The Meeting Point

The Meeting Point is a Toronto novel by acclaimed writer Austin Clarke that narrates the difficult and sometimes humorous interactions between West Indian immigrants and Toronto in the early 1960s. The "meeting point" referred to in Clarke's novel refers not only to physical spaces of intersection and gathering, but also to the cultural encounters these meetings generated. The novel underscores the reality that few places are neutral, layered as they are with cultural baggage, territorial impulses, history, and change.

At the same time, it is possible for certain places to become iconic meeting points. With this in mind, last week Spacing Wire asked the following question of its readers:

[W]here would you instinctively choose as the most obvious meeting point in Toronto? It has to be specific enough that you would be confident that you would see the other person immediately if you were both there (i.e. not just Grand Central Station, but specifically the information booth). If there isn’t an adequate landmark in the location you propose, feel free to suggest something that should be built to create the required landmark.

By this morning sixty people had responded, most suggesting spaces like the base of the CN Tower, Dundas Square, Nathan Phillips Square (at City Hall), Union Station, the intersection of Yonge and Bloor, or the fountain in the Eaton Centre.

For me, the most obvious meeting point to intersect with someone coming from out of town via train would be Union Station (either inside in the great hall or outside along Front Street). Via car, I would suggest meeting at Yorkdale Shopping Centre, where it is possible to park and then transfer to the subway system. I have also met people at the Greyhound bus station on Dundas Street West near the Eaton Centre, or occasionally at the Eaton Centre itself. The transit focus applies when meeting local people as well: frequently we will choose a mutually convenient subway station or street intersection from which we might move toward multiple destinations. But as someone who lives near the centre of the city, my orientation tends to be central.

What about you? What are your natural 'meeting points'? Are they within the city at all, or do they tend to focus on surrounding suburbs? And what is the focus of these meeting points? Transportation and mobility? Shopping? Socializing and entertainment? I noted, while reading the responses to Spacing's question, that, in addition to accessibility, the responses tended to suggest a focus on activities associated with consumption (rather than, say, civic engagement or religion). Is this different for you? Would it be different in other cities or suburbs? Would it have been different in the past?

[Toronto intersection image created by Striatic and used under the aegis of a Creative Commons license.]