Vaughan Metropolitan Centre
Vaughan Metropolitan Centre | |
|---|---|
 Vaughan Metropolitan Centre skyline in 2019 | |
| Motto: It'll Move You | |
 Location of Vaughan Metropolitan Centre | |
| Coordinates: 43°47′37″N 79°31′38″W / 43.7935°N 79.52727°W | |
| Country |  Canada |
| Province |  Ontario |
| Regional Municipality | York |
| City | Vaughan |
| Area code(s) | 905/289 |
| Website | vaughanmetrocentre.ca |
Vaughan Metropolitan Centre is a central business district under development in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. Measuring 51-hectare (125-acre), the district is located at the intersection of Highway 400 and Highway 7, covering parts of the historic communities of Edgeley and Concord. It is served by the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre transit terminal, which is the northwestern terminus of Line 1 Yonge–University of the Toronto subway system. It is also a major transit hub for York Region Transit (YRT) and Viva bus rapid transit services.[1]
Name
In the summer of 2009, Vaughan's city council announced that they wanted public submissions to suggest a new name for Vaughan's new downtown core. At the time, it was known as "Vaughan Corporate Centre", but the name change was suggested so that the name would "better reflect the true vision and future of this key hub".[2] Nearly 1,600 entries were submitted; the subcommittee (chaired by Ward 4 Councillor Sandra Yeung Racco) decided on the name of "Vaughan Metropolitan Centre" for the area.
Background
Mitch Goldhar has owned the 100-acre site since the mid-1990s; 40 acres of it are now owned by developers Rudy Bratty and Silvio DeGasperis, and the remainder by Goldhar’s firms, including SmartCentres.[3] Prominent businesses having property in the Centre include Toromont, Wal-Mart, AMC Theatres, Lowe's, and Future Shop. Sam's Club had been located there before it closed down in March 2009. Two hotels operated by Marriott and one by Hilton, are also located at the Centre, as well as a Monte Carlo Inn. The core of the centre is approximately 1 km long (west to east) and 400m wide (north to south), although the plans for the Centre also include lands immediately outside this core zone.
Development
Vaughan plans to build a city centre from scratch around the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre subway station in a 179 hectare site that prior to the station's opening was low density featuring big box stores such as Walmart. By 2012, the city had already purchased land around VMC Station for development. Vaughan projects that by 2031, the new downtown will have 25,000 residents and employment for more than 11,000 people.[4]
As of 2012, proposed developments at VMC include the five-building, 37-storey Expo City condos, and Liberty Developments' proposed office building plus four condo buildings on the south corner of Jane Street and Highway 7.[4]
Pino DiMascio, an urban planner who helped create the official plan for Vaughan, said that the new city centre would need cultural spaces, retail, civic spaces and green space to be successful in attracting people to take the subway north to Vaughan as relying on just condos and office buildings that is claimed to have failed to make North York Centre a success.[4]
Two traffic circles will be constructed on Highway 7 at Commerce Street and Maplecrete Road; these will intersect a ring road that will represent the border of this core. Parts of this ring road already exist as Commerce Street, and portions of Doughton Road, Maplecrete Road, and Applemill Road. The new Vaughan Metropolitan Centre TTC subway station is located at the intersection of Highway 7 and Millway Avenue at the centre of the core. Inside the core, the average block will be 100m by 100m (330 ft. by 330 ft.). Thus the theoretical maximum number of blocks is 40, but the Black Creek Valley and the non-perpendicular Jane Street will lower that number somewhat.
These blocks will be separated by small roads, alleys, or pedestrian walkways. One of the first buildings built with the small block size taken into account was the two-storey Future Shop, which has since closed. At ground level, this building has small shop-sized units facing Highway 7 and Millway Drive that are currently vacant.
In late 2015, a community website was launched in an effort to raise awareness, provide resources, engage members of the community, and highlight the progress of the Vaughan Metro Centre development.
Further details of the City of Vaughan's plans for expansion and development are included as part of the council's secondary plan.[5]
Public transit
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VMC is served by both York Region Transit (YRT) and Brampton Transit buses, and the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) subway.
Vaughan Metropolitan Centre station is located at the intersection of Highway 7 and Millway Avenue, just west of Jane Street. It is the northwestern terminus of Line 1 Yonge-University. The area is also served by YRT (which includes Viva) and Brampton Transit's Züm buses on Highway 7 and Jane Street. Viva and 501 Züm Queen buses travel along the Highway 7 Rapidway, which features a covered Vivastation in its centre for transferring to the subway. Conventional YRT buses currently connect with the station on-street, but will (with the exception of Route 77) be moved to the under-construction SmartCentres Place Bus Terminal upon its completion.
The subway station is part of the TTC Toronto fare zone and no extra fare is charged to enter and exit. However, there are no free transfers to and from the subway and YRT or Züm buses, and the appropriate system's fare is charged when transferring.
References
- ^ "First Look: New TTC Map - Vaughan Metropolitan Centre". Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
- ^ "And the new name is… « vivaNext". 2012-01-17. Retrieved 2018-02-18.
- ^ "Mr. SmartCentres, Mitch Goldhar, gives Canadians what they want". Retrieved 2018-02-18.
- ^ a b c Noor Javed (6 April 2012). "Toronto's subway brings downtown vision to Vaughan". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2016-06-30.
- ^ "Secondary Plan - Vaughan Metropolitan Centre". Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. 2015-10-08. Retrieved 2018-02-18.
External links
- Vaughan Metropolitan Centre
- Vaughan Metropolitan Centre at Vaughan Tomorrow
- Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Community website
- City of Vaughan 'Secondary Plan'
- Google map showing the Centre's core area, ring road, and possible traffic circles.
- Original summary proposal
