Come for a Walk with Us: Upcoming Tours
Waterfront Toronto staff and community members lead a walking tour through the West Don Lands.
One of our favourite ways to share our passion for city-building is to lead walking tours of Toronto’s waterfront. That’s why we’re very excited to announce a slate of tours coming up for spring.
So, who wants to go for a walk? Check out all the options below and click through to our Eventbrite page for dates, times and registration.
The History of the Central Waterfront
Over the course of the twentieth century, Toronto’s central urban waterfront transitioned from a thriving industrial port into a place for people to live, work and play. Join us for a walking tour that will lead you through the whirlwind of development in the downtown waterfront in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s. We'll explore the challenges, the successes and the lessons we’ve learned for the future of waterfront revitalization.
This is a 90-minute tour. We’ll begin at 60 Harbour Street and move west to Spadina and Queens Quay West.
Designing the Natural World: Corktown Common
Take a walk through Corktown Common and you can't help but feel that you are immersed in nature. And, though you might not notice, this park is perhaps one of the most constructed landscapes in our city. This tour will explore the process of designing a space that exudes nature, while incorporating important city infrastructure and creating a park system that can withstand intense human use.
This is a 75-minute tour. Meet at the Pavilion on the hilltop in Corktown Common.
Public Art in the West Don Lands
An inspiring public art program is an essential component of a successful public realm – at least that’s what we believe. As the West Don Lands was designed, Waterfront Toronto considered public art from the early planning stages. The results of this big picture thinking are obvious: meaningful opportunities for artists have resulted in meaningful artwork for the public. The artists engaged big ideas and big effort, and the results are tremendous.
Join us on this tour and learn how the West Don Lands public art collection creates connections and tells the story of the area’s heritage. This is a 90-minute tour. We'll begin at Underpass Park and then move west to Cherry Street, south to Front Street and back east to end at Corktown Common.
A Walk Along the Revitalized Queens Quay
Queens Quay is a new kind of street for Toronto. Before the revitalization, there was no space allocated to cyclists, and very little for pedestrians. The reconfigured street replaces two lanes of vehicular traffic with a wide promenade and extension of the Martin Goodman Trail.
Join us on this tour and learn more about the history of the Queens Quay Revitalization project. This is a 90-minute tour. We'll meet at the Simcoe WaveDeck (just west of Lower Simcoe and Queens Quay) and then move east to Bay Street.