We expected the meeting to be something of an experiment; an exploration. It was perhaps the first attempt to get people from all parts of the community - residents, business owners and landlords - into one room to discuss the Village, its future and any other issues facing us all. In order to reach as broad an audience as possible, we co-sponsored the meeting with the City (Urban Planning and Economic Development offices) and the BIA. The attendance -- between 150 and 200 people -- showed the level of interest and concern about the Village. It was clear that in fact, the audience did include significant members of each of the above three components of the Village.

Some recollections of the speakers: It was significant that the meeting started somewhat late because two of our speakers -- Barbara Hall and Beatte Bowron -- had to travel across the city from another event: a celebration held in Cabbagetown of a victory that the community there had recently won. The Ontario Municipal Board had recently turned down the proposal by Home Depot to build one of their super-stores at Cherry Street and Lakeshore. This was a proposal fought by various areas including Queen Street and Cabbagetown BIA's, but like Bloor West Village, many residents were involved. They all foresaw the potential negative impact on the vibrant mainstreets of their community.

Barbara talked about various concepts of what community was (as she described it, the word "community" is like "Canadian" -- we know what it is, we just can't define it). She did give a number of examples of what community meant, and what it means to all its members.

The next speaker was John Torella, a retail consultant with JC Williams Group. We had forseen that he might have spoken on some of the challenges facing small retailers, or the dynamics of current retail trends etc. However, his presentation was one geared to retailers: how to differentiate & promote themselves. Although this approach was not what we had expected, it was addressed to a significant part of the community. A few days later, one retailer who is active in and concerned about the Village told me how much he appreciated the meeting, and in particular John Torella's presentation. He wanted to pursue this idea - perhaps to bring in Mr. Torella for a one-day seminar. This is one idea we have thought should happen here: a retail consultant to work with some of the smaller retailers to help them compete with the corporate outposts who have the financial and other clout of head office behind them.

One quote of Mr. Torella's has been quoted in the local papers -- "differentiate or die". We -- world19 and others concerned about the Village -- have been saying much the same thing. From a business (retail or landlord) perspective, surely keeping the character and uniqueness of the Village is good - and vital - for business.

In relation to the "big stores" wanting in the Village, he said "You're on the radar".

The realty presentation was by Steven Alikakos of JJ Barnicke, a commercial realtor. He confirmed the attraction of the area to large retailers - the location, demogrpahics, TTC & parking - and the character of the area. He also described some typical rental rates in similar retail areas in Toronto. Yonge & Bloor ranges betwen $80-$130 sq. foot; Yonge & Eglinton: $40-60; Beach $35-$55; Queen West $35-$55; Junction $12-$15. Bloor West Village he had found went between $25-$43, but had just found a lease for $65 sq foot.

Beatte Bowron, the Director of Community Planning for the City Planning Department spoke next. We were impressed to hear her not only discuss the role of Planning regarding Village issues, but she specifically addressed some of the questions we had raised in our "backgrounder" for the meeting. (This had been sent out in an earlier world19News, and is on our web site).

Regarding the inefficiency and many costs of the new single-story developments on Bloor: there is nothing to prevent these. Retail size limits? The only size limit for general retail is 1800 sq. m - far larger than anything that might show up in the Village. There would be nothing to prevent (for example) the purchaser of the Cheese Boutique/Book Barrel properties from combining them into a single, 3-storefront property, and they could also expand the retail area to include the second story. In other words, whether or not the GAP is a rumor or reality, the space could be there for a GAP-sized store on the site of the soon-to-be-former Cheese Boutique.

Beatte also discussed the state of the revised Official Plan. The target is to develop a "Vision Plan" by June; this will not get to the details of things like densities, land use, etc. It will look at transportation and infrastructure needs, and she mentioned the need to intensify the "old City".

(A final note regarding participation: at the end of the meeting, she stayed on to help us move all the chairs out of the gym, back to where they were stored. Community involvement!)

Ron Nash from the City's Economic Development Office (and someone who had contributed a lot of time and effort in helping organize the meeting and arrange many of the speakers) among other ideas mentioned the concept of "centralized retail management" -- something that has been tried in the U.S. This involves all stakeholders in the retail centre developing a common objective, and targeting their leasing and retail promotion to the type of retailers that fit their vision.

Both councillors and Alex Ling from the BIA also spoke briefly before opening the floor to questions and comments. Discussion was "a mixed bag" reflecting the varied makeup of the audience and its interests. It ranged from a retailer's concerns over taxes (all levels) to a resident's suggesting much responsibility for the mallification lay with realtors promoting "big sales" between landlords and large chains.

One resident made a proposal to discourage excessive commercial development. He subsequently emailed us more information on his suggestion, and we will forward that on to the list in the next few days.

Finally, David Miller wrapped up with a "what's next" perspective. He suggested three concepts we (collectively) need: - develop a vision of what we want the Village to be - strive for the right balance - think collectively

He proposed a structure involving businesses and residents to work on developing plans for the Village. world19 will be following up on this with the Councillor. In addition, as a result of the motion passed by Community and City Councils last fall from the Save the Village campaign, the two city departments participating in the meeting will stay involved in this issue.

And from world19? It's been a long and interesting effort. We've found a very large number of people committed to preserving a vital community. It's clear that - like any other issue - there is no easy or single answer. From the Dec. 1st meeting, Beatte Bowron, the City Planner pointed out that there aren't simple zoning answers to cap sizes or limit some types of development as has been discussed here in the past few months. (All these of course are possible - with political changes - but they don't seem likely).

The Dec. 1st meeting as we stated was a mix, one that involved many interests. We think it may be worthwhile to have a more informal community-oriented meeting - primarily among those who have been interested in this issue over the past months. We think this may be an opportunity for community members to discuss among ourselves ideas on how to move ahead. This may be an oppotunity to build a "community" component to the process that Councillor Miller proposed.

When & where? One local restauranteur has previously offered his restaurant as a location for an occasional Saturday morning "coffee & muffins" community discussion centre. He has agreed that we could start this off with this type of meeting. We are tentatively planning for this meeting on Saturday, Feb. 12. More information to come soon.

Other comments? As always, we look forward to any comments on this issue (or any other community issue), and if you'd like, we can send those comments on to the list.

Media coverage The two local papers covered the meeting. The Guardian with a news article and column, The Villager a news article. We will comment on the coverage in another issue.

And next?
world19 will be organizing an informal meeting with a number of interested community members in February, and will pursue some of the ideas suggested by Councillor Miller. Stay tuned...