A few years ago, one City councillor described College Street, between Spadina and Bathurst (HVRA's southern boundary) as "the most deteriorated main street in Toronto over the last 30 years". He may well have been right!

When in 2001 we learned that the City was planning to dig the street up several times over the next few years, HVRA decided it was time to act. A very active-even aggressive-College Street Committee was formed. It met most Saturday mornings (and still does, although not quite so often) to figure out how to improve College Street and the world.

Here's what the Committee achieved:

1. Got the City to change its scheduling so the street was dug up only once: to put in new water and sewer mains, streetcar tracks, pavement and sidewalk.

2. Got the City to use the money saved through #1 to provide a higher standard of finish.

3. Got the City to agree that the pavement could be narrowed and the sidewalks widened, while keeping the same amount of parking and adding clear continuous bike lanes throughout.

4. Got the City to plant 98 additional trees along this stretch of College.

5. Wrote a long report on how the City administration could be improved

There are still some outstanding issues, including:

6. HVRA wants clearways for pedestrians right in front of the stores, with the patios on the curb side of the clearways, as is done in many cities in North America. There was to be a trial in 2006, but it could now be in 2007.

7. Much of the tree-planting was unsuccessful and the trees are being replaced.

8. HVRA wants intensification of development along College, with more residents and business, making the strip into a ‘university village', as lively as these places are wherever they become established. (We may be Toronto's only residents' association that wants intensification in its area.)

Questions and comments to Richard Gilbert, 416 923 8839.