Last week, the Toronto Sun took us probably a little bit deeper than we might have wished into the world of Pauline Davis, Toronto’s “Peace Lady”.
For the past 25 years, Davis has been living inside one of Toronto’s famous ravines, her story brought once again to the surface because of a squabble with a squatter who has moved into her territorial “neighbourhood”.
Toronto is a very flat chunk of land, that is until explorers and nature enthusiasts alike discover the vast, somewhat hidden ravines weaving their way through the busy urban space. One can drive through the entire city and not notice the giant voids in the land beneath the roadways. The Toronto ravine system is a network of deep, small valleys that form a large urban forest running all through the city.
The ravines are one of the major unique and distinctive geographical features of Toronto and are sometimes referred to as the exact topographical opposite of the very hilly San Francisco. Much are designated as protected parkland, and it is illegal to cause damage to the vegetation and fauna that can be found living in them, including the red fox and even white-tailed deer and coyotes. The largest ravines have rivers and streams running through them all the way down to Lake Ontario.
While people taking up residence in ravines is not the stuff of urban legends as the Peace Lady would depict, most ravines in the city are secretive oases of unspoiled wilderness.
The Toronto ravines are some of the most notable in the world and are an easy way to escape the bustle of city life for a walk or hiking adventure as some have well maintained bridges, stairs and pathways, and others remain completely untouched.
The ravines present a significant aspect of the character of the city, referred to in many works by famous Canadian authors. Writer Robert Fulford described the ravines as “A tangible though often hidden part of our surroundings and a persistent force in our imagination.”
