There are a lot of fun things to do in Ontario’s capital city over the summer, but there’s another reality as well: it’s hotter than hell and crowded mostly everywhere. Some young people are fortunate enough to get away to summer camp, which Ontario does better than anyone else in the world. Others have cottages, know people who have them, or can take a vacation to escape the urban heat.
But most capital-city dwellers aren’t going anywhere. And wouldn’t it be great to have a connected, systematic, well thought through group of trails in the city, to give you that necessary injection of nature?
For six years now, a group of committed citizens has been trying to make that happen. They look at other big cities on this continent with some jealousy at how they’ve been able to create magnificent parks in the middle of huge urban agglomerations. For example, New York City transformed former rail lands into the 2.5-kilometre High Line, an elevated park on Manhattan’s west side.
But Toronto is actually thinking bigger, co-led by Jennifer Angel, CEO of Evergreen, a national not-for-profit organization focused on making our cities greener and more livable. Angel has been championing an ambitious five-year, $300 million plan called the Loop, which would see disparate trails through Toronto’s parks and ravines integrated into a connected path, uniting so many parts of the capital city. It will run along Lake Ontario in the south, follows the Humber River in the west, tracks the Finch Hydro corridor to the north, and weaves through the Don River valley in the east. Another trail will bisect the loop across midtown, meaning the entire project looks more like an eight than a circle when seen from above.
Toronto resident Donald Jarvis looks at a beautiful pond just a 15-minute walk from the intersection of Yonge St. and Bloor St. (Steve Paikin)
“I ask everyone who will listen to me about these ravines,” Angel recently told an audience over breakfast at the Evergreen Brickworks. “Do you know them? Do you explore them? And if I had a dollar for every person who didn't know them or doesn't explore them, I could fund this thing myself.”
So many experts have pointed to loneliness and disconnection as the worst societal problem facing people who live among millions of others in big cities. Angel says the Loop can help solve that.
“People are lonely, and they don't know their neighbours,” she begins. “They're worried about heat and intense storms. They're stuck in traffic. These problems are not unique to Toronto. People are frustrated. But this place has the leadership, the investment capacity, the ingenuity, the good ideas, and the willingness to pursue good ideas. Here in Toronto, we have everything we need to meet this moment, if we can summon the boldness.”
The project would showcase beautiful streams to walk by, just minutes from one of the busiest intersections in the country. (Steve Paikin)
While the Loop is a huge project, Angel says it’s achievable in bite-sized morsels over time. The hope is to connect more than 80 kilometres of mostly-existing trails where people can walk, cycle, or explore. It’s co-led by Evergreen, the City of Toronto, the Toronto Foundation, and the Toronto Region Conservation Authority. It’s set to be completed by 2030.
One million people live within a 10-minute walk of the Loop. There are 12 subway stations, 20 LRT stations, and five GO stations within a 500-metre radius of the proposed trail. The Loop would go through 17 of the city’s 33 “priority neighbourhoods,” where hundreds of thousands of underserved residents live. The project would restore 11,000 hectares of ravine ecosystem, extending nature into the city.
Some of the trails that could make up the Loop are wide enough to accommodate much larger crowds. (Steve Paikin)
A few weeks ago, I wanted to see first-hand what all the fuss was about. So, with a couple of friends, we set out to explore just five kilometres of ravines near the Don River. Strangely enough, having lived in Toronto for nearly half a century, I don’t think I’d ever walked these trails before.
And what a revelation! Literally minutes from a subway station, we were transported into incredible natural beauty and a completely different mindset. People who didn’t know each other were constantly stopping to chat. Dog-walkers asked one another about their pets. We spent 10 minutes chatting with two visitors from England about what sights to see and where to have dinner. The change of scenery immediately inspired people to be more sociable.
"The Loop" could accommodate walkers, strollers, and cyclists in an integrated network of trails around Ontario's capital city. (Steve Paikin)
“Imagine a great, green loop embracing the city, weaving through almost 30,000 acres of ravines,” Angel said, continuing to paint the picture. “A great belt that connects us to many of Toronto's best loved places, our most dynamic neighbourhoods, places that bring us together, a place guided by 10,000 years of Indigenous ways of knowing and being. This is a generational opportunity whose time is right now.”
Angel and her allies see the Loop as a solution to numerous problems: improving health in general, and mental health in particular, giving more access to nature to more people, spurring on local economies, doing something about climate change, and integrating Indigenous experience into the project.
And then there’s simply the notion of getting lots of people working towards a common cause. Angel says she meets too many people who fear Toronto has lost its edge, or worse, lost its way. She’s hoping to convince all levels of government, plus private donors, that the Loop is worth getting their arms around.
“We can unlock enormous capacity and resourcefulness and ingenuity that exists, and deliver something for Toronto,” she maintains. “And maybe the most important outcome of all is a demonstration of what we can accomplish when we work together, to do big things, so that we do many more.”