From its humble origins as a rural country road to its present form as a suburban arterial, the Keele Street Corridor - stretching from Wilson Avenue to Grandravine Drive - has long served the transportation and day-to-day needs of North York and Toronto residents.
The following study presents the corridor as it was, as it is, and as it could be. Through a series of recommendations, this report intends to offer a vision of the corridor as an urbanized, livable, and beautiful corridor in keeping with the Official Plan’s Avenues policies and based on the following principles:
Locating new and denser housing types that encourage a mix of use, make efficient use of lands, frame the right-of-way, are appropriately massed and attractively designed.
Supporting the creation of complete communities that provide a mix of unit types and offers a range of affordability.
Creating high-quality and well-planned public spaces that retain existing residents, attract new residents, encourage interaction and animation, and provide the infrastructure required by all.
Prioritizing opportunities for greening within the right-of-way, including planting new trees, creating new parks with frontage along Keele Street, planters, and green buildings.
Reconfiguring and civilizing Keele Street into a complete street that serves as a living space for its residents, assigns priority to safety, and encourages active transportation and transit.
The report is divided into two parts:
The first part - BACKGROUND - contains a description of the corridor’s boundaries, its evolution from an agrarian community, presents the current built environment, and reviews the existing policy layers affecting the Corridor.
The second part - PLAN - contains recommendations related to the future development and revitalization of the corridor related to future land uses, built form, development, public realm, parks and open space, and transportation network.
Key words: Avenue, urban design, urbanization, suburbs, mid-rise building, corridor.