[URBAN NOTE] "How does a street get a name?"

[rfmcdonald]

Spacing National's Kayla-Jane Barrie has a neat post examining the street naming process in five Canadian cities: Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, and Halifax.

Who names the streets? Street naming decisions are made at the discretion of Toronto City Council. However, no street name can present a personal benefit to any City employee or official.

How does it work? The City of Toronto Honorific and Street Naming Policy govern the street naming process in Toronto. The City reviews the street name application to ensure that it complies with the law. They don’t create names or keep historical records on the backgrounds of street names (though there is book called Toronto’s Street Names by Leonard Wise and Allan Gould, published by Firefly Books). The City take names provided by applicants and processes them according to the policy. Street names must commemorate local history, honour noteworthy people associated with the city, or recognize wildlife features in the area.

Can names be changed? Names of streets that honour organizations or individuals, such as the Martin Goodman Trail, cannot be renamed. New street names will only be approved under exceptional circumstances and the historical or community significance of the current street name is considered. The City will consider naming proposals, but there is no obligation to accept or present them for consideration. All name submissions must entail a positive image, be original (to avoid confusion), and do not lend themselves to any inappropriate acronyms.

The detail on cities across Canada is fun.