In space-crunched Toronto, debate deepens over what’s more important: parking or affordable housing

Toronto’s Danforth Avenue is the sort of place where lots of people want to live – and the sort of place where city planners want them to live. The area east of the downtown has plenty of shops and restaurants within walking distance. There are good schools, and a subway line runs under it. It’s close to major parks.For an urban area, it also has plenty of public parking lots – 11 within a 1.5-kilometre stretch – though that may soon change. They’re among scores of city-owned lots across Toronto being studied as possible sites for housing, some of it affordable. The idea is part of a nationwide push to look at public land – everything from commercial buildings to parking lots and schoolyards – as part of the solution to the housing crisis. But it’s one that threatens to incense drivers and merchants.City council voted in March to look into converting some of its parking lots, without knowing specific locations. The Globe and Mail obtained a list through a freedom-of-information request of the 130 lots under consideration, many of which occupy highly desirable real estate. In total, nearly two-thirds of the lots operated by the Toronto Parking Authority (TPA) are being studied. City staff are aiming to produce a report by the end of the year on which are suitable for conversion and how quickly.