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wyliepoon
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Part 5 (the final part) of my photo tour of the Town of Markham. Let's go to the northeast corner of development in Markham, to the new urbanist community of Cornell.
Cornell is one of the most well-known new urbanist communities in the GTA. When it was planned, the goal was to create a community with higher housing densities, walkable streets, good housing design and better community amenities that are accessible by alternative transportation, creating a more urban and sustainable environment to live, following new urbanist principles of planning and architecture.
How does the place look now? A lot of the houses look nice, borrowing Victorian features from inner city houses. The houses are more packed together. Every street has a sidewalk and less front yard space, but there's still problems- there are very few people on the streets. Driving continues to be the mode of transportation of choice for many residents.
Mixed-use areas are almost non-existent in the areas I saw at Cornell, aside from a mid-rise apartment block in the heart of the community. The streets of Cornell are rather mazelike, which probably discourages residents from walking around their community. Much of the area of Cornell is taken up by pavement- every house fronts a street that could be as wide as a main thoroughfare in downtown Toronto, and there is a laneway in the back with garages. The mid-rise apartment block is served by a sprawling parking lot at grade.
While I see problems with the design of Cornell, what I think is the biggest problem with the community is that people living in the community seem to refuse to at least try to live differently from other suburbanites. This might have to do with the design of the neighbourhood (which I think has compromised too much to suit the tastes of suburbanites), but I think it also has to do with the mindset of the residents, some of whom might see this as only a suburban home, or an investment, instead of something special that we urbanists tend to see. It will take more than just new urbanist design to create urban communities in the suburbs- it will need a change of mind from the suburbanites who live in these communities.
Mixed-use block in the centre of Cornell
On the right is the Markham Yee Hong Centre, a Chinese senior home. It's probably the tallest building in Cornell
Mailboxes with a roof
Cornell is one of the most well-known new urbanist communities in the GTA. When it was planned, the goal was to create a community with higher housing densities, walkable streets, good housing design and better community amenities that are accessible by alternative transportation, creating a more urban and sustainable environment to live, following new urbanist principles of planning and architecture.
How does the place look now? A lot of the houses look nice, borrowing Victorian features from inner city houses. The houses are more packed together. Every street has a sidewalk and less front yard space, but there's still problems- there are very few people on the streets. Driving continues to be the mode of transportation of choice for many residents.
Mixed-use areas are almost non-existent in the areas I saw at Cornell, aside from a mid-rise apartment block in the heart of the community. The streets of Cornell are rather mazelike, which probably discourages residents from walking around their community. Much of the area of Cornell is taken up by pavement- every house fronts a street that could be as wide as a main thoroughfare in downtown Toronto, and there is a laneway in the back with garages. The mid-rise apartment block is served by a sprawling parking lot at grade.
While I see problems with the design of Cornell, what I think is the biggest problem with the community is that people living in the community seem to refuse to at least try to live differently from other suburbanites. This might have to do with the design of the neighbourhood (which I think has compromised too much to suit the tastes of suburbanites), but I think it also has to do with the mindset of the residents, some of whom might see this as only a suburban home, or an investment, instead of something special that we urbanists tend to see. It will take more than just new urbanist design to create urban communities in the suburbs- it will need a change of mind from the suburbanites who live in these communities.
Mixed-use block in the centre of Cornell
On the right is the Markham Yee Hong Centre, a Chinese senior home. It's probably the tallest building in Cornell
Mailboxes with a roof