Subway Surplus Lands When building the city’s subway lines, swathes of land were appropriated by the Toronto Transit Commission, usually between a major commercial corridor and the residential neighbourhoods adjacent to it. After construction was complete, the surplus land was no longer needed and was either converted into public parking lots, sold off for development or converted into parkettes. Because of their location next to transportation hubs, these spaces are often used as shortcuts for commuters getting to and from their homes. They are perhaps the most transitory of spaces in the small public space catalogue. name: Susan Tibaldi Parkette location: 620 Brock Avenue size: 0.11 hectares rank: 184th smallest park
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On Site review 23
Small Things
elements:
p laygr ound eq uip ment seating event boa rd w ater fountain l i g ht i ng tr ees and p lants wa st e bi n
de p ar t me n t o f un u su a l ce r t a i nti e s
Lakefront Slips The older lakefront neighbourhoods on both ends of the city were laid out without a lakefront public street. For the most part, private residential properties back onto the lake, granting the lucky few a privileged view. By-products of the grid however are the small pockets of land left over where the north-south road meets the lake. These spaces vary in their usability, some of them precariously wedged between asphalt and a precipitous bluff, but many afford enough space to accommodate a singular bench – allowing for philosophical gazing into the expansive emptiness of the lake. elements: name: un-named tr ees and p lants location: the end of 12th Street size: 0.12 hectares rank: not listed