Keeping the Yonge Love Alive

Keeping the Yonge Love Alive

The Downtown Yonge BIA (external link)  (DYBIA) is dedicated to strengthening the Downtown Yonge neighbourhood, historically one of the most powerful commercial and cultural centres in the country. Their campaign, #YongeLove, built support for the YongeTOmorrow (external link)  project of the City of Toronto, which will reimagine a section of Yonge for better public access and safety. But this revitalization, plus the construction of the new Ontario Line by Metrolinx, will plunge the Downtown Yonge area into significant disruption in the next decade, following on the heels of a pandemic that hit local independent businesses hard. In this scenario, how can we keep the Yonge Love flowing? Community engagement is key. Victor Perez-Amado (Assistant Professor, School of Urban and Regional Planning) has been leading students in different exercises to engage with DYBIA and design interventions and solutions to help the community embrace downtown Yonge while it continues to grow and change. In this webinar, he and Cheryll Diego (Public Realm Experience Manager, DYBIA) will shed light on how DYBIA is confronting challenges in the area using innovative strategies and education-based partnership.

Moderated by Dr. Pamela Robinson, Academic Director, City Building TMU