{"id":17072,"date":"2011-05-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-05-27T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yfiledev.uit.yorku.ca\/2011\/05\/27\/theyll-unpave-parking-lots-and-put-up-a-paradise\/"},"modified":"2025-04-02T08:44:35","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T12:44:35","slug":"theyll-unpave-parking-lots-and-put-up-a-paradise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2011\/05\/27\/theyll-unpave-parking-lots-and-put-up-a-paradise\/","title":{"rendered":"They'll unpave parking lots and put up a paradise"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a few years, you might not recognize Keele campus.<\/p>\n<p>With the arrival in 2015 of the Spadina subway extension, the core of this car-oriented campus \u2013 what planners call the academic core \u2013 will undergo a radical greening.<\/p>\n<p>What will it look like?<\/p>\n<p>Inside the ring road, ground parking lots will disappear, making way for new buildings. The ring road itself will become a tree-lined greenway accommodating pedestrians, bicycles, transit and cars, in that order. Roads will morph into bicycle paths and pedestrian walkways, shaded by trees, edged by <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"http:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/photos\/20110526\/\/MasterPlanDiceman.jpg\" alt=\"Randy Diceman, York's emergency management coordinator, examines plans for a greener core campus, at April open house\" width=\"350\" height=\"239\" align=\"left\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"8\" vspace=\"8\" \/>green spaces, lined with benches and populated with public art. Buses won\u2019t be belching fumes around the Common. It could be quiet, very quiet.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Left: Randy Diceman, York's emergency management coordinator, examines\u00a0plans for a greener core campus, at April open house<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s all laid out in York\u2019s updated master plan, first unveiled April 13 at an open house in Vari Hall Rotunda. (If you missed the open house, check out the <a href=\"http:\/\/yudc.ca\/successstories\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">York University Development Corporation<\/a> website for images of the future.)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing is firmed up yet,\u201d says Christopher Wong,\u00a0YUDC director of transportation and master planning. The open house was the first in a series of consultations with the community \u201cto see if we\u2019re on the right track.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>York\u2019s original master plan, drafted in 1963 and revised in 1988, was \u201cpredicated on the car,\u201d said Wong. \"Now, our strategy is to go back to a pedestrian core, keeping public roads to the periphery, <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"http:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/photos\/20110526\/\/MasterPlanGreenWalk.jpg\" alt=\"On campus\" width=\"300\" height=\"220\" align=\"right\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"8\" vspace=\"8\" \/>particularly now that the subway is coming. We don\u2019t need to cater to the car anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A few years ago, knowing the subway was on its way, the City of Toronto revisited York\u2019s 1988 master plan. It divided York\u2019s land holdings roughly into two \u2013 the academic core inside the ring road and the non-academic area surrounding it. In December 1999, the city drew up a <a href=\"http:\/\/yudc.ca\/successstories\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">secondary plan<\/a> (see <em>YFile, <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/archive\/index.asp?Article=14564\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">March 30, 2010<\/a> ) to guide commercial and residential development around the academic core. The city gave the University responsibility for revising a master plan to guide development of its academic core.<\/p>\n<p>For the past year and a half, YUDC has been drafting a framework for a master plan with help from urban planners, architects and consultants. The impetus to revise the plan came from the City of Toronto when a subway extension became a certainty.<\/p>\n<p>YUDC began by talking to senior officials. \u201cWe heard loud and clear that the quality of student experience was the area they want to emphasize,\u201d said Wong.<\/p>\n<p>Based on this feedback, YUDC and partners decided to enhance campus life by focusing on three <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"http:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/photos\/20110526\/\/MPBicycles1.jpg\" alt=\"Bike rack on Campus\" width=\"300\" height=\"223\" align=\"right\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"8\" vspace=\"8\" \/>lenses\u00a0\u2013 pedestrians first, greening the campus and infilling the campus.<\/p>\n<p>The ring road would be called the Greenway and favour pedestrians and cyclists. The Harry W. Arthurs Common would be \u201cliberated\u201d from heavy bus traffic. Cycling to Keele campus would be more attractive, with the Greenway linked to regional trails.<\/p>\n<p>The Common and the Lorna R. Marsden Honour Court &amp; Welcome Centre would become \u201cthe green heart\u201d of the academic core. Trees would line all major gateways to campus. Walkways would connect woodlots and streetscapes, informal and formal green spaces, creating potential sites for public art.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe campus will become more compact and walkable with more convenient services for the University community,\u201d suggest planners.<\/p>\n<p>Surface parking\u00a0would disappear, making way for new buildings. \"The University could double the amount of building within its academic core,\u201d says Wong. The York Boulevard\u00a0lot\u00a0could turn into a major academic building linked to the York University subway station across the street.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe principle of putting people to work and live close to the subway is what the plan is all about,\u201d says Wong. <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"http:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/photos\/20110526\/\/MasterPlanGreen2.jpg\" alt=\"Map\" width=\"450\" height=\"307\" align=\"left\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"8\" vspace=\"8\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Over the summer and fall, YUDC will\u00a0consult with University stakeholders \u2013 administration, faculty, staff, students and the broader community. A\u00a0revised framework will be presented at a second open house in the fall and a\u00a0final version submitted for approval\u00a0later in the year or early in\u00a02012.<\/p>\n<p>YUDC wants to hear what you think of the preliminary framework of the updated master plan.\u00a0Submit your comments by filling in a form at the end of the story about the updated master plan on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.yudc.ca\/successstories\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">YUDC website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>By Martha Tancock, YFile contributor<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pedestrians and bicyclists, not cars, are driving proposals for future development of the Keele campus's academic core...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"yfileauthor":[],"qualifier":[],"yfile-author":[],"tags-to-show":[],"workflow":[],"class_list":["post-17072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editors-picks"],"acf":{"internal_publish_date":null,"original_image":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>They&#039;ll unpave parking lots and put up a paradise - YFile<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2011\/05\/27\/theyll-unpave-parking-lots-and-put-up-a-paradise\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"They&#039;ll unpave parking lots and put up a paradise - YFile\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pedestrians and bicyclists, not cars, are driving proposals for future development of the Keele campus&#039;s academic core...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2011\/05\/27\/theyll-unpave-parking-lots-and-put-up-a-paradise\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"YFile\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-05-27T04:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-02T12:44:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/photos\/20110526\/\/MasterPlanDiceman.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"phalfert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"phalfert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2011\/05\/27\/theyll-unpave-parking-lots-and-put-up-a-paradise\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2011\/05\/27\/theyll-unpave-parking-lots-and-put-up-a-paradise\/\",\"name\":\"They'll unpave parking lots and put up a paradise - YFile\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2011\/05\/27\/theyll-unpave-parking-lots-and-put-up-a-paradise\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2011\/05\/27\/theyll-unpave-parking-lots-and-put-up-a-paradise\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/photos\/20110526\/\/MasterPlanDiceman.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-27T04:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-02T12:44:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/#\/schema\/person\/21f3dffe794363be5ece4ec7f538a0c0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2011\/05\/27\/theyll-unpave-parking-lots-and-put-up-a-paradise\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2011\/05\/27\/theyll-unpave-parking-lots-and-put-up-a-paradise\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2011\/05\/27\/theyll-unpave-parking-lots-and-put-up-a-paradise\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/photos\/20110526\/\/MasterPlanDiceman.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/photos\/20110526\/\/MasterPlanDiceman.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2011\/05\/27\/theyll-unpave-parking-lots-and-put-up-a-paradise\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"They'll unpave parking lots and put up a paradise\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/\",\"name\":\"YFile\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/#\/schema\/person\/21f3dffe794363be5ece4ec7f538a0c0\",\"name\":\"phalfert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ea7956d3c5d90a591766f6a4b384c40d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ea7956d3c5d90a591766f6a4b384c40d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"phalfert\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/author\/phalfert\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"They'll unpave parking lots and put up a paradise - YFile","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2011\/05\/27\/theyll-unpave-parking-lots-and-put-up-a-paradise\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"They'll unpave parking lots and put up a paradise - YFile","og_description":"Pedestrians and bicyclists, not cars, are driving proposals for future development of the Keele campus's academic core...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2011\/05\/27\/theyll-unpave-parking-lots-and-put-up-a-paradise\/","og_site_name":"YFile","article_published_time":"2011-05-27T04:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-02T12:44:35+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/photos\/20110526\/\/MasterPlanDiceman.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"phalfert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"phalfert","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2011\/05\/27\/theyll-unpave-parking-lots-and-put-up-a-paradise\/","url":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2011\/05\/27\/theyll-unpave-parking-lots-and-put-up-a-paradise\/","name":"They'll unpave parking lots and put up a paradise - YFile","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2011\/05\/27\/theyll-unpave-parking-lots-and-put-up-a-paradise\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2011\/05\/27\/theyll-unpave-parking-lots-and-put-up-a-paradise\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/photos\/20110526\/\/MasterPlanDiceman.jpg","datePublished":"2011-05-27T04:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-02T12:44:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/#\/schema\/person\/21f3dffe794363be5ece4ec7f538a0c0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2011\/05\/27\/theyll-unpave-parking-lots-and-put-up-a-paradise\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2011\/05\/27\/theyll-unpave-parking-lots-and-put-up-a-paradise\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2011\/05\/27\/theyll-unpave-parking-lots-and-put-up-a-paradise\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/photos\/20110526\/\/MasterPlanDiceman.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/photos\/20110526\/\/MasterPlanDiceman.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2011\/05\/27\/theyll-unpave-parking-lots-and-put-up-a-paradise\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"They'll unpave parking lots and put up a paradise"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/","name":"YFile","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/#\/schema\/person\/21f3dffe794363be5ece4ec7f538a0c0","name":"phalfert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ea7956d3c5d90a591766f6a4b384c40d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ea7956d3c5d90a591766f6a4b384c40d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"phalfert"},"url":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/author\/phalfert\/"}]}},"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":25,"label":"Editor's Picks"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"phalfert","author_link":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/author\/phalfert\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":25,"name":"Editor's Picks","slug":"editors-picks","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":25,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":6256,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":25,"category_count":6256,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Editor's Picks","category_nicename":"editors-picks","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17072"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":383311,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17072\/revisions\/383311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17072"},{"taxonomy":"yfileauthor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yfileauthor?post=17072"},{"taxonomy":"qualifier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/qualifier?post=17072"},{"taxonomy":"yfile-author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yfile-author?post=17072"},{"taxonomy":"tags-to-show","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags-to-show?post=17072"},{"taxonomy":"workflow","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/workflow?post=17072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}