For newlyweds honeymooning in Toronto, Oscar Wilde might have said, Yonge St. would be the second great disappointment of married life.

The city’s treatment of its main drag consists of long periods of indifference interrupted by occasional outbreaks of handwringing. We do nothing for years, even decades, then suddenly wake up to the mess that is our high street.

There are fountains and gardens on University Ave., granite sidewalks on Bloor and King, Spadina has been turned into a public art gallery. But Yonge remains the poor cousin of Toronto’s main streets, a mishmash of intentions, economic downturns and conflicting policies. Is it a north/south downtown highway, or a pedestrian-oriented avenue lined with shops, parks and squares?

Yonge bears the scars of conflicting demands, all this pushing and pulling. Some storefronts, set back several metres from their neighbours, were built at a time when the city had decided, vainly, to widen Yonge. That didn’t last long, and later structures once again reached out to the sidewalk.

The road has been narrowed to two lanes, and the remaining space handed over to outdoor patios, planter gardens and seating areas. Not since the 1970s — when Yonge was pedestrianized south of College — has the street seemed so approachable, so much a part of things, not just a way to get from A to B.

Dreamed up by the Downtown Yonge Business Improvement Association, the project is part of an urban “experiment” intended to test whether Toronto has any hope of realizing its urban potential.

Local councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam calls it, “a pop-up urban intervention.” The community, she says, “now sees the benefit of making attractive spaces. We’ve never had a conversation about how to use streets; this is a start.”

City Council approved the plan in June, but participants and sponsors are covering costs. Organizers also had to get special alcohol permits for the duration. Under normal circumstances, much of what’s happening would be illegal, which says something about the state of things. Is a livable city even possible within the existing civic regulatory apparatus?

The sorry history of street food in Toronto reveals just how hard that will be. Such a fiasco could only have unfolded in a system where means overshadow ends, where rules meant to control goods and services hinder them instead.

Though the changes are obviously make-shift, the impact will last longer. Wandering by, you can’t help but be struck by how small moves can have such a huge effect. On Yonge, a few tables, chairs and planters completely alter our response. These few items have the power to transform an otherwise inhospitable expanse of the public realm into a more human space, one we actually want to use and can.

Many of the various spots within the area are connected to the pubs and restaurants to which they are closest. Though some of the planters show considerable imagination, the most striking element is a temporary park on Yonge around Shuter St. Installed by Parks Canada, it’s made of stone, wood and grass, natural materials. It couldn’t be more incongruous in its inner-city setting. Therein lies it charm.

On the other hand, much of the space carved out of Yonge is really more commercial than public. Still, the message is clear: Streets have much better uses than driving on them.

Christopher Hume can be reached at chume@thestar.ca

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The “Oral History of Yonge St.” project will continue as a Facebook page, where you can share, comment, and browse more entries than we had space to print. Keep sending memories (with your full name and contact info, please) to kallen@thestar.ca, and we will keep adding them.

Yonge St. memories paint a fascinating picture