Hitting our stride

Vaughan was built for driving, but to be a grownup city it needs to become walkable (like Toronto)

Growing up in Vaughan, I lived five minutes away from the mall. And yet, even before I had a driver’s licence, walking to the mall was never an idea I seriously considered.

Spoiled? Maybe. However experts in suburban culture would argue walking is inspired by a well-built city that’s not only safe for pedestrians, but inviting and engaging to all commuters.

Vaughan was built with the car in mind with wide roads, large blocks, vast parking lots and several highways. But the new City of Vaughan, as outlined in the city’s latest official plan, is taking into account all the things pedestrians need to feel like they truly live in a walkable neighbourhood.

Parts of Vaughan are already a great example of settings where pedestrians can thrive.

Old Woodbridge has narrow streets and a pedestrian-friendly shopping complex close to where people live — all important ingredients for a successful suburban recipe.

The official plan calls for increased intensification and a new subway line, all with the goal of getting people out of their cars and out for a stroll.

Intensification will be an important part to getting people walking, says Christopher Hume, a long-time urban affairs columnist with the Toronto Star.

“I don’t think it makes sense anymore not to intensify,” he said in a recent interview with Vaughan Today. “In an age of climate change and in an age of increasing gas prices, the need to intensify is painfully obvious.”

By intensifying a city’s population, the city starts to develop neighbourhoods in a way accommodating to people’s needs. In Toronto, more condos along Yonge Street has meant more store fronts at the bases of the buildings, more walkways to public transit and more access to necessary services.

Hume said when there are a lot of people on the street, it’s an indication the neighbourhood is lively. But it only becomes walkable when all developments are well integrated.

“It’s not just about if walking conditions are acceptable because they are, but people need reasons to walk,” he said. “We need to find a better way to make use of the land we have.”

If Toronto could do it…

Walkable neighbourhoods have made Toronto one of the most pedestrian-friendly cities in Canada.

In fact, in 2010 Toronto was voted Up! Magazine’s most walkable city. In its May 2010 issue, the authors hailed the city’s accessibility as a key factor to its success.

“The series of interconnected neighbourhoods just west of the downtown core — the Annex, Kensington Market, Chinatown and Queen West — remain the pinnacle achievement in Canadian urban walkability,” Chris Turner, a judge on the panel was quoted as saying.

“They are varied and endlessly fascinating to explore, densely populated, with great shopping, world-class nightlife and entertainment commingling seamlessly with everyday family-friendly livability.”

Vaughan, on the other hand, was not given the same favourable review by an online group called Walk Score, a website that ranks cities based on how accessible services are to residents by foot.

Vaughan was rated “somewhat walkable” with a 69 percent rating, based on a calculation on walking distances.

Among the most accessible ammenities? Grocery stores and coffee shops.

Restaurants,  bars and other forms of entertainment ranked lowest on the list.

Will Vaughan ever be a city of neighbourhoods like Toronto?

It’s no argument Vaughan has several areas defined by culture and a commercial spirit, but the sizes of these neighbourhoods may impact how walkable they are.

The average block length in Vaughan, according to Walk Score, is 214 meters. The number of intersections is listed as 71 per square mile. Both of those numbers fare poorly for what is considered desirably walkable.

“It’s not just a question of short blocks, but also opportunities,” said Hume.

“Why do we walk somewhere? People go for a walk in the woods because they like to look at things. In a city, it’s to do something,” he added.

For those who like to hike in the woods, Vaughan is indeed an ideal place. The city boasts several spots for nature lovers to enjoy yearround. The Boyd Conservation Area, located along the Humber River Valley, has been a favourite spot for picnickers and hikers alike since 1957.

In Woodbridge, there’s the Kortright Centre for Conservation, which is made up of 325 hectares of lush forestry.

But even in the woods, Kortright and Boyd offer people things to do while walking along their paths. Having something to entertain you while walking is important for a city to be desirably walkable.

“An ideal neighbourhood would be one that would be a live-work situation,” Hume said.

Coldwell Banker, a real estate company, wholeheartedly agrees. The company put out a newsletter talking about the importance of walkability to the value of a home, especially in cities like Vaughan where traffic is becoming a growing nightmare.

“Walkability can allow residents to spend less time worrying about traffic congestion and make regular outings, such as shopping trips, much more convenient,” the newsletter says.

Coldwell Banker insists those who are looking to buy a home take the “walkability test” before they make an offer on a property.

“Buyers may sometimes focus so much on homes themselves that they forget to look hard enough at the neighborhood,” the newsletter continues to say. “Experts note this can mislead them, particularly since the neighborhood is beyond their control, whereas a home can always be renovated and altered after purchase if necessary. By taking the time to walk around a home’s exterior and surrounding area, as well as the interior, prospective homebuyers can learn what their future neighbors would be like, how busy traffic is and whether common errands, such as grocery shopping, can be performed quickly or would require planning and scheduling.”

Traffic is scary

Fiona Chapman, the Manager of Pedestrian Projects at the City of Toronto, has studied cities across Ontario to discover what makes a city and a neighbourhood attractive to people who are looking to move somewhere new.

“We do a good job in the city, though it’s a bit of a challenge in the winter, but still we’re pretty darn good,” she said about Toronto. “In the suburbs and inner suburbs, it’s a lot different.”

Chapman echoed the sentiments of the Caldwell Banker report, saying the best neighbourhoods are ones that have a degree of independence.

“Best neighbourhoods to walk in are those that have the best uses. Grocery stores, banks retail. Where you can walk to get milk and there are places to work, live and shop,” she said.

But safety is also a key issue, she added. “Traffic makes it scary for people.”

Part of her work in Toronto includes making sure every street has a sidewalk at least on one side to separate pedestrians from traffic.

Vaughan, because the majority of its subdivisions have been built in the last 20 years, doesn’t share the same sidewalk shortage, but traffic has become a major issue for all commuters living in the city.

In 2010, Vaughan established a task force to deal with the number of pedestrian deaths. It was sparked after 17-year-old Steven Seixeiro was hit by a truck on his way to school in Vaughan. He was one of 14 pedestrians struck and killed in the GTA in the month of January alone.

Part of Vaughan’s mission will deal with road design. But the Ontario Safety League says human error is the most common factor in pedestrian deaths.

Chapman said one way Toronto has tried to resolve this problem is by looking at pedestrian demand and simple demographics. Coupled with feedback from the public, Toronto has been able to improve intersections to help avoid human error.

For example, seniors have complained they are afraid to cross intersections because the signal might change too quickly.Therefore, many intersections in neighbourhoods with a high concentration of seniors have longer crossing times.

“Still seniors say that’s not enough and they still feel uncomfortable crossing the street,” Chapman said. “When we have an opportunity to redesign a road or build a new one, we need to think about it long and hard how we want street to look like in 50 years. Is there a pedestrian refuge like a median?”

Jane Farrow, founding executive director behind Jane’s Walk, a popular walking tour based on the urban design philosophies of Jane Jacobs, co-authored a study on walkability.

Though the study was based on highrise neighbourhoods in Toronto, many of the philosophies still apply to any booming city in the GTA, including Vaughan, widely recognized as Canada’s fastest growing city.

In the study, researchers found most people don’t consider walking as a solution to their mobility needs. Instead, the car was most revered as a transportation solution.

“Our data suggest income is the chief barrier to car ownership. When asked if they wanted a car, almost every person in the focus groups raised their hand. This was also reflected in the survey data; more than half (52 percent) of respondents said that they were hoping or planning to get a car in the future,” says the 2010 Walkability study.

The study also found parents and single parents were afraid to let their children walk to and from school. Only 24 percent of parents said they felt safe letting their child walk to school without an adult.

Commuting by foot

Young people complained they were reluctant to walk in some neighbourhoods because at certain times, the streets are empty and the situation seems less safe.

In Vaughan’s residential neighbourhoods, though many are well lit, they often become ghost towns after dark. Walking home from the bus stop could be a harrowing experience for unaccompanied pedestrians.

The study found 56 percent of women and 73 percent of seniors avoided walking at night due to security concerns.

“There is no way I would walk home from school at night, especially in the winter,” said Mira Horowitz, a York University student who takes the Steeles Avenue West bus to Bathurst Street, just three blocks away from her home.

“There’s no one around and I just don’t feel safe,” she said. “It might just be three blocks but when it’s those kind of conditions, it feels like it takes forever.”

Horowitz said her father often comes to pick her up and when he doesn’t she will try to flag down a taxi or speak on her cellphone with a girlfriend until she gets home.

Vaughan’s pedestrian strategy recognizes the need for people to feel safe and entertained while walking even short distances. As part of the official plan, Vaughan officials put together a study to determine the best way to develop a master plan for cyclists and pedestrians.

“Cycling and walking are cost effective, environmentally sensitive and healthy modes of transportation for both recreational and utilitarian purposes across North America,” says a City of Vaughan report titled Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan Study. “These travel modes are recognized as an integral and necessary components of a balanced transportation system that complement public transit and act as alternatives to the automobile.”

In the next 10 to 20 years, city officials hope Vaughan will be an example of prime planning for all commuters. We should start to see the effects of a network of paths being built to help pedestrians and cyclists travel across the city.

And once that is accomplished, Vaughan will finally move from being a busy Canadian suburb to a fine example of good planning.