An old lighthouse brightens a neighbourhood transformed

I’ve been thinking about place-making quite a bit recently; how an area once devoid of residents and flowerboxes and coffee shops can, over a period of just a few years, become, well, just that. And that Toronto, North America’s fourth-largest city, is lucky enough to continue to reclaim all sorts of underused land.

Entirely new neighbourhoods such as Liberty Village – in 2014 I wrote that while many critics had panned it, I rather like it – East Bayfront and the Canary District are filled with people. And speaking of the Canary, the old restaurant at Cherry and Front Streets, I mean, it’s always a plus when a storied landmark already exists to help with branding, or even as a convenient locating beacon (why the developer didn’t restore or recreate and reinstall the Canary’s iconic neon sign is beyond me).