Downsview
Park, in the NorthWest part of Toronto, is probably unknown to most of
the city's residents. It's the former site of Canadian Forces Base
Toronto (the airport it wraps around was the military airport, and is
now used irregularly as a testing site by Bombardier Aerospace, the
airplane manufacturer who co-owns the 'airport' with the Canadian
government.
There have been weird projects hosted by the Crown Corporation that owns the 572 acre (232 ha) site, and grandiose, bafflegab plans
for years to redevelop the 'park', which is occasionally used for
special events (the Pope, the Rolling Stones), but which is now mostly
just mowed and vacant.
Famous architects and designers like Bruce Mau were brought in, but
have since left, and today a new chairperson was announced for the
park's owner. The CBC has been asking listeners to call in and tell
them what they think should be done with the site.
The site has
a subway station right on its doorstep (at Allen Road and Sheppard
Avenue W). It has one of the country's largest shopping centres a mile
(and one subway stop) away. It is two miles (and one future planned
subway stop) from York University, Toronto's second largest.
My answer is simple: Make Downsview Park a Model Car-Less Community. No roads (dig up the military roads on the property now). No parking lots. No garages. No cars allowed period.
And no non-renewable energy.
Wind, solar, and geothermal power only. No gas lines. No connection to
the grid, except for emergency purposes through a community non-profit
Energy Co-op that would buy, sell and redistribute around the community
the electricity it needed.
And a large co-operatively owned, permaculture-based organic garden.
It's a 'park' now, but nothing like the grassland it was in its natural
state. Lots of green space (with walking and bicycle paths) should be
part of the design, but that green space should all be native species.
This has been done in other places in the Greater Toronto Area, and
it's beautiful and needs almost no maintenance (no watering, no
cutting, just weeding out invasive species). The organic garden should
blend in with that.
The entire site would be self-managed.
The land would be leased to the community, which would self-select its
members and agree upon certain principles of intentional community (no
private ownership of any of the property, pledge to buy local, eat
local, live simply, and develop a balance of workplaces and shops -- owned by community members -- and
living spaces that minimize the need to travel, etc.) It sounds
chaotic, but it works -- principles of intentional communities are
well-established.
The site is perfectly situated to accommodate
this, and it could be a laboratory for the world after the End of Oil.
This is a modest proposal, and hence it will probably be rejected by
government owners who want something flashy, something that will bring
in the tourists. I say fuck the tourists, fuck making this a
'recreation destination', a 'set of integrated experiences', and fuck
the 'advanced sports complex'. Let's make this a place where people can live when the reckless and unsustainable way we live now is no longer possible. And a modest showcase for what is possible.
What do you think? Help me flesh this idea out, and perhaps I can get the new chairperson to listen.
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