Are Suburbs the New Downtown? Spacing Launch Weighs In Tonight!

There's a bunch of great art stuff happening in the Toronto suburbs these days--from Alex Metcalf's tree-listening installations at Oakville Galleries to the Leona Drive Project, which takes over 5 empty suburban houses as art installation spaces. Appropriately, the next issue of Spacing, launching tonight at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto, takes a look at the suburbs--both their promise and their problems. Also along for the ride are the regular Spacing features and profiles, including my review of the new book Public Art in Canada. Here's more info about the issue and launch:

DATE: Tuesday, August 25, 2009
LOCATION: Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street West
COST: $10, includes a magazine. $5 for subscribers
TIME: 7:30pm to 1am
RSVP: Please visit Spacing's Facebook listing to rsvp

The issue’s cover section focuses on Toronto’s suburbs. The city faces its greatest challenges and opportunities in these areas. Spacing senior editor Dylan Reid presents compelling examples of how the suburbs can evolve instead of trying to be reinvented. Spacing’s other senior editor, Shawn Micallef, examines the walkable community of Dorset Park in Scarborough. Our writers explore such things as plans for a downtown Mississauga, environmentalists in Markham, urban farming in subdivisions, the makeover of downtown North York, Burlington’s successful waterfront, and how youth are being engaged to shape the future of their suburban communities.