Our Public Realm defines our neighbourhood. It is the space we come together as a community, and where life in Old Town Toronto happens. When well designed, they can shape the way we experience our neighbourhood, making it an engaging, vibrant, and livable place.
We have a unique opportunity to redesign our streets. Our community and the city around it are rapidly changing from our industrial past to our future community needs. Over the next 5 years, new public transit initiatives, fast-paced land redevelopment, municipal road reconstruction projects and updated city standards will impact over 30% of our street network. We want to leverage this change to transform our streets in a way that benefits everyone.
We have the knowledge and experience. The city has the right policies and standards in place; when we apply them, we end up with amazing results like the BIA led interventions of Market and Wellington Streets. We want to build on this momentum.
We have the resources. Excess road space can be reallocated on our streets, allowing for a range of boulevard improvements without compromising traffic flow. Existing funding, planned infrastructure upgrades, and private redevelopment can be leveraged to build out our streets with little or no additional cost to the City. Collaboration with local experts, and city divisions to develop a clear vision is key.
We need to create a strong partnership with the City. We need a clear co-design approach that combines the unique strengths of the municipality and the BIA, creating a “playbook” for efficient and effective collaboration. The result will be transformed, complete, safe green streets that are designed to meet our needs, built right, and easily maintained.
The following documents outline a step-by-step approach based on in-depth knowledge of our local needs, the right city standards, and detailed technical requirements:
Master Plan
The St. Lawrence Market Neighbourhood Public Realm Master Plan (2015) outlines a vision for public spaces that guides both public and private investment. It supports roadway and streetscape upgrades, creates connectivity, and establishes a sustainable network of high-quality destination spaces to spark development and foster a vibrant community. Now an official City of Toronto document, adopted by Council, it is actively referenced by City staff and developers when shaping the neighbourhood’s future. It was the first of its kind that has inspired many BIAs to do the same.
Streetscape Transformation Strategy (STS)
The Streetscape Transformation Strategy (2024) builds on the Master Plan with a step-by-step process for turning ideas into action. It starts with the Master Plan, then develops block-by-block plans, and finally outlines how improvements can be phased in over time as new development and investments happen.
The strategy is broken down into 3 distinct steps that build upon each other to streamline decision-making and advance critical approvals that will enable the City to leverage partnerships to realize the community vision:
Step 1 – Street Network Master Plan (SNMP): Clarifies the amount of road space that is required along every street and intersection in the neighbourhood to maintain traffic capacities, while liberating excess pavement that can be reallocated to achieve other transportation and public realm priorities.
Step 2 – Block Plan Process: Optimizes the SNMP findings at the block level, responding to local conditions and development opportunities.
Step 3 – Incremental Implementation Approach: Develops strategies and design details to ensure that all development and investment opportunities can be leveraged to incrementally realize the block plan vision.
The Appendices provide supporting details, including guiding principles, maps, policies, and technical references that informed the strategy.
Street Network Master Plan (SNMP) + Study Areas
The Street Network Master Plan is the technical foundation for change. It measures every street in the neighbourhood to identify where space can be reclaimed from roadways and reallocated for people walking, cycling, and taking transit—all while maintaining traffic flow.
To make the strategy easier to explore, you can either download the overall strategy document, or review example Study Areas.