Mississauga is Now an Avid Follower of the Vancouver Model

Does the phrase "towers on podiums" ring a bell to you?

The newest version of the "City of Glass" (termed famously by writer and Vancouverite Douglas Coupland) is emerging in this Toronto suburb as Vancouver-based developers are assisting staff at Mississauga City Hall in creating a mini-Vancouver out of the flat landscape surrounding Square One Mall, dominated by grand pedestrian-friendly boulevards. Even planners are dreaming of a central park once the mall becomes obsolete as a result of the changes in consumer taste in shopping along the streets!

I was in the area during the first ENVS 6101 Mississauga - Richmond Hill - Markham field trip, and I was amazed at how the ageless Mayor Hazel McCallion had a 180-degree turn (she had the not-so-prestigious title of "Sprawl Queen" by some of her critics) by approving strategies at intensifying the downtown area around Hurontario and Burnhamthorpe (for those of you who are not familiar with the geography of the region).

Downtown Mississauga should receive primary consideration (after the ill-planned Spadina extension to Vaughan Corporate Centre via York University - since VCC will not have the required density to support it) should funding for a subway expansion west of Kipling Station be available, since it has the potential to surpass the minimum population density to support a subway line.

Here is the much-talked-about Marilyn Monroe building (on the right-hand side of the picture below) and her male counterpart. Again notice the townhouses at the bottom serving as podiums to foster
Here is my take on Mississauga City Hall from the south side of the building on a sunny but cold and windy Saturday morning. The class even went to the deck section of the clock tower to have a glance at the development around the area. I felt like being in the freezer after standing there for only a few minutes!