If you’ve been reading this blog since the summer, you might remember that there was a period of time where I wrote incessantly about the removal of the eastern portion of Toronto’s elevated Gardiner Expressway.

Ultimately City Council didn’t vote the way I believe we should have. But I remain hopeful that somehow we will manage to do the right thing and replace it with a surface boulevard. Now – before the east waterfront gets developed – is the right time to make that happen.

However, the western portion of the Gardiner Expressway is a different story. The adjacent area is already developed and it is unlikely that this highway is going anywhere any time soon. So for the foreseeable future, we are stuck with it.

And if we are stuck with it then we should make the absolute best of it – even celebrate it. Which is why Toronto is buzzing right now with the news that a 1.75 km stretch under the western portion of the Gardiner Expressway will be remade into a vibrant public space by 2017. This is thanks to a generous $25 million private donation. (Is that enough money?)

Here’s the overall programming strategy, going from west to east (via undergardiner.com):

Cross-posted on Dirt

Last month I wrote a post on why I was bullish on Toronto’s downtown eastside. I outlined 3 reasons: amount of change; connectivity; and the fact that I believe the Distillery District has better long term potential than Liberty Village.

Since then, I’ve spent quite a bit of time in the area. I recently did a biking tour of the under construction River City condos, Underpass Park, Corktown Common Park (which is only open until September since construction isn’t finished yet), and the Canary District condos.

Every time I visit this area of the city I become more excited about its prospects. There’s still a long way to go, but we seem to be on the right track towards building the West Don Lands into a successful downtown neighbourhood. Pretty soon, the Distillery District won’t feel like such an island.