Feeling Yonge Again

Photograph by Frank Lennon (1974) and Lucas Oleniuk (2012). Copyright 2012 of the Toronto Star.

 
Toronto is going to be "narrowing" Yonge Street temporarily to street traffic to create more pedestrian space during its "Celebrate Yonge" festival (well, a small portion of it at least) and I couldn't be happier. The area they've chosen is not particular a large one (by Google's measure, about 850 m) but it's certainly a step forward to re-imaging the area for pedestrians (rather than for cars).

For those unfamiliar with Yonge Street, it is one the longest roads in Ontario (and even once claimed to be the longest in the world!). The Yonge subway line runs nearly the entire length of the street, from Finch to King station, and is hellish to ride on during rush hour commutes; when I was new (and naive) to Toronto, I was trying to go south one day at Yonge/Bloor station. Coming up the stairs, I saw a near empty train parked there, and (unable to see a sign indicating which direction it was going, but thinking I had gone up the right stairs), I rushed on. A couple of minutes later, I was Rosedale station, one stop north.

It was about half an hour before I could cram myself onto a train going south. I probably could have gotten to my destination faster by walking.

With a few exceptions, Yonge south of St. Clair is dominated by mixed-use buildings, occasionally broken up by larger businesses such as Staples, Canadian Tire, and (as mentioned earlier on the blog), the Eaton Centre. Once you hit the "Financial District" around Queen Street, the buildings begin to rapidly increase in height. Small businesses can still be found along this stretch, but office towers begin to dominate (although certainly there are plenty of condos around too). North of Bloor tends to have more high-end stores such as antique and furniture stores, thanks in part to the proximity to the Rosedale neighbourhood (one of the most expensive, if not THE more expensive, neighbourhoods in Toronto). The area south of Bloor however, is the area I want to focus on, particularly as it's the area that's getting some pedestrian-friendly love.


Heading south from "One Bloor", you start to see more restaurants, pizza parlors, and pubs. This area of Yonge has a different feel than the one north of Bloor, more for the university crowd that one would find in other places downtown thanks to Ryerson and the University of Toronto. Stores such as 401 Games and the movie theatre confirm that this is an area for a younger crowd. The presence of the Eaton Centre and (to a lesser degree) College Park also makes this a place where lots of tourists move through as they get their shop-on. The combination makes it a very lively place at nearly all times of the day.

The problem comes from the need to accommodate a full four lanes of traffic; many of the sidewalks are pretty slim, unable to really capture the potential pedestrian traffic.  Conditions improve slightly between College and Gerrard Streets (there's even enough room for a road median), but the median (and slightly larger sidewalks) disappear once you pass Gerrard. I certainly don't want to demonize the effect of cars here; the area is no more unpleasant to walk through than most Toronto streets, but the extra two lanes reduce the intimacy of the two sides. Without the space, there are few places for people to linger, and when they do the results can end up clogging the entire sidewalk. There are few spaces for cafes and pubs to have outdoor patios, and some stores instead rely on people to draw customers in, rather than inviting storefronts that do it naturally. Heck, there's not even room for a bike lane, and if there is a road that desperately needs a bike lane, it's Yonge Street.

Most damningly, of what value are cars to the businesses who reside here? The proximity to the subway likely benefits these businesses far more than the road does, able to ship thousands of people a day into this area of the city whom don't need to worry about finding a place to park their car (there is no room for parking on Yonge after all).

I don't know if reducing the number of lanes will "revitalize" the area; in my opinion, the area already has quite a bit of vitality. Certainly, there are a number of "local undesirable land-uses" in the area (I would imagine the numerous tattoo shops, pay-day loan places, and adult bookstores are a bit of an eyesore; I think Zanzibar gets a free pass because of that awesome sign), but there are also a lot of smaller ethnic restaurants and specialty stores (such as the aforementioned 401 Games, but let's not forget about the Hairy Tarantula location either) that make the area interesting in a way that might not be possible if the area was "too" successful.

Opening up the area, even temporarily, will be a good test to see how pedestrians use the extra space. Certainly there will be traffic implications, ones that the crowded Yonge Subway may be unable to compensate for. On the other hand, the experiment with putting pedestrians first has (mostly) been a success at Yonge/Dundas; giving the crowds more reasons to move north and south could be a nice shot in the arm for both businesses and pedestrians.