News Treehugger Voices Artists Bring Life to Toronto's Feel Good Lane By Lloyd Alter Lloyd Alter Design Editor University of Toronto Lloyd Alter is Design Editor for Treehugger and teaches Sustainable Design at Ryerson University in Toronto. Learn about our editorial process Updated April 8, 2019 This story is part of Treehugger's news archive. Learn more about our news archiving process or read our latest news. CC BY 2.0. Feel Good Lane / Lloyd Alter News Environment Business & Policy Science Animals Home & Design Current Events Treehugger Voices News Archive How to make a utilitarian back lane into a wonderful public amenity. Walking home from a monthly meeting of a group I joined last year with a few of the other members, I pointed out a street sign for a back lane and mentioned, "I love that sign. I wonder what it is about." They all looked at me with some astonishment and one of the group, Leonard, asked, "You don't know?" Lloyd Alter/CC BY 2.0In 2014, a young musician who lived in the area died in a motorcycle crash while touring Vietnam. Barry Luksenberg performed under the name Feel Good, and while growing up, he played with friends in Graham Park, which abuts the lane. A few of them later formed a hip hop group named the 512 crew, after the local streetcar line. Leonard Luksenberg/ Photo Lloyd Alter/CC BY 2.0 Leonard Luksenberg, Barry's father, took me on a tour. This is all five minutes from where I live and I had no idea it existed. Five years ago, Leonard started the petition to get the name of the lane changed, telling the CBC, "He grew up playing in the park with his friends ... they were constantly going through the laneway to each other's houses." Lloyd Alter/CC BY 2.0 Last year, two local residents and art lovers, Kim Lesperance and Julian Back, picked up on the idea of beautifying the space by painting over the 18 garage doors, and added a few walls in, too. Brooke Somerleigh organized the artwork; she told the CBC: My favorite/ Lloyd Alter/CC BY 2.0 "Our vision is making it much brighter and when the kids are there, the awe in their faces when they see the art versus what they've been seeing, which is just, it looks a little run down." Lloyd Alter/CC BY 2.0 Back and Lesperance had been raising money on a gofundme campaign, and the City of Toronto's StreetARToronto program kicked in money to pay artists and buy supplies. They "support vibrant street art programs in order to reduce graffiti vandalism, encourage active transportation and make laneways more inviting spaces." Lloyd Alter/CC BY 2.0 In October 2018, 18 artists moved in for the weekend and painted walls and garage doors that had previously been covered in graffiti. Halloween/ Lloyd Alter/CC BY 2.0 Feel Good Lane is unusual, having a park on one side which really opens it up. This made it perfect for the art project, given that there is a lot more light and a lot less garbage. It really is an inviting space now. It makes the park nicer, and there are more people walking in this lane than I have ever seen, so it clearly is doing its job on the active transportation side. Lloyd Alter/CC BY 2.0 It's extraordinary what a difference this makes, in the lanes and in the park. Some wonderful artwork, too. I was at a loss for words when I learned about it from Leonard, and still am. Lloyd Alter/CC BY 2.0