Walkable Sustainable Neighborhood Series- Textures of Kensington Market

Published 01 February 08 06:02 PM | Anne Lok

Kensington Market is founded by early Jewish Immigrants at the beginning of the 20th century and some Italians,and became one of the National Historic Sites in November 2006. It is roughly bounded by College St. on the North, Spadina on the East, Dundas to the South, and Bellevue to the West. It is a neighbourhood that offers diversity, a bit of everything from food, art, collectibles, restaurants, shops that spill onto the sidewalk, simply a place to hang out or to live. It embodies the character of a european open air market. The experiences most memorable to me are the different aromas when one walks by the shops.

Over the decades, Kensington layered with history has undergone many changes with different new waves of immigrants continuing transforming the area in making it their home with different unique flavors. Not only is the neighbourhood a noted tourist attraction ad the centre of cultural life, it's current commercial gentrification is attracting artists, writes and professionals to reside in the area.

With Kensington's low density and a network of laneways and one way streets, makes it challenging for motorists to maneouvre in and out of the narrow streets. Since 2004, residents and businesses have organized a series of Pedestrian Free Sundays with live street entertainment and special events. Some issues surrounding the neighbourhood debate right now are:-

Whether the streets be car free on Sundays?
Whether more bars should be permitted in the market?
Whether there should be more benches and close off the streets to cars permanently?
Whether the area should be closed off to motorists traffic completely?

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