Jane's Walk

In 1996 a very innovative zoning change was introduced to two historic manufacturing districts on the edge of Toronto’s downtown core. They were dubbed “The Two Kings” – King and Parliament; and King and Spadina. The Two Kings are a unique Toronto success story. Jane Jacobs worked with then-Mayor Barbara Hall to establish these “Reinvestment Areas”. In the case of King-Spadina the area took on new life – almost immediately. Formerly vacant warehouses and factory buildings were filled with new uses within just a couple of years after the new zoning was implemented and the area has never looked back. Now, a decade later, there is enormous real estate pressure from condominium developers (often aided and abetted by the OMB) who are keen to maximize real estate values which requires the demolition of the historic fabric of the neighbourhood. Will the area be killed by its own success, or will the planners and politicians make sure that the vision that created this lively and vibrant neighbourhood – so essential to the City’s economy - is protected? On this walk we will, in part, explore one of Jacobs’ precepts in Death and Life of Great American Cities – that “new ideas must use old buildings”. Inside the historic buildings of this neighbourhood (and others like it) – the new ideas, that will fuel our city’s economy long into the future, are percolating. These types of spaces (“a good lot of plain, ordinary, low-value old buildings, including some rundown old buildings”)* are essential and precious to any vibrant urban economy.
This walk will commence at the Roastery – the café at the entrance to 401 Richmond. 401 was definitely inspired by Jane’s thinking. We will do a quick tour of parts of the building (taking in the 10 foot square portrait of her created by artists John Scott and Deborah Waddington and roof garden – which Jane loved and wrote about in the New York Times magazine). We will then proceed through the streets of King Spadina and discuss the history of the zoning changes that occurred in ’97 and the impact it had on the area, the buildings and people.
*Death and Life of Great American Cities - Jane Jacobs; Random House; 1961. Chapter 10: The need for aged buildings.

Paul Bedford was Toronto’s Chief City Planner from 1996-2004 and the original architect of the Kings experiment. He is currently the only non-elected municipal member of the Metrolinx Board of Directors, serves on the Waterfront Toronto Design Review Panel, the National Capital Commission Planning Advisory Committee and teaches urban planning at both Ryerson and the UofT. He is a frequent speaker and writer on urban affairs is passionate about his native city.

Margie Zeidler is a developer and board member of the Centre For City Ecology. She won the Jane Jacobs Prize in 2003. Her projects are 401 Richmond and 215 Spadina (Centre for Social Innovation). Both illustrate Jane’s dictum that “new ideas must use old buildings”.