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Is It Time To Tap Into Toronto's 'Tower-In-The-Park' Sites For New Housing?

Is It Time To Tap Into Toronto's 'Tower-In-The-Park' Sites For New Housing?

Toronto’s “tower-in-the-park” apartment sites—those post-war high-rise buildings set amid large lawns, parking lots, and green space—may be among the city’s best untapped resources for new housing. According to housing experts, these sites hold serious potential to help ease the housing crunch faced across the Greater Toronto Area.

These towers were built between roughly 1960 and 1980, when Toronto was growing fast by expanding outward. Planners of the era wanted dense housing but also generous green space around buildings. That led to a design where apartment towers sat on large lots, surrounded by lawns and surface parking—an approach that once seemed smart but now feels dated.

Today, the city’s situation has changed. Toronto needs more housing, land is scarce, and our ways of getting around are shifting away from cars. Those lawns and parking lots now look like wasted opportunities—spaces that could hold new homes, walkways, and community spots, all within existing neighbourhoods. Recognizing this, the city has launched studies and planning efforts to lift zoning rules that made changing these sites difficult until now.

Planners say rethinking these sites could make communities stronger. Instead of isolated towers, we could see mixed housing, new streets, trees kept where they matter, and new ground-floor activity. More housing, less sprawl, and neighbourhoods that feel connected—this shift could help build the kind of city Toronto wants to be.

The numbers tell another part of the story. Out of about 1,700 rental apartment sites in the Toronto–Hamilton area, over 900 have enough space to support infill. Many of those are near transit, and the potential could be more than 180,000 new rental homes—all on land already owned and serviced.

With zoning changes being considered, many experts see a smarter, more flexible city emerging. One that corrects past planning mistakes and lets neighbourhoods evolve as needs change. At a time when housing supply and affordability are urgent concerns, tapping into tower-in-the-park sites may offer exactly what Toronto needs—homes, community, and better use of the land we already have.