The Subdivision That Started It All Turns 50

The Don Mills community had many firsts associated with it when work was started on the first houses in 1953. Considered Canada’s first planned community, Don Mills was the result of plans originally made up by landscape architect Macklin Hancock, who currently resides in Mississauga... Hancock was inspired by the idea of incorporating green spaces into city planning — in fact more than 11 per cent of the land was set aside for green space. His concepts included in the plan were neighborhoods, green space and unique roads.The area is divided into four quadrants, with each quadrant considered a sub-neighborhood. Front fences were never installed on the properties and Hancock expanded the standard house lot from 40 feet to 60."