Main streets the focus of City of Toronto roundtable this week

City of Toronto Media Relations has issued the following:

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News Release:  November 4, 2014

Main streets the focus of City of Toronto roundtable this week

The City of Toronto's 2014 Chief Planner Roundtable series concludes this week with a conversation that focuses on animating the public realm through main street retail and commercial uses.

The roundtable will take place Thursday, November 6 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Committee Room 1 at Toronto City Hall. Members of the public are welcome to attend or watch it live-streamed at http://www.toronto.ca/planning/chiefplannerroundtable.

Main streets function as gathering places for people, form the heart of retail commerce, and act as mobility arteries that connect a city's neighbourhoods. Toronto's main streets continue to play a critical role in sustaining these activities, which work to build complete communities that reduce congestion and the need to drive, increase walkability and create more possibilities for social interactions.

Toronto’s extraordinary growth over the past decade has resulted in the addition of a significant volume of new main street retail space. This growth poses challenges in how best to design, program and incubate these spaces to maximize the contribution of retail to main streets – and how to mitigate disruption to existing retailers and communities.

The continued vitality and animation of main street retail is fundamental to social and economic health, and requires the engagement and expertise of many stakeholders.

This Main Street Retail panel brings together a variety of perspectives on the topic to discuss the issues and potential long-term solutions. Panellists include:

• Ethan Kent, Senior Vice President, Project for Public Spaces 

• Phil Goldsmith, Architect 

• Sandy Houston, President and CEO, Metcalf Foundation 

• Tonya Surman, CEO, Centre for Social Innovation 

• Monique Drepaul, Executive Director, Eglinton Way BIA 

• Eve Lewis, President and CEO, Woodcliffe Landmark Properties 

• Lorna Day, Manager, Urban Design, City of Toronto

Persons interested in attending on Thursday are asked to RSVP by emailing chiefplannerroundtable@toronto.ca, as there is limited seating in the main room.

The conversation will be live-streamed on the City's website, which can be accessed from the link below. Social media users can also monitor the conversation on twitter by following @CityPlanTO and by searching #CProundtable.

Further information about the roundtables, including a link to the live-stream, is available at http://www.toronto.ca/planning/chiefplannerroundtable.

Documentation of previous roundtables is available at the above link. A summary document from the two 2014 Chief Planner Roundtables will be available early in the new year.

This news release is also available on the City's website: http://bit.ly/1ofWtNg

Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. Toronto is proud to be the Host City for the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us @TorontoComms.

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Media contact: Bruce Hawkins, Strategic Communications, 416-392-3496, bhawkin@toronto.ca