Christopher Hume argues that Toronto's planners, in planning for easy vehicle access to the revitalizing waterfront, will be harming it as a pedestrian environment.
"Instead of rivers, we have roads. Rather than water, there's traffic. As a result, 21st century Toronto is being turned into a city of islands, a series of barely connected neighbourhoods separated by multi-lane urban highways.
We talk a lot about building a city for people, not cars, but when it comes to the details – road width, traffic lights, block lengths, speed limits and the like – it's clear our vehicular addiction is strong.
[W]e have embarked on an ambitious multi-billion dollar project to revitalize Toronto's waterfront. Again and again, planners have told us that access is key, especially north/south access. No one would disagree, but how is that compatible with what's unfolding?
And so we'll have to make hard decisions: Should the waterfront be for cars or people? The answer may be obvious, but that won't make getting there any easier."
FULL STORY: Planners' credo: Four wheels good, two legs bad
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New York City School Construction Authority
Village of Glen Ellyn
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions