The Rail Deck Park could end up being known forever as the #RailDeckPark the way the social media buzz built for this splashy project proposal this week.
"The City of Toronto plans to create an 8.5 hectare 'signature park,' named Rail Deck Park, that will cover the railway tracks between Bathurst Street and the Rogers Centre," reports Taylor Simmons.
Mayor John Tory made the announcement, but Toronto Planning Chief Jennifer Keesmaat took to social media to trumpet the announcement. The #RailDeckPark hashtag quickly gained steam.
Our growing, bursting downtown needs amenities, to be liveable. So today we introduce #RailDeckPark #TOcore pic.twitter.com/1wcyOSEBgk
— jennifer keesmaat (@jen_keesmaat) August 3, 2016
"In a release, the city said the initiative 'is part of the City's TOcore project, a response to the rapid growth and intensification of Toronto's downtown that is placing pressure on physical and social infrastructure,'" according to the article.
Though the excitement surrounding the prospect of the #RailDeckPark is certain, a lot of the critical details of the project are much less so. According to Simmons, "Tory said there isn't a clear timeline or cost for the project as of yet."
FULL STORY: Massive downtown #RailDeckPark will cover railway tracks from Rogers Centre to Bathurst
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UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research