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When we first got a tip from Andrew Hunter that “someone has installed a new
type of bike post along Yonge north of Lawrence,” we were concerned that it
might be the vanguard of the Coordinated Street Furniture onslaught of mass-
produced uniformity. When we went down (yes, down) to visit the area, however,
we were quite relieved to discover not Kramer-designed brontosaurus ribs but
elegant, artfully crafted flourishes of metallic whimsy. Inspired by a similar
project in which psychiatric survivors designed bike stands for the curb in front of
the Parkdale Activity and Recreation Centre (PARC), the Yonge Lawrence
Village BIA commissioned two of the artists behind that project, Phil Sarazen and
Jack Gibney, to fashion sixteen pieces, each featuring “a different aspect of
community living.” Studded into each block on both sides of Yonge Street north
from Lawrence to Yonge Boulevard, they succeed in being everything that
Astral’s street furniture is not, and should serve as an inspiration to all
neighbourhoods and BIAs as to what is possible when you’re willing to invest in
your community rather than sell it out.
www.fairlawnneighbourhoodcentre.com/docs/Bike%20Rack%20Feedback. pdf