Learning from Canada
Jul 6, 2008 7:47 pm
Starting this fall, landscape architects West 8 will begin designing a park master plan for Governors Island. We invite New Yorkers and park users to tell us what you would like to see and do in the future park. Send your park suggestions to info-gipec@empire.state.ny.us, and we’ll make sure to read them and share them with the designers. To get your imagination going, come out to Governors Island this summer to ride a bike, hear a concert, or experience the stunning views. And we’ll continue to post about fun things people do in parks and examples of great parks around the world. One of our favorite urban parks is in Canada — Toronto Islands. These Islands have been a summer refuge for Tornotonians for generations. Like coming to Governors Island, in Toronto you take a short scenic ferry ride from downtown and suddenly you are in another world.
People of all ages, interests, and backgrounds use this park and love it. There are all kinds of activities for kids (storytelling, swan boats, petting zoo) and families (barbeque, frisbee golf, bike trails). Music and food festivals are annual events. All public school children spend time on the Island learning about nature and ecology. 
If you came out to Governors Island with your friends or grandparents, what else would you like to do besides lying on a grassy lawn, eating delicious food, and watching boats sail by? Two of the things that make a public open space alive and dynamic are great people-watching and proximity to good food choices and other interesting “stuff”. This is an area in Tornoto, the Distillery district, that has been reborn through a mix of retail, food, and culture re-using historic buildings and courtyards with great architectural charm and character. 
This is a artisans’ workshop on the Toronto waterfront that is open to public viewing — you walk right through the ceramic studio.
What do you think would make for great people-watching in the future park on Governors Island? To see some of the preliminary concepts for the park proposed in the design competition click here: http://www.park-centeroftheworld.org/ To learn more about the selection of the winning West 8 design team click here: http://www.govisland.com/Press_Room/12 – 19-07selection.asp
To learn more about Toronto Islands: http://www.toronto.ca/parks/island/
