Porter: 'Save Our Sheppard' group missing the point
By Catherine Porter
Columnist
Denis Lanoue is the dream neighbour. As president of a residents' association in north Scarborough, he makes good things happen. The lights on a nearby walkway? Him. The kids' mural in a local park where graffiti once posed a problem? Him. The expansion of the local elementary school, so kids would learn in a building rather than portables? You get the point.
He clearly loves north Scarborough. That is a good thing. Except, he is so lovestruck, he's blind to his beloved's most obvious flaws.
Case in point: Sheppard Ave. The lonely trees. The scrubby grass separating grim apartment buildings. The yawning parking lots and sprawling car dealerships. He loves it all.
"It is a superb avenue," Lanoue says, taking me for a tour down Sheppard in his tan Ford van. Even during rush hour, it's a driver's dream – few cars, fewer pesky pedestrians, three empty lanes each way, right foot heavy on the gas, zipping along at a speed cars on the nearby 401 would envy.
"It's beautiful, being open like this."
Lanoue is part of Save Our Sheppard – a group of local residents opposing the light rail transit line already being built, although very slowly by the looks of it. The first of seven mostly suburban rail lines that make up Metrolinx's Transit City plan, it would seem to be a done deal, with the provincial and federal government cheques signed for the $950 million construction tab.
But the group hopes to spike the plan in favour of a more expensive subway, which they think will cause fewer traffic jams from cars lining up to make turns.
"This is all going to be congested," says Lanoue, a retired manager at Imperial Oil. "It's going to be a mess. There will be lots of accidents, and it won't be safe for pedestrians.
"It will divide the community."
What community? In our entire tour up the route, I see only one person walking along the street. He's dressed up as a giant red leaf with the words "Liberty Tax" scrawled across his chest.
Sure, cut inside the windy streets lined with two-door garages, and you catch glimpses of kids playing hockey and dog walkers chatting with one another on the sidewalk. But that is because they have their own space and are not being terrorized by careening cars.
I could understand Save Our Spadina, and Save Our St. Clair. Both streets are full of life and bustling businesses. But the only thing to save on Sheppard is time – which is the antithesis of community. Friends aren't made in a rush.
Now I have exposed myself as the inner city, latte-drinking, stroller-pushing, subway-hopping snob 905 ers love to hate, which is fair. Except I don't live in a tony neighbourhood. I live near Woodbine and Danforth, a place described by realtors as "up and coming" and by this newspaper as "seedy." I, too, love my neighbourhood and have spent time trying to improve it.
I organized a history walk last fall. There, I learned that 50 years ago, my neighbourhood was hopping with movie theatres, dance halls, taverns and cafes. Dozens of stores and businesses crowded a single block that is now desolate. It would now fit right in on Sheppard Ave.
What happened? The streetcar was replaced by the subway, and all the strolling shoppers went underground.
When I look at the architectural renderings of what the city plans for Sheppard Ave. in 30 years, I go green with envy. Five-storey buildings line the street, with retail stores and cafes at ground level spilling out onto the sidewalk. A cyclist pedals down a bike lane planned along with the LRT. Here's a street I'd love to walk down – stopping here to pick up glasses from an optometrist, buying a bouquet of fresh-cut flowers there before jumping on the LRT and heading home.
It would be something to savour. And save.
But I am the converted. I live in the dense city core and expect traffic jams the instant I turn on my car ignition.
It's suburbanites like Lanoue that the brains behind Transit City have to convert. And it won't be by "ramming plans down our throats," as he puts it.
It will require meetings and flexibility and a staff that is willing to listen to the people this system is aiming to serve and that recognizes that locals bring an insight and passion for the area that engineers and planners cannot.
The planners can't wait for the coffee shops to arrive and for the community building to start along Sheppard Ave. It has to start now.
Catherine Porter's column appears on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. She can be reached at
cporter@thestar.ca
