[URBAN NOTE] "What Busking Teaches Us About Building A Better Streetscape"

[rfmcdonald]

Fatima Syed's Torontoist article makes the proper case for not expelling the buskers from Yonge and Dundas.

Imagine, for a minute, Yonge and Dundas without any buskers. No jazz bands playing Maroon 5 outside the Cineplex. No Spiderman jumping from one lamp pole to the next. No chalk drawings on the pavement. No gold statue mime standing still to hip hop music.

The streets would be less alive without this art, and one of Toronto’s busiest and most animated intersections would look and feel a whole lot more grey.

Buskers, in all of their weird, talented, and sometimes annoying glory, are a defining characteristic of any major urban centre, and provide an expression of the city’s character. Losing them would mean losing part of who we are as a city.

Yet, on April 28, Kristyn Wong-Tam (Ward 27, Toronto Centre-Rosedale) tried to make those entertainers disappear from her ward when she tabled a motion to implement a moratorium on busking at two corners of Yonge and Dundas. City Council rejected the proposal in a 15-15 tie.

The outcome was welcomed by many Torontonians. Busking doesn’t just enrich the urban landscape—it also provides a platform for the arts. Had Wong-Tam’s motion passed, street performers would lose a major source of income, as Yonge and Dundas is one of the busiest public spaces in the city.