More than 350 people came out on November 20th to discuss the potential of Toronto's laneways. Here's what we learned:

1. Toronto loves its laneways.  The event was sold out, the discussion was engaging and the evening was covered by the Torontoist, Yonge Street Media, Inside Toronto, CBC Radio, CBC News, Radio Canada, local bloggers, and featured in Spacing Magazine. 

2. All laneways are not created equal.  Toronto's laneways are public, private, residential, commercial, long, short, through-routes and dead ends. Unique laneways demand unique solutions.

2. Collaboration is key.  Local stakeholders - residents, BIAs, councillors, students, business owners, City departments and others need to work together to improve Toronto's laneways. This is necessary for getting things done. It’s also an opportunity to promote civic engagement. 

4. Laneways are routes as well as destinations.  Our laneways are places where pedestrians, cars and bikes can coexist.  The idea of a 'shared street', common in Europe, can help us understand the opportunities and develop strategies for making laneways more people-friendly places. 

5. Phase your work, show progress. Incremental, measurable improvements, no matter how small, are essential in building local buy-in and ownership of larger laneway projects.