Access to public spaces should be easy

"The appeal of Toronto's massive public park shouldn't be that it's difficult to access," April Engelberg told the Star this week. She was talking specifically about the Toronto islands, as she has been since she ran for city council in 2022, advocating for a bridge across the 250-metre eastern gap.

- EDWARD KEENAN

The city could ramp up ferry capacity or build a bridge or use the airport tunnel, Edward Keenan writes, but the point is that people ought to be able to get to the islands. Like High Park, they are civic treasures.

But the sentiment she expressed could be a fitting motto to guide the entire parks department. Maybe it seems too obvious. The idea that, as Engelberg went on, "It should be easy for everybody to access," seems built right into the idea of a public leisure amenity such as parkland.

We're not talking about your favourite neighbourhood restaurant, where you might want to keep your rave reviews quiet to ensure you can still get a table. Nor about Mount Everest, where the challenge of the life-threatening inaccessibility is half of the reason to make a visit (the other half being simply "because it is there," of course).

Parks are spaces designed, maintained and programmed to allow residents to relax, have fun, and while away the day. Getting there should be the start of that unwinding, not some final-boss test of endurance that proves you're worthy.

And yet look at the case of the islands, where the city has spent years not adequately providing ferry service, not acting to make the boarding of those ferries less of a hassle, not looking into alternative ways to access the islands.