Main Streets, Again?

During the late 1950s, Toronto’s main streets underwent a significant transformation. The emergence of modern shopping malls, easily accessible by car, presented a more convenient and attractive option than the traditional array of small, family-owned businesses. This shift in shopping patterns marked a turning point for North American cities, as the once-thriving public spaces began to lose their socio-cultural significance. The retail sector started to disintegrate, which had been the glue holding together various socio-cultural functions such as residential, civic and religious buildings, social clubs, libraries, and offices. 

Main streets won’t return to their significant urban role everywhere. Still, many clues suggest they may gain momentum in denser, transit-oriented neighbourhoods where residents are less inclined to drive or cannot afford it. For this reason, we believe that in the future, Toronto’s main streets need to be more “just” while considering the demands for densification and larger commercial spaces.  

How does “just” apply to this context? Toronto has more than twenty main streets. Many of them function as critical socio-cultural infrastructure in already underserved urban areas. When accommodating density, it is vital to consider the value of main streets in supporting the social fabric made of those residents, like new immigrants, children, and older adults who cannot drive or don’t want to drive to get their groceries, meet a friend, or stroll where they can see and be seen.


Just Main Streets

Just Main Streets is a research project that studies the relationship between street forms and socio-cultural patterns. Among other themes, the study looks at the impact of densification on main streets. The research methodology comprises multiple types of visual analysis, from drawing to GIS mapping to interviews with residents, professionals and public officials. Weston Rd. served as the inaugural case study main street.

The study is developed around four research key questions: Who live along Toronto’s main streets? To what extent does the public discourse on the city’s main streets promote inclusivity? What is the safety status of main streets, and whose safety is prioritized? How inclusive is the experience of walking along main streets in Toronto? How inclusive and equitable is the main streets’ streetscape programmatically and architecturally?

In recent years, the debate on Toronto’s increasing spatial injustice has focused primarily on housing unaffordability. The public and scholarly debate, including the one within the design disciplines, has yet to pay extensive attention to the increasing lack of access to vibrant, safe, and healthy streets as public spaces in the largest Canadian city. 

Due to several global and local factors, active streets have become more challenging in Toronto, primarily in neighbourhoods that have historically needed more public services. As the COVID lockdowns have reminded us, access to public space within walking distance becomes critical for the well-being of those who cannot afford to drive or newcomers unfamiliar with Toronto’s vast urban area. 

The recent densification has undoubtedly strained an already inadequate public space network. However, this also presents an opportunity, a call to action, to improve the distribution and design of public space in the city.  Addressing these issues can create a more equitable and vibrant urban environment for all.