How this greenspace, once the pride of Parkdale, became a derelict strip of land

An underpass revitalization project that was meant to pay tribute to the people of Parkdale has instead deteriorated into “a garbage dump,” according to nearby residents. 

The Parkdale Residents Association says the city hasn’t done enough to clear up and maintain the site — a grassy strip of land that runs along Lansdowne Avenue south of Dundas Street. 

“It's a wasteland for Tim Hortons coffee cups," said PRA chair Ric Amis. "It's just a garbage dump."

The parcel of land, about a block long and two metres wide, runs from a point just south of Dundas up to the tracks at the Lansdowne railway underpass. It was spruced up by the city around 1993, according to a plaque at the site of the underpass. 

"This public improvement is dedicated to the community of Parkdale and people of Toronto by Her Worship Mayor June Rowlands," the plaque reads.

At that time, concrete planters were put in place, locust trees were planted in a neat row, new decorative lamps were installed — the city even built a staircase, giving people a way down to street level from the top of the underpass.

Then, apparently, the narrow parcel of land was forgotten, Amis says. 

"When it was brand new, it looked gorgeous," recalls Amis, who's lived in the neighbourhood since the mid-1980s. These days, the planters have become "garbage cans," he said.  

Nowadays, the grass is thigh height and the locust branches hang untrimmed. Trash — old signs, bags of dog feces, bottles and bike tires — litter the grassy boulevard.

Amis said his association's members have called 311 routinely over the years to have the garbage cleaned up and the landscaping improved, but "nothing gets done."

The local councillor, Alejandra Bravo, disagrees. 

Bravo, wouldn't agree to an interview, but in an email to CBC Toronto said city staff have responded within a month to the five 311 complaints they've received in the past few years about garbage on the boulevard.

"Still, I have asked my team to put in a request to City staff for a maintenance and cleaning review of this section of Lansdowne," she wrote. "It’s always helpful to hear what is on the minds of people in our community, and I appreciate you flagging this for our attention.”

That review can't come soon enough for Paul Zurbrigg. He’s lived next door to the strip of land for seven years.