Old Town Toronto, Crombie Park

This panorama was created on June 20th, at 11:20 p.m. in Crombie Park in the Old Town of Toronto. At first glance this community looks almost deserted. But look closer. Most of the windows in the surrounding residential buildings, old fashioned individual houses, newly built townhouses, affordable living co-op buildings and some luxurious condominiums that all blend in this harmonious community, are lit, so the neighbourhood is awake and alert. Most of the benches are occupied, at least 20 - 30 passersby, including 10 dog walkers, would be visible if this was not a 6 second long exposure shot. On really close inspection, their shadows are still there. Some kids were playing basketball [their clothes are visible on the court], most of the little convenience shops, cafes and restaurants are still open, most of them 24 hours a day, lots of bicycle stands are around, the public bus along The Esplanade [one of the two streets bordering the park] is still running. Facing this, moderately-sized park [620x50 meters], there are two public and two private schools, their school yards are integrated in the park and used by the public after hours, there is a community center with a public pool, several restaurants, a large covered Market [St. Lawrence Market, built in 1902] and several other well preserved heritage buildings.

Extraordinary efforts from many urban enthusiasts, such as Jane Jacobs and David Crombie, contributed significantly to the well-being of this community developed along an abandoned railway yard. Social interactions are exemplary and even this late at night the area is quite safe. Studies show that the more people pass through the area [even strangers] the safer we are.

A major positive attribute of this community are particularly developed territorial bonds among inhabitants–its psychological unity. It is definitely the result of mixed income living: condominiums, rental units, affordable co-op housing, individual residences, and opportunities for work in the area [the downtown core visible in the distance is 10 minutes away]. This attracts more people to live and work here and reduces commuting. The ethnic and cultural mix is also essential in developing the ground level social fabric connecting different groups. The meaning and importance of this connection was confirmed in recent studies including research at Neighbourhood Design Unit at the Centre for the Built Environment at Seneca College, that I have participated in for the last 8 months.

More panoramas from this park [http://www.urbansquares.com/special07.html ], a complete Psychogeographical Portrait of the area [http://www.urbansquares.com/images/resources/oldToronto72.pdf ], and more urban panoramas from all over the world are available on my website: [http://www.urbansquares.com ].

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USA-Canada / Canada-Ontario

Lat: 43° 38' 53.11" N
Long: 80° 23' 8.62" W

Elevation: 77 m

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: High. Pinpoints the exact spot.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2 with 28mm Leica lens, Kaidan head, Apple QuickTime Authoring Studio, Photoshop CS3.

Ova panorama snimljena je 20-tog juna 2007 god. u 11:20 uvece u Krombi Parku, u Torontu. Na prvi pogled ova zajednica izgleda prilicno pusto. Pogledajte pazljivije. Vecina prozora na okolnim stambenim zgradama, starijim individualnim kucama, novoizgradjenim kucama u nizu, co-op zgradama izgradjeninm uz pomoc grada namenjenim siromasnijima i luksuznim kondominium zgradama koji su se skladno utopili u ovom susedstvu, su osvetljeni, dakle stanovnici su budni i aktivni. Vecina klupa je zauzeta, najmanje 20-30 prolaznika, ukljucujuci bar 10 sa kucicima, bili bi primetni da ova panorama nije snimljena sa ekspozicijom od 6 sekundi. Pazljivim pregledanjem mogu se jos primetiti njihove senke. Nekoliko decaka je igralo kosarku [njihova odeca je vidljiva na terenu], vecina malih bakalnica je jos otvorena, one vecinom rade celu noc, dosta je bicikala unokolo, javni autobus duz ulice Esplanade [jedne od dve ulice koje uokviruju park] jos radi. Dve javne i dve privatne skole locirane su sa pogledom na ovaj ne tako veliki park [620x50m], njihova skolska dvorista su integrisana sa parkom, tu su jos i sportski centar sa velikim bazenom, nekoliko restorana i kafica, velika pokrivena pijaca [St. Lawrence Market izgradjena 1902] i jos nekoliko istorijskih zgrada iz druge polovine 19 veka.

Izuzetni napori mnogih gradskih entuzijasta, kao sto su Jane Jacobs i David Crombie, znacajno su doprineli dobrobiti ove zajednice izgradjene na mestu napustenih zeleznickih koloseka i industrijske zone. Medjuljudski odnosi su "za primer" i cak i ovako kasno nikakvog razloga za strah nema, okolina je izuzetno bezbedna. Studije su pokazale da sto vise ljudi, cak i stranaca, prolazi postajemo sve sigurniji.

Najznacajniji pozitivan doprinos ovom susedstvu je izuzetno razvijena teritorijalna povezanost stanovnika - njihovo psiholosko jedinstvo. To je svakako rezutat izmesanih socijalnih kategorija stanovnika, luksuzne apartmanske zgrade, zgrade sa stanovima koji se iznajmljuju, individualne kuce, co-op zgrade a takodje i mnogobrojne mogucnosti za zaposljavanje u okolini. Gradski centar sa visokim poslovnim zgradama je udaljen svega 10 minuta hoda. Ovo privlaci sve vise ljudi i uveliko smanjuje potrebu za unutargradskim putovanjima. Etnicka i kulturna mesavina stanovnika je takodje neophodna za razvoj socijalne mreze koja povezuje razlicite grupe. Znacaj i vaznost ovih cinilaca je potvrdjena naucnim studijama od kojih je i istrazivanje na Seneka Koledzu, u Centru za Izgradjenu Okolinu, u kojem sam i ja ucestvovao poslednjih 8 meseci.

Vise panorama iz ovog parka [http://www.urbansquares.com/special07.html ], kompletan psihogeografski portret ove zajednice [http://www.urbansquares.com/images/resources/oldToronto72.pdf ], kao i mnogo drugih panorama sirom sveta mozete naci na mom veb sajtu [http://www.urbansquares.com ].