Toronto’s Mount Dennis community is coming together to support neighbourhood growth — so long as they get the perks that come with it.
Coffee shop owner Cassandra Nicolaou has a “romantic vision” of what Weston Road near Eglinton Avenue West could become.
Once a thriving industrial zone anchored by the former Kodak plant, Mount Dennis is now an area that in many ways has been left behind compared to other parts of the city. But a comprehensive new 223-page “Picture Mount Dennis Planning Framework” based on input from local residents, business owners, local non-profits and community groups, aims to change that narrative, as Mount Dennis is about to turn into one of the most transit-connected parts of the city.
The transit hub will be an important interconnection between the TTC subway and buses, the Kitchener GO Line and a UP Express train, which travels to Pearson Airport. Mattos cautions however that while the framework document is “a nice plan, the devil is in the execution.” Low and midrise buildings would continue to dominate both sides of Weston Road. The height limit would be eight storeys and the goal would be to create a “pedestrian-scaled” main street character.
Connect a new network of bike paths — including one that runs along the length of Weston Road — to planned cycling corridors in Toronto. He pointed out community members are usually fighting “tooth and nail” against development, “but that didn’t happen here.” Aside from the highrise buildings envisioned for the site, there will be amenities that include new streets, and large open spaces at the centre of the development, including a “piazza-type” gathering space focusing on pedestrians and cyclists, anchored by a large food store, explained Ralph Giannone, principal of Giannone Petricone Associates Architects, a firm that is part of a team of consultants working on the Choice plan.
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