Concord CityPlace development

Toronto's skyline will never be complete.  It will be an ever-changing panorama of growth not only horizontally, but vertically as well.  From a distance as far as the Toronto Islands, or as close as the Gardiner Expressway, you can see the evolution of the growth competing with the CN Tower and reaching out towards Fort York.. This new community is the Concord CityPlace development, nestling its way into the rail lands just west of the Rogers Centre.  The largest planned community in Toronto's history is more than 60% complete.
The final product should be wrapped up by 2012, complete with: 8 acre park, a new school, 2 community centres, grocery store, daycares, and all the amenities fit for a king or queen including high speed Telus powered internet for the entire community.  Critics feared that this community would be a modern day version of the St. James Town incident, where packing them in fast and furiously, in a block too small to accommodate a proper balance of life for roughly 17,000 people was unfortunately the end result for this previously "planned" community in the 60's.  Has Toronto learned from St. James Town?  I think any developer in North America has learned from this example of how not to build a community.

The CityPlace vision was a carefully planned trip, from beginning to end.. and the end being decades from now, to ensure that this careful balance of community, sustainability, and renewal stays the course to avoid turning into a disaster on the waterfront.  Concord Pacific Developments is based out of Vancouver, and has an outstanding reputation for designing and building communities that work.  They strategically planned and revitalized former Expo 86 land in Vancouver with great success.
The details in this new community from heights of the towers to the widths of the sidewalks are just 2 of  hundreds, which are soon to be revealed when the over 7500 units become occupied upon completion.  The two re-occurring negative statements that come up regarding this community are that it is too car friendly, and there isn't enough focus on employment to create sustainability when the development is complete.  Like any other development not only in Toronto, but in North America today, a community cannot be built without accommodating cars when a transit system is struggling to expand, and we as commuters by nature rely on vehicles to take us from A to B because all other means to get us there (which are considered more environmentally friendly), aren't reliable due to insufficient infrastructure or seasonal instabilities.  Taking roads and parking away from developments would be like depriving a child of basic needs like food and toys to survive.  It's very frustrating to hear people complain about the car being king in Toronto as well as other major metropolitan centres, without realizing that the process to ween people off of this will take a period of time longer than most will ever live to see in their lifetime.

CityPlace when complete will have sustainability unlike St. James town where not only the location works to its benefit, (where it may be only a short walk to work for most), but the core components to a functional community will be there including a mix of affordable housing, condominiums, and rentals.
Esthetically, this development is gorgeous.  The landscaping and design of the buildings are truly timeless and the developer made sure to maximize the views for every suite.  50% of the development has been allotted for park space.

The Terry Fox Miracle Mile located in the heart of CityPlace has been completed, with a breathtaking view of not only the community itself, but the Rogers Centre and CN Tower to the East and the harbourfront to the south.  Complete with an artificial turf field, as well as an artistic element combining a red canoe overlooking the Gardiner, and oversized "bobbers" used by fisherman, this green space ties rest, play and exploring all into one.   With all that said, the CityPlace development was worth the wait.  The driving range was nice while it lasted, but a functional community  bringing new life to an area which looked uninhabitable for decades certainly gets my vote.  My only concern with this area is that there was no TTC route planning through the development.  This may change down the road, but until that happens, its a short walk from either Bathurst or Spadina to get to the heart of CityPlace.