The West Don Lands is a largely disused, 80-acre parcel of land bounded by the Don River, Parliament Street, Eastern Avenue and the CN Railway embankment. Originally set aside in 1793 as a park reserve, it was gradually given over to residential and then industrial uses. As industry in the centre of Toronto declined, so did the fortunes of the West Don Lands and the surrounding neighbourhoods. In 1988, the entire site was expropriated to create a new residential neighbourhood called Ataritiri. By 1993, the development had been cancelled due to escalating development and environmental costs and a collapse in the real estate market. The Province took over the lands in 1996 and has been trying, unsuccessfully, to sell them ever since.

In 1997, the West Don Lands Committee, a 17-member coalition of local resident, business, environmental, and heritage organizations, was formed in response to reports that the lands were about to be sold for a harness-racing facility. Since that time the Committee has worked actively to redirect the development. In November 1999, the Committee hosted a development workshop that brought together the local residential and business community, environmental and heritage advocates, developers, municipal and provincial regulators, and design professionals to build a consensus about principles for development. Three multi-disciplinary design teams then prepared sample development scenarios based on those development principles.

The Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Task Force and the Toronto 2008 Olympic Bid Masterplan have also identified the West Don Lands and the long-neglected mouth of the Don River as a significant waterfront resource. Both initiatives have incorporated ideas and principles generated in the West Don Lands Committee workshop. Both reflect the community preference for a mixed-use, medium-density, residential neighbourhood, with a large park located on a flood-protection berm at the edge of the Don River. Both incorporate a significant project to re-naturalize the mouth and channel of the Don River, another important community priority.

Cynthia Wilkey