Tunnel Vision: Looking at the future of Regent Park

By: Lori Harito

Okay so I don't think I went far enough into Regent Park last time that I posted...because I went back this weekend, and the only way that I can describe what I felt is through an example.

I'm not sure if there are any other harry potter nerds out there, but for those of you who have read it and for those of you who haven't here's a recap...it feels like one of the "dementors," those dead dark souls that come to Harry and literally suck the life out of him so that all you see is misery and darkness?.....Well that's how I felt walking around Regent Park....dark and miserable, because even at 6 p.m on a warm September afternoon, Regent Park was dark....

Which leads me to think, the future of Regent Park? ...It's dark...

There are just so many paradoxes in this area. There's no life except for the children who are either sitting outside the houses with their friends, or out on the street on their bikes. But there's just something eerie about being here. It's littered with garbage and quite frankly, I don't think anybody cares or is coming to clean it up...and there's stray cats hanging around everywhere.

But then you see these old houses, and churches from the past, and to me it shows that the future of Regent Park is in its past. That no matter what developments come across, they will always have these old, small houses and churches that will represent the past of Regent Park and what it used to be in the old days. No matter how many new buildings spring up in this place, there will always be the old buildings and churches to keep it grounded.

I don't see anything futuristic happening at Regent Park, nothing to really indicate that the first flying car will fly out of Regent Park. It's a place that is still trying to regain itself and make itself better in the present, not looking into the future.

But here's the thing: You can tell the residents of Regent Park are ready for a change, they're tired of living in the past and in this bleak present and they're ready for a change. Take for example the pictures below of graffiti that says it all: "Choose the right path," "Stop the violence." People are ready for a change, people are ready to be given a chance to have a future. And a clear example is in the construction by Parliament and Dundas streets that has a whole block blocked off for the "Regent Park Revitalization Project," currently in it's first phase. I mean does that not say it all? A revitalization project? That to me screams "out with the old and in with the new!" And isn't the future all about the new? Doesn't construction suggest that it's tearing down something old and overused to make room for a big change, for something new that is essentially better?

That's what I don't understand....Regent Park is littered, it's dark and quite frankly it's a shady area to be in, but looking at the graffiti is like looking at a small glimmer of hope....that little light at the end of the dark tunnel. It's a way of saying to the people of Regent Park from their own people: don't give up, we're not done here yet. And the revitalization says it too...don't give up. But I feel like...it's not enough. It's a small start, and it's a good start yes....but it just doesn't quite scream BRIGHT FUTURE. While some places have a guaranteed future of prosperity, developments and are full of life (eg: areas like Yonge and Eglinton -lively. Aurora - booming!), Regent Park doesn't have that guarantee, it has that hope that maybe it will someday have a bright future.

And the weird thing is that you walk 5 minutes and you're in a bright and happy place of Toronto...a place that certainly has a guaranteed future.