Toronto Magazine - Premier 2008 - (Page 13) Cityscape around town Great Lake City Toronto is one of the greenest cities in North America and has been recognized as having a clear vision for the future. From the street, this vision is apparent — treed neighbourhoods, hundreds of downtown parks, vast green spaces, the revitalized waterfront and island communities. To the east, the bluffs of Scarborough and the 47-sq.-km Rouge Park mark the beginning of the Toronto leg of the 740-km Waterfront Trail — a pedestrian/ bike-friendly green belt linking the entire developed shoreline from the Quebec border to Niagara Falls. But to become the quintessential Great Lake City, Toronto has started preserving, restoring and enhancing its urban shoreline and downtown island communities — an expansive network of green spaces unique to all the major cities on the shores of these waters. Toronto boasts 90 km of paved trails for walkers, joggers and cyclists, with dozens of municipal parks anchored by High Park, the city’s largest, at 400 acres. Setting sail on the open lake offers a whole new perspective on Toronto’s potential to become one of the greenest regions in the world. Port Credit is home to a waterfront villagelike setting, public mooring and parks stretching through Mississauga and Etobicoke. With 14 km of rocky shoreline and 30-m cliffs, the Scarborough Bluffs feel like the East Coast, while parks, public pools, the beach and swimmable waters line more than three miles of boardwalk in the Beaches on Ashbridges Bay. The Harbourfront/Island community is at the centre of Toronto’s green aspirations — a welcome reprieve from the summer heat and a centre for major cultural festivals like LuminaTO and Caribana. This hub for summer activity is also a gateway to the Toronto Islands, the most pristine green space in the region. Ferries and pleasure cruisers share the inner harbour waterway as well as the most picturesque views of the cityscape. Just west is Ontario Place, a waterfront icon since 1971 and a compelling venue for music and lake-inspired relaxation. www.torontotourism.com Patio season As was declared in a beer commercial during the Grey Cup a few years ago, Toronto has only two seasons: winter and patio. And as schoolchildren insist on wearing shorts when the thermostat tops 10 degrees, so too do Torontonians shed layers to play outside at summer’s first glance. The transformation from hibernation to patio nation takes only one sunny afternoon, beginning what can best be described as a six-month fashion show on every street in the city. Several amazing patios are renowned for their vantage of the beautiful people, among them Queen Street West’s legendary Black Bull and Little Italy’s venerable Café Diplomatico. The city’s hippest stake their claim to Queen West by presiding at the Skydeck of The Drake Hotel (www.thedrakehotel.ca) and among the chalkboard murals at Czehoski (www.czehoski. com). Join a Miami Beach–chic crowd at Ultra Supper Club (www.ultrasupperclub.com) or be the best-fed paparazzi in the city from the patio of Sassafraz (www.sassafrazrestaurant.com) in Yorkville. From our fashions to our moods, the sun invites a liberated look at life in Toronto, and our patios are front-row seats for the show. Illustration: Raymond Biesinger. Photo: Sam Javanrouh toronto | 2008 13 http://www.torontotourism.com http://www.thedrakehotel.ca http://www.czehoski.com http://www.czehoski.com http://www.ultrasupperclub.com http://www.sassafrazrestaurant.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.