PHASE ONE HIGHLIGHTS

Phase 1 [DISCOVER & DISCUSS] was about looking to get a better understanding of the local area and your communities. Gaining a better understanding of everything that makes your community tick helps the project team proactively explore ideas with your aspirations, concerns and viewpoints in mind. This phase was open from October 16 through to November 25.

Through phase one, there were five topics for discussion.

1. Community Values: What do you love about your community & the area?
2. Areas for Improvement: What needs to change?
3. Focus Areas: Where should growth happen?
4. Hopes & Fears: What scares you & what are your big ideas?
5. The Past: What has The City already heard?

As part of engagement for phase one:

• 18 in-person events or meetings for the public & targeted stakeholders in addition to broad online engagement
• 300,000 people made aware of this phase through communications program
• We connected with over 6,300 participants online or in-person.
• A total of over 1,300 contributions were received

You can click through the feedback tabs below to see what your neighbours had to say.

The What We Heard Report summarizing phase one engagement, can be found here.

LEARN MORE. Haven't had a chance to review the project details yet? Please ensure that you return to the PROJECT MAIN PAGE or the DISCOVER PAGE to get up-to-speed on what we are doing.

Below is a breakdown of participation throughout the phase one.

AWARE 300,000+

The number of people who were made aware of the project and opportunity to get involved. Tools used to build awareness included: Facebook, Twitter, bold signs and informational displays, mailed postcards, community newsletter ads, and email updates.

INVOLVED 6,300+

The number of people who actively or passively got involved in some way. This includes people who visited the website, attended a pop-up event, subscribed for email updates, attended a working group session, etc.

CONTRIBUTIONS 1,300+

The number of pieces on input received in the first phase of engagement. This includes feedback received online, at pop-up events and through the working group sessions.

ENGAGED 500+

The number of unique individual contributors. Includes people who provided input online or in person.

DEMOGRAPHICS

The following is a breakdown of participant demographics from those that responded online.

Community

Owners vs. Renters

Longevity in community

Age of respondents

WHAT WE HEARD

The high-level themes that emerged throughout all of the comments received in phase one engagement were:

• Density and redevelopment: Citizens believe density and redevelopment can have benefits such as; an increase in amenities and other improvements to the area. However, there are fears that too much density or development not done right, can negatively impact the community.
• Pedestrian and bike access: Citizens expressed desire for improved pedestrian and bike infrastructure to promote a reduction of car use in the area and improve alternate mobility choices.
• Amenities and local businesses: Citizens shared a desire for more local businesses and a diversity of retail offerings in their communities
• Parks, trees and open spaces: Citizens value green space and have a desire to increase, preserve and protect current green and open spaces in the area. Citizens also shared strong value for mature trees and tree-lined streets and want to see these maintained and protected through redevelopment.
• Character and community: Citizens value the unique community feel and character that exists in their communities and want to ensure this is recognized and/or maintained as the area grows and evolves.

For more detail on what we heard, please review the Discover & Discuss What We Heard Report.

All data collected through this phase was analyzed by The City and shared with the Working Group. The Working Group and The City came together to prioritize the themes heard from citizens and this information was used to help develop guiding principles.

These guiding principles will be used to help evaluate ideas and concepts as the project progresses. These will also help inform our conversations about tradeoffs and benefits as options are developed.

Guiding Principles

• Maximize the opportunity for people to choose to live in close proximity to varied mobility options that safely and conveniently reach a diversity of destinations.
• Recognize and enhance open spaces, the public realm, the urban forest/tree canopy, natural systems, and the connections between them.
• Foster vibrant mixed-use main streets that support local businesses and are in turn supported by diverse housing options on tree-lined streets.
• Build on and strengthen existing clusters of small-scale neighbourhood shops and community amenities outside of the main streets.
• Enable the creation of housing that fosters accessibility and diversity among people, ages, incomes, and household types.
• Support the ongoing vitality of the Greenview Industrial Area and its role as an important employment area.
• Encourage resilience in the built environment that allows adaptability to a changing society, economy, and climate.

The feedback collected in phase one will also help;

• determine a vision for the area;
• set focus areas to be discussed and analyzed in future phases;
• improve understanding of community priorities and concerns.

The project team has also used all of the input provided in phase one, to inform the information and content that will be shared throughout Phase Two: Envision. To check out phase two, please click here.

NOT EVERY COMMUNITY IS PERFECT.

When it comes to growth and redevelopment, we want to know what drives you crazy and what you see as the burning issues in your communities. What are the pain points that currently exist? What ideas do you have for improvements? What just simply isn't working and needs to be addressed?

Let us know what you think needs changing.

Using this tool, please share your ideas below and it will be posted on a sticky note within the page. If you agree with a previous sticky note give it a thumbs up, if you disagree, give it a thumbs down.

WHERE IS GROWTH APPROPRIATE?

The Municipal Development Plan encourages future housing and job growth in specific areas of the city. These areas include Activity Centres and Main Streets with retail and business districts that support higher density, more diverse forms of housing, public and essential services, and amenities for everyone. These areas all have frequent and high-quality light rail or bus transit service.

Growth must also occur outside of these areas, within all of our communities. This allows for a range of housing types to suit all ages, lifestyles and housing needs in a way that allows the community’s character to evolve.

Where do you think redevelopment would be appropriate in your community? Is this on corner parcels or perhaps along busier streets or maybe somewhere else?

Using the marker please place a pin showing us locations where you think redevelopment could happen or where redevelopment should be avoided. Please also tell us why you chose this location and specify the type of redevelopment that would/wouldn't be appropriate.

Zoom In to get to a specific location on the map. Use the (+) and (–) icons in the top left corner and/or use two fingers on a touch screen to zoom in and out.

Click on the "show us" button above to drop a marker on a specific location that you think would be: appropriate for redevelopment and growth (green) or that doesn't make sense for redevelopment and growth (red). Please also tell us why you chose this location in the comment box.

Please place comments within the red boundary. The red boundary is an approximation of the plan area and may not be exact. The plan area includes the communities of: Highland Park, Mount Pleasant, Tuxedo Park, Winston Heights-Mountview, Crescent Heights, Renfrew, Rosedale, Capitol Hill and Thorncliffe Greenview (south of Mcknight Blvd).

IS CHANGE A SCARY THING?

Growth and redevelopment means change and we get it, change can be scary. Redevelopment can bring forward problems and concerns when not done in a thoughtful way, but change and growth can also bring opportunity, revitalization, and some exciting things that contribute to vibrant communities that thrive.

We invite you to participate in dialogue with your neighbours about your hopes and fears connected to growth and redevelopment in the area. Through this tool you will be able to post your comments for your neighbours to see and you are also able to reply to comments posted by your neighbours.

We want to hear from you about:

• FEARS: What scares you most about change to your community, what problems or concerns do you have with potential redevelopment?
• HOPES: What are your hopes for redevelopment, what good things would you like to see from growth, what are your aspirations for your community through change, what should things look like in 20 - 30 years?

WHAT HAVE WE HEARD? ... A LOT!

The City recognizes that a significant amount of engagement has occurred on past and present projects in this area over the last number of years. We have heard a lot of important information from people in your communities and want to ensure you, that information is not lost.

Projects that we have engaged on include:

• Green Line (2016-current)
• Main Streets Initiative (2014-2015)
• North Crosstown BRT (2016)
• This is My Neighbourhood - Capitol Hill (2015-2016)
• Rosedale Affordable Housing (2017)
• Highland Park Land Use Application (2016)
• Banff Trail Capitol Hill Land Use (2017-2018)

The City will be analyzing the information collected through these projects, in addition to this feedback, and using it to inform our work and gain a holistic community understanding.

We are looking for your feedback to help confirm and validate these previous findings. We want to know if these findings are still relevant to you or if anything has changed about these findings.

We have added various themes from each of the projects to a sticky note below. Using the voting buttons please vote these up or down to state whether you still agree with the theme that was derived from the previous engagement. If there is anything missing from these, please add a new sticky note. Your voting will also help us determine what the top priorities are in this area.

NEXT STEPS

How will the input collected be used?

All data collected through this phase will be analyzed by The City and shared with the Multi-Community Working Group. The Working Group and The City will come together to prioritize the themes heard from citizens and this information will be used to inform the next stages of project planning.

The feedback collected in phase one will help:

• determine a vision for the area;
• set focus areas to be discussed & analyzed in future phases;
• improve understanding of community priorities & concerns;
• identify what project details & educational materials need to be shared in future phases.

All feedback collected will also help shape our engagement processes and future phases of dialogue, to allow for an iterative process.

Your feedback will be summarized in a What We Heard Report and this will be shared with the community before we return for phase two of engagement - ENVISION, in Winter 2019.

In phase two, our engagement will include multiple engagement opportunities including: community wide sessions, pop-up events, targeted workshops and online dialogue.