Reason to Love Toronto: because we build parks under our expressways | torontolife.com

Underpass Park in Toronto. From torontolife.com.

Kelly Pullen brings us this post on parks in Toronto. When Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday made a comment about children in Toronto playing in the street, Waterfront Toronto corrected him; they play under it. They created this playspace under a number of overpasses, which includes a skate park, playground, and basketball court. There are a number of parks like this around the world, including a skate park in Philadelphia near the Navy yard, but so much of the area under freeways is taken up by parking, storage, or even left vacant. It is also a problem of freeway design. When I was in Rio de Janeiro, I noticed that their freeways, which were very high above the ground, almost seemed like they weren’t there, and actually provided shade for public markets, but if they got lower to the ground, they felt oppressive. There are a number of ways to do it, but if we have to live with them, good design can make freeways more livable.

Active public space under a freeway in Rio de Janeiro. From Andy Wang.