Hume Paintbox condo brings colour to Regent Park

STAR COLUMNIST

s the remake of Regent Park unfolds, one thing is already clear; Dundas St. east of Parliament will never be the same. Though much remains undone, the spectacular new aquatic centre appears set to become a destination, as does the Regent Park Arts and Cultural Centre. Then, of course, there’s the residential component, which will bring new height and density to the neighbourhood.

Since the early 1950s, this stretch of Dundas has been lined with the box-like housing that comprised the original Regent Park. Though the project won awards and was widely admired, it turned out that a number of the most basic assumptions were flawed. For instance, cutting a community off from the street grid and failing to distinguish between public and private property turned out to be fundamentally flawed. It made Regent Park a city-within-a-city, but for all the wrong reasons. Like some high-density subdivision, the neighbourhood was isolated and always felt disconnected from things. The shared spaces of the commons were better suited to drug dealing than children playing. Despite the good intentions, Regent Park was an enclave on the way to becoming a ghetto.

The new Regent Park aims to change all that. The strategy, though simple, has been successful. Mixing full-market housing with (apparently identical) subsidized units, the new housing complex offers more amenities (swimming and culture), better architecture and an enhanced public realm.

 

 

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