Threat to Independent business as population booms: Yonge BIA

Dennis Hanagan –

Downtown Yonge BIA is planning its own improvements to Yonge St. when the city rips it up from Lake Ontario to Davenport Rd. for infrastructure work.

But that’s not going to happen until 2017 or 2018.

“This is why we’re launching a public consultation called Yonge Love,” BIA executive director Mark Garner said in an interview.

“It’s time to have that consultation to say what is the future because if we’re going to dig it up then it’s time to put it to the way we want,” Garner said.

The BIA is setting out a long-term plan for its projects and vision of Yonge. So far it’s heard people want improved parks, better cafés and patios, more public seating, street music and art, appealing laneways and the Yonge St. promenade brought back.

35% of BIA members want more litter collection, 51% want more public art, and 54% call for more billboards and advertising.

As for employees, visitors and residents 50% say there should be more parks and public spaces, 48% are okay with more billboards and advertising and 34% want more events and festivals.

The Downtown Yonge BIA runs between Richmond and Alexander (two blocks north of Carlton) and spills over to Bay and Church streets. It has 2,600 business members and wants to expand north to Wellesley which would bring it another couple of hundred retailers.

With more people settling along Yonge there’ll be more demand for amenities. According to Garner right now there are 700 new floors of condos — that’s 17,000 new residents. The corridor’s daytime population is 170,000. That swells to 500,000 on weekdays with workers and students.

“The change in the population density increases for us daily,” said Garner. Something else that’s increasing is the need for wider sidewalks to handle those pedestrians.

The BIA did a traffic study two years ago to see what would happen if Yonge were reduced from four lanes to two. They put out planter boxes, Adirondack chairs and set up patios so restaurants had extra outdoor seating.

“We programmed the space. It did not impact the traffic movement in our catchment area nor did it increase traffic flows on Church, Bay or Jarvis,” said Garner.

The project was called Celebrate Yonge. It ran from mid-August to mid-September in 2012 and won multiple awards for thinking outside the box.

“The traffic department at the city is very supportive of us doing those types of initiatives. Yonge Street could facilitate narrowing of lanes,” said Garner.

Heritage preservation is also on the BIA’s mind as it looks at Yonge’s future. “When you get (north of) College Street it’s what I call the last bastion of old Toronto,” said Garner. “It’s the old buildings, the old facades, the old windows and roofs and those things need to be maintained.”

He’s seeing small independent property owners moving away and their sites being amalgamated. “What we’re trying to do is work with these new building owners to keep the floor-plates at the current size. We want to make sure we keep that unique integrity and that we’ve got these boutiques and small independent businesses,” said Garner.

Visit www.yongelove.ca to learn more.