At this point, those who want the east section of the Gardiner to be removed and replaced with a ground-level boulevard easily dwarf both in number and collective credibility those who are pushing for it to be rebuilt.
But city council remains split down the middle, and so a group of 80+ “concerned civic leaders” including former mayors David Crombie and John Sewell, former UN ambassador Stephen Lewis, a whole slew of famous architects and planners, and even NOW publisher Michael Hollett have penned an open letter to councillors who remain undecided.
We publish it here in full:
Message to the Undecided on the future of the Gardiner
This decision may be one of the most important you will have to make in this term of City Council. We realize that this is difficult, that it sometimes takes courage to make significant change. The stakes could not be higher.
It is not just about 3 minutes which may be saved for 3% of commuters it is about where our city goes next and what kind of world we are leaving to our children and grandchildren.
You are being told many things to convince you to spend approximately $1 billion dollars to essentially re-build 1.7 kilometres of a decayed elevated expressway which has reached the end of its lifespan.
Much of this is simply untrue or misleading:
The costs of making the wrong decision are very high and not just in monetary terms:
We would be in excellent company:
We have been there ourselves:
We say that we want to make rational decisions based on the facts and in this case the evidence is overwhelming.
Because so many of us from all walks of life and all parts of our city are so deeply concerned, we have felt compelled to come forward together and make this direct appeal to you.
You hold the future of our city in your hands. We urge you to think this through carefully and help our city take this crucial step to a more sustainable, prosperous, healthy future for all our citizens.
The below list of organizations, groups and individuals have all endorsed the Boulevard Option before you as the right choice for Toronto.
Endorsers
Robert Allsopp
Urban Designer, Landscape Architect, Planner, DTAH
Lloyd Alter
Design Editor, Tree Hugger, Contributor, The Guardian and Corporate Knights Magazine
David Amborski
Co-Director City Building Institute, Ryerson University
George Baird
Former Dean, Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, U of T
Vaidila Baneli
Senior Partner, Zeidler Partnership
Paul Bedford
Former Chief Planner, City of Toronto
Matthew Blackett
Publisher, Spacing Magazine
Shirley Blumberg
Founding Partner, KPMB Architects
Alan Broadbent
Chairman and CEO Avana Capital and Corporation Chairman, Maytree
Helen Burstyn
Chair, Evergreen
John Caliendo
Co-President, ABC Residents’ Association
Joanne Campbell
Retired Vice President, Communications and Community Relations, CAMH
Geoff Cape
CEO, Evergreen
Aurele Cardinal
Principal, LeMay + CHA
Howard Cohen
Context Development
Mitchell Cohen
President, The Daniels Corporation
Laura Cooper,
Co-Chair, York Quay Neighbourhood Association
Claude Cormier
Landscape architect and urban designer
Gordon Cressy
Past President, United Way of Greater Toronto
David Crombie
Former Mayor of Toronto
Gene Desfor
Professor Emeritus, York University
Jack Diamond
Diamond Schmidt Architects
Dr. Sara Diamond
President and Vice-Chancellor, OCAD University
Joyce Drohan
Director of Urban Design, Perks and Will
Tarik El-Khatib
Senior Partner, Zeidler Partnership
Andy Filmore
Board Member, Council for Canadian Urbanism
Robert Freeman
Board Member, Council for Canadian Urbanism
John Gladki
Principal, Gladki Consultants
Anne Golden
Former CEO of the Conference Board of Canada
Karen Goldenberg, C.M.
Principal Consultant, Karen Goldenberg Consulting
Antonio Gomez-Palacio
Principal Dialog
Ruth Grant
Past Vice Chair, Waterfront Regeneration Trust
Doug Grant
Past Chairman and CEO of Sceptre Investment Council Ltd
Ken Greenberg
Greenberg Consultants, Former Director of Architecture and Urban Design
Pat Hanson
gh3 Architects
Mike Harcourt
Former Premier of British Columbia and Former Mayor of Vancouver
Donna Hinde
Partner, The Planning Partnership
Hilary Holden
Associate Principal, Head of Transportation Consulting in Canada, Arup
Michael Hollett
Co-Founder, NOW Magazine/NXNE
Karl Jaffary
Former Toronto City Councillor
Roger Keil
Professor, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University
Michael Kirkland
Architect, Kirkland Partnership
Bruce Kuwabara
Founding Partner, KPMB Architects
Cheuk Kwan
Executive Director, Harmony Movement
Michele Landsberg
Journalist and Author
Frances Lankin
Former President and CEO, United Way Toronto
John Laschinger
Concerned citizen
Dan Leeming
Board Member, Council for Canadian Urbanism
David Leinster
Partner, The Planning Partnership
Stephen Lewis
Former UN Ambassador and Visiting Professor, Ryerson University
Thom Mahler
Manager Local Area Planning, City of Calgary
David McCamus
Retired Chairman and CEO, Xerox Canada
Marianne McKenna
Founding Partner, KPMB Architects
Tanzeel Merchant
CivicAction DiverseCity Fellow
Rick Merrill
Partner, The Planning Partnership
Dave Meslin
Community Organizer
Alain Miguelez
Board Member, Council for Canadian Urbanism
Mazyar Mortazavi
President and CEO, Tas
Rollo Myers
Founding Member, Friends of Fort York
Adam Nicklin
Partner, Public Work
Patricia O’Connell
Executive Director, Sistering
Ron Palmer
Partner, The Planning Partnership
Sylvia Pellman
West Don Lands Committee
Gil (Guillermo) Penalosa
Founder and Chair of the Board, 8-80 Cities
Susan Pigott
Former Vice President of Communication and Community Engagement, CAMH
Marc Ryan
Partner, Public Work
Donald Schmidt
Diamond Schmidt Architects
John Sewell
Former Mayor of Toronto
Professor Meyer Siemiatycki
Department of Politics and Public Administration, Ryerson University
Rory ‘Gus’ Sinclair
Activist, Harbord Village
David Sisam
Founding Principal, Montgomery Sisam Architects
Rob Spainer
Partner and Principal, Live Work Learn Play Inc.
Alex Spiegel
Partner, Windmill Development Group
Pierre St-Cyr
Vice-President Development, SNC-Lavalin
Tonya Surman
CEO, Centre for Social Innovation
Alex Taranu
Board Member, Council for Canadian Urbanism
Brent Toderian
Former Chief Planner, City of Vancouver
Eric Turcotte
Board Member, Council for Canadian Urbanism
Jamie Unwin
Chair, CanU’s Committee for Young Urbanists
Cynthia Wilkey
Co-Chair, West Don Lands Committee
Betsy Williamson
Willamson Chong Architects
John P. Wilson
CodeBlueTO
Margie Zeidler
President and Creator, 401 Richmond Limited
ABC Residents’ Association
CodeBlueTO
Council for Canadian Urbanism
Gooderham & Worts Neighbourhood Association
NoJetsTO
Sistering, A Woman’s Place
West Don Lands Committee
York Quay Neighourhood Association