Downtown Yonge BIA OBIAA Awards 2013 Submission Category: Special Events + Promotions

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1 Downtown Yonge BIA OBIAA Awards 2013 Submission Category: Special Events + Promotions CELEBRATE YONGE, Aug 17 Sep 16, 2012

2 Project Description Celebrate Yonge was a one-of-a-kind pilot event in the heart of downtown Toronto. For four weeks the Downtown Yonge community invited Torontonians and visitors to experience a transformed Yonge Street. By expanding public space onto the stretch of street between Queen and Gerrard, Celebrate Yonge offered people the opportunity to stop and enjoy the iconic downtown roadway Beautiful wooden planters served as temporary barriers on the street separating the extra pedestrian space from vehicle traffic. Strategically placed laybys for deliveries and drop-offs encouraged a steady flow of traffic for the two vehicle lanes, one northbound and one southbound (the extra wide lanes left space for cyclists too) The event street space offered public seating zones featuring comfy outdoor furniture, eight licensed patios serviced by area restaurants and pubs, and outdoor cafés to enjoy light snacks and drinks. Throughout the 11 themed event areas weekend programming included activities, games, artistic services (such as henna and caricature painting), art installations and more

3 Project Description Cont. A year prior to Celebrate Yonge the Yonge Street Planning Framework, a vision document for the Downtown Yonge neighbourhood, had highlighted the need for more pedestrian space along Yonge Street The roadway plan for Celebrate Yonge was an innovative response to this need that still also provided vehicle access to the street. The event was also among the first to take advantage of new AGCO laws allowing for alcohol to be served on outdoor patios not directly attached to the business The creation of an event on these new pedestrian bumpouts that offered visitors not only more public space, but also the chance to experience Downtown Yonge in a new way was a unique combination of streetscape and event planning.

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8 Funding Celebrate Yonge was a community collaboration designed and managed by the Downtown Yonge BIA, who provided some funding. The majority of the project budget was raised through the following sponsorship and in-kind partnerships: City Partners: Local Union 79 (City of Toronto, Inside workers) Local Union 416 (City of Toronto, Outside workers) Carpenters Union BIA Partners: Atrium on Bay Pickle Barrel Delta Chelsea Media Partners Toronto Star Rogers Media Metro Pattison Outdoor Community Partners Home Depot Forward Signs

9 Impact The impact of Celebrate Yonge is being measured in four ways by the City of Toronto in a report city staff are drafting for council in Spring 2013: Pedestrian + Vehicle counts (measuring foot traffic in the area) Transportation Report (measuring effect of roadway changes on surrounding arteries) Member + Public Feedback (surveying perceived impact and sales) Media Report (quantifying impact of event on media) Preliminary Pedestrian and Vehicle count results show a significant increase year-over-year of pedestrian foot traffic within the event boundaries and that other major streets in the area measured by outside Transportation Consultants (before and during the event) were able to accommodate any extra vehicle traffic that may have been driven their way by the partial lane closures. The majority of Member and Public feedback was positive for the overall event concept and an outside commissioned Media Report revealed that stories on the event netted a tremendous media value (of coverage of the event) of $475,640, reaching over 16,498,800 people.

10 Participants/Partners Celebrate Yonge was a collaborative effort, made possible by dedicated partners from the City of Toronto, the BIA and those listed on the Funding page. In the beginning phases of planning in late 2011, City Transportation staff worked with BIA project managers to establish the roadway plan BIA members were approached with basic event concepts in working groups for approval/brainstorming Spring 2012 With the support of Councillor Wong-Tam, an Event of Special Significant permit was approved by City Council in June 2012 Moving ahead, project leaders worked through layouts for patio furniture, public seating and member-driven programming by consulting with businesses/properties block by block Outside partners (see Media and Community Partners) for marketing/media spread the word about the event producing advertising and on-site signage Home Depot provided materials for the planter boxes that served as temporary barriers which were custom built with no labour costs by the Carpenters Union. Themed planters for each block were designed and created by Ontario landscapers in a contest by partners, Live Green Toronto and Landscape Ontario Setup, management and takedown of the event was overseen by dedicated staff at the Downtown Yonge BIA

11 Innovation, Replication, Representation Innovation: The unique roadway plan and event plan of Celebrate Yonge (with the purpose of creating better public spaces on an iconic street) has received tremendous interest from local Torontonians, media and other municipalities demonstrating its leadership impact as a pilot concept was highly significant Replication: The in-depth Celebrate Yonge report will provide Downtown Yonge and other communities with analysis of the value of the pilot of the event. From there, possibilities for summer programming that includes pedestrian bumpouts and temporary roadway changes that do not majorly effect vehicle traffic can be explored, evolved and replicated in detail. Many municipalities across Ontario and neighbourhoods within Toronto have shown interest in replicating and creating similar events, with some planning projects even for Summer 2013 Representation: The BIA engaged members (both in and outside of the event area) more during Celebrate Yonge than ever before. The diverse interests of restaurants, retail and services came together to produce innovative ways to animate their section of street. Members were engaged in all steps of the process and have definitely indicated their interest in growing the event in future

12 Outcome + Conclusion Outcome: Evidence of the success of Celebrate Yonge can be found not only in the Impact measurements currently being compiled (increased pedestrian traffic, limited disturbance to vehicle traffic, great media coverage of the neighbourhood and supportive member and public feedback), but also in the planned replication of the event by a variety of communities in and outside Toronto. Conclusion: Downtown Yonge BIA served a tremendous leadership role in breaking away from the traditional summer programming of already established spaces. Creating a unique pedestrian event, the BIA invited people to explore the neighbourhood, while actually improving the function of the street with the creation of wider than usual vehicle lanes of traffic, inclusion of space for bikes and mitigating the problem of illegal stopping on Yonge Street with the use of laybys. Celebrate Yonge was simultaneously an event and streetscaping success that beautified the community with custom planter boxes, engaged the membership and placed a spotlight on the diverse Downtown Yonge business community