Toronto Waterfront What's Happening?

Toronto Western Waterfront today consists of a chain of under-developed public parks and beaches that line the water’s edge between the Humber River and Ontario Place. These public spaces are cut off from the surrounding City – including two significant public open spaces (Humber Valley and High Park) and two long-established urban neighbourhoods (Swansea and Parkdale) – by a major transportation corridor comprised of The Queensway, CN Rail Corridor,

Gardiner Expressway, and Lake Shore Boulevard.

What area are we actually talking about? Two trails, namely the Martin Goodman and Humber River Valley Trails, Three City beaches, namely Gzowski, Sunnyside and Budapest Beaches, collectively known as Sunnyside Beach, Five City parks, namely Marilyn Bell Park, Lake Shore Boulevard Parklands, Budapest Park, Sunnyside Park and Sir Casimir Gzowski Park.

The area also features important historic sites, including the Joy Station, (remember the boarded up Gas station that has now been surgically replanted to the south side of LakeShore at Windermere) Sunnyside Bathing Pavilion and Palais Royale, and is home to a number of private recreational clubs, including the Boulevard Club, the Toronto Sailing and Canoe Club and the Argonaut Rowing Club.

As a destination, the Western Waterfront will provide extensive public open space along the water’s edge, just minutes from downtown Toronto and steps away from the long-established neighbourhoods of Parkdale and Swansea. For the City as-a-whole, the new Western Beach will mirror The Eastern Beaches in both framing the Central Waterfront and providing large-scale public windows onto the Lake itself. The Western Waterfront will comprise a series of expanded

and refreshed beaches, with improved beach water quality and opportunities for water-based recreation. These beaches will be anchored by a handful of year-round facilities, which will serve as service and recreation hubs for the park. Connections for pedestrians and cyclists to the Western Waterfront will be dramatically improved, with five dedicated links from the neighbourhoods to the north providing direct access to the water’s edge.

Well, Thats the Plan And it truly does explain why the Humber Bay Shore Community is in such demand for living and playing within the city. Bicycles, Pedestrians, Rollerbladers and Strollers all converge on the Boardwalk between the Argo Rowing Club and the landmark Humber Bay Bridge. All are struggling to compete for 660 parking spots along the Lake Shore and are within 300 feet of a street car stop. (But it would be way more stylish to have a NEW LRT)