Don River
Our Favourite Off-Leash Dog Parks In Toronto
Creativity & Ingenuity Intersect At Underpass Park In Corktown
Walking The Wonderful Williamson Park Ravine In The Upper Beach
Carefree At Cassels Park In The Upper Beach
Rennie Park: A Vital Lockdown Playground!
We Adore Kew Gardens In The Beaches
East Lynn Park: The Heart Of A Community
We Love Sorauren Park In Roncesvalles Village
Explore Expansive Sherwood Park In Midtown Toronto
Let’s Play At Riverdale Park East In Toronto
A Lotta Love For Toronto’s High Park
Splashing It Up At Berczy Park’s Dog Fountain
Toronto’s Terrific Trinity Bellwoods Park
Carefree At Christie Pits Park
Bickford Park: An Oasis Of Green
Let’s Catch Up At Earlscourt Park!
A Gold Star For Toronto’s Green Line Linear Park
Stephenson Park Near Main And Danforth
A Pocket Full Of Sunshine: Phin Avenue Parkette
Symphony Of The Senses At Harbourfront’s Toronto Music Garden
We Adore Kew Gardens In The Beaches
Thanks For Coleman Park At Main And Danforth
Barking Good Time At Baird Park
Strolling Massey Harris Park & Stanley Park On King West In Toronto
Ski The Slopes At Earl Bales Park Near Bathurst & Lawrence
Want to have someone on your side?
Since 1989, I’ve steered my career through a real estate market crash and burn; survived a slow painful cross-country recession; completed an M.E.S. graduate degree from York University called ‘Planning Housing Environments’; executed the concept, sales & marketing of multiple new condo and vintage loft conversions; and guided hundreds of clients through the purchase and sale of hundreds of freehold and condominium dwellings across the original City of Toronto. From a gritty port industrial city into a glittering post-industrial global centre, I’ve navigated the ebbs and flows of a property market as a consistent Top Producer. And I remain as passionate about it today as when I started.
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Thanks for reading!
-The Urbaneer Team
Steven Fudge, Sales Representative
& The Innovative Urbaneer Team
Bosley Real Estate Ltd., Brokerage – (416) 322-800
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Celebrating Thirty-Four Years As A Top-Producing Toronto Realtor
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