Retrofitting, From the Suburb On Out

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from the Next American City blog:


Retrofitting, From the Suburb On Out

Toronto | 08/24/2012 8:26am |
Michaela Krauser | Next American City



[font size="1"]Mississauga’s high-rise-filled skyline is deceiving. Credit: markaci on Flickr[/font]


In Any Suburb, U.S.A., box stores usually line wide streets and empty parking lots frame strip malls. But as many residents begin to pack up and move to the city, suburbs are increasingly looking for ways to create distinctive, vibrant cores within the sprawl.

In Toronto, planners are resisting the traditional model of urban growth — from the urban core, outwards — in favor of a different strategy: Building mixed-used, walkable cores within the surrounding municipalities, according to the Globe and Mail.

Though the plan to build thriving mini-downtowns within the suburbs may rely on familiar tactics — street-level and transit-oriented development and tighter street networks — the strategy has not yet been used on such a large scale in North America. While the plan has its critics, some municipalities argue that building these developments is a necessity.

From a distance, Mississauga’s high-rise-dotted skyline evokes the appearance of a thriving downtown. In reality, wide gaps separate the Toronto suburb’s tall buildings, and big-box stores stud vacant sidewalks. With little land left to grow outward, Mississauga is looking to densify. In 2010, the suburb adopted a plan to concentrate development on a new main street, creating a pedestrian-oriented streetscape with street-level retail, smaller blocks and a new light-rail line to service the area. The renovated plaza in front of Mississauga’s city hall, complete with wading pool, stage and Jumbotrons, has received about a million visitors since it opened last summer. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://americancity.org/daily/entry/retrofitting-from-the-suburb-and-out