January 2017
Yonge St. was originally an overland route for military transport. The year was 1793. The road was protected from attack by US forces from the recently formed United States of America.
More recently, condo buildings have transformed Toronto’s Yonge St. into a more vibrant and exciting place to live and play. This transformation from a quiet, dreary and dark street, once known as the longest in North America, is likely to continue for at least a decade. It is the development of residential condo buildings that has led the transformation.
The plan to transform Yonge St. has been and continues to be successful. Yet there have been hiccups along the way and problems that remain unresolved. Politicians, planners and developers at times forget about the people who live in an area and focus on how much money they get from more people living so close to each other. They sometimes forget about the infrastructure that makes an area a community where people want to live.
Development along Yonge St. has been primarily in four areas.
Yonge North Corridor
High-rise condo development began north of Highway 401 in what was designated a High Density area. A 2 km stretch now has an estimated 130 high-rise condo buildings housing a population estimated to be in excess of 100,000. The development area has since expanded further north by another 2 km.
Yonge North Corridor remains the oldest and largest condo community in Toronto. After 30 years of development there continues to be unresolved infrastructure concerns that include transit, schools and roads. The intersection at Yonge St. and Sheppard Ave. is one of the most congested in the city. These unresolved matters are likely to impact on other areas of the city at earlier stages of high-rise condo building growth.
Yonge North Corridor was intended to be an area where one can live and work without requiring transit or automobiles.
The reality is that jobs have not kept pace as the residential community has grown. This has placed added pressure on local roads and transit. The effort to create local jobs in this community appears to have been abandoned. Should this trend continue in other high growth communities, the impact on roads and transit is unclear.
Downtown Yonge
There are now about 20,000 condo suites currently under construction or in the planning stage along a 7 km stretch of Yonge St. from Lake Ontario to Eglinton Ave. These developments are intended to house a population of over 30,000 people.
This means more people on subways and sidewalks. There will be more road traffic. Schools will be needed. There will be more restaurants and entertainment for those who live along Yonge St. One of the challenges will be to retain the character of each community along Yonge St.
Yonge-Eglinton (Midtown)
Yonge and Eglinton is currently the area with the most high-rise condo projects. This midtown area has more than 20 projects proposed or under construction. When complete it is expected to add nearly 9,000 condo suites. Travel east along Eglinton Ave. to Bayview Ave. and the number of proposed condo suites increases by more than 30% to over 12,000. This is an area where the population has increased 32% between 2001 and 2011. Some estimate that the area population will double to about 45,000 residents in the next 15 to 20 years. Local politicians identify local infrastructure limitations that include schools and transit. These are the same concerns that have plagued the Yonge North Corridor.
Waterfront near Yonge St.
This area is slated for redevelopment. Current discussion revolves around the number of high-rise condo towers that can or should be built along the waterfront near Yonge St. One current proposal includes five residential and office towers. The tallest would be a 95 storey residential tower next to the Gardiner Expressway.
