Some neighbourhoods don’t just exist, they glow. They pulse with the kind of everyday magic that comes from people who genuinely care about one another. When I learned about Harbord Village by sitting down with Tim Grant—the longtime community leader who spent seven years as chair of the Harbord Village Residents’ Association (HVRA) and today leads its Net Zero Neighbourhoods Committee, HVRA Chair Wolfgang Moeder, and Harbord Village Gardeners member Amy Furness—I knew I was stepping into something special.
Harbord Village looks small on a map. But what Tim, Wolfgang, and Amy shared with me reveals a community whose impact far exceeds its size: a place where sustainability is not just a goal—it’s a way of life, lovingly built tree by tree, lane by lane, neighbour by neighbour.
And this is their story.
A Neighbourhood Forged Through Resistance and Rebirth
When I asked Tim how HVRA began, he brought me back to the late 1960s and 70s—the era of the proposed Spadina Expressway. It was the defining local struggle that awakened a sense of collective identity in what was then a “fairly poor neighbourhood of rundown houses.”
Residents banded together to protect their community, and from that spirit of resistance eventually came the Sussex Ulster Residents’ Association. As neighbourhood challenges evolved, so did the organization: after a series of devastating fires and a growing desire for a stronger identity, the group re-formed as the Harbord Village Residents’ Association.
Tim joked that he was “voluntold” to join the board—it wasn’t exactly voluntary in the traditional sense—but it quickly became his favourite volunteer commitment because of how deeply people cared.
HVRA wasn’t just about fixing sidewalks or advocating for the odd street improvement. The new vision was bolder: become a model for the entire city. If Harbord Village could pilot innovative greening projects, then other neighbourhoods could replicate them. And, remarkably, that is precisely what happened.
Harbord Village today includes 1,600 houses, 900 apartment and condo units, and a mix of residents that could only exist in the heart of Toronto. There are professors and students from the University of Toronto’s St. George campus, older Italian and Portuguese immigrants, long-time homeowners, renters facing housing insecurity, and families buying multimillion-dollar homes.
Tim emphasized that despite its density and noise—“you have to put up with a lot… you wouldn’t have to in less crowded circumstances”—the upside is enormous: people care about community. And when you ask for help, they show up.
Not for endless committee meetings—Tim laughs that “nobody signs up for that”—but for small, meaningful tasks: three hours on a Saturday, an evening stewarding a street planter, volunteering at the Fall Fair or Pumpkin Festival.
The neighbourhood’s heart beats because hundreds of tiny acts of generosity fuel it.
The Tree Inventory: A Landmark Project That Changed the City
When HVRA talks about climate action, they don’t talk theory—they talk trees.
One of the neighbourhood’s proudest accomplishments was its groundbreaking Tree Inventory, the first of its kind in Toronto.
Tim described how HVRA hired University of Toronto forestry grad students to train 40 volunteers. The volunteers spent two summers analyzing 5,000 trees, using a scientific protocol that recorded 70 characteristics per tree. It was meticulous work—cumbersome, even—but transformative.
Ten years later, HVRA commissioned a second inventory, making them the first neighbourhood in the city to measure canopy changes over time. The results were mixed:
- Bad news: “We were continuing to lose canopy,” Tim said, as aging trees reached the end of their life cycle.
- Good news: Species diversity increased thanks to plantings of Carolinian species not seen in the area since the early 1800s.
The study sparked citywide attention. When a passionate neighbour brought a city official to walk the streets, they identified 75 new tree planting sites—and planted them without even requiring homeowner permission. Almost nobody complained. “It was a really interesting way to get things going,” Tim told me.
Yet the challenge continues. Laneway housing threatens backyard trees, and canopy loss remains a pressure point. “It’s a tough, tough trade-off,” Wolfgang admitted.
Still, what Harbord Village accomplished—data collection, community mobilization, and city collaboration—set a precedent that other Toronto neighbourhoods have since followed.
A Green Plan That Changed How the City Designs Streets
After the Tree Inventory, HVRA created Toronto’s first neighbourhood Green Plan—another pioneering achievement.
What made this extraordinary was that HVRA’s councillor brought the plan to City Council for formal approval. Once adopted, it became a binding reference tool for every city department. If the city wanted to repave a laneway, for example, they couldn’t simply lay asphalt. They had to check the Green Plan, which often required features like permeable pavers to support stormwater management and long-term sustainability.
Tim beamed when he told me, “Several other neighbourhoods now have done a green plan with the same objectives.” Harbord Village wasn’t just improving its own streets—it was shifting the municipal standard.
Reinventing the Streets: From Concrete Barriers to Lush Planters
Amy’s pride was palpable when she described the In-Street Planters—a project born from the Green Plan and a stroke of community brilliance.
The neighbourhood’s many opposite-direction one-way streets used to rely on clunky concrete boxes to stop cars from speeding the wrong way. But the boxes were ugly, roots couldn’t grow, and the trees inside them died within a year.
So, HVRA convinced the city to replace them with beautifully designed in-street planters. These weren’t just decorative:
- They allowed deep roots because pavement beneath was cut away.
- They captured rainwater.
- They formed natural visual barriers far more effective than concrete.
- They slowed dangerous traffic patterns at T-junctions.
- And they created biodiversity hotspots stewarded by volunteers.
From four or five initial planters, the neighbourhood now has around 15, each lovingly maintained by residents—tenants and homeowners alike. Harbord Street’s recent repaving brought even more planters, tended by volunteers recruited by GreenForceTO.
Walking through the neighbourhood feels like stepping into a living, breathing community garden.
Laneways, Festivals, and Monthly Dinners: Building Joy Into Urban Life
Community building isn’t always glamorous—it’s often plants in barrels.
Tim described laneways lined with garages where neighbours placed garden barrels, creating welcoming spaces that feel safer and more vibrant because people want to walk through them.
Still, some traditions are pure celebration:
- The Pumpkin Festival
- The Fall Fair—held annually on the second Sunday after Labour Day, packed with music, food, and joy
- Monthly community dinners for residents—especially singles—to meet neighbours while supporting local restaurants on quieter weeknights
HVRA understands that climate action and community joy are not separate—they are intertwined.
The Net Zero Neighbourhoods Project: Bringing 53 Communities Together
Tim now leads HVRA’s Net Zero Neighbourhoods Project, one of the Association’s largest and most ambitious committees.
Here’s what they do:
- Work with 53 communities across the city
- Negotiate discounts for homeowners on climate-friendly upgrades like heat pumps and electrification
- Host webinars
- Share discount opportunities far beyond their neighbourhood
- Promote government subsidies (even as many have unfortunately ended)
This isn’t a neighbourhood keeping good ideas to itself. It’s a neighbourhood leading a citywide movement—one retrofit, one conversation, one “heat pump party” at a time.
Environmental Action: Why the Details Matter
When I asked Tim what environmental action means for Harbord Village, his answer was clear: “tackling car traffic, air pollution… the loss of tree canopy,” alongside indoor health issues from gas appliances. Replacing gas furnaces with heat pumps, switching from gas stoves to induction, improving air quality indoors and out—this is action with immediate, lived impact.
HVRA is also a backbone member of citywide residents’ associations like FoNTRA and FoSTRA, contributing to proposals that strengthen Toronto’s tree canopy, improve green space, and call for better funding for Urban Forestry.
And then there’s their recent investigative effort: exposing the over-pruning practices of private contractors hired by the city. Independent arborists helped HVRA show how excessive cutting damaged and even killed trees prematurely. Their advocacy helped push the city toward using more in-house crews trained in international best practices. One badly pruned tree “would still be there another 20 to 30 years” had it not been harmed.
This is what I love about Harbord Village: they notice the tiny things that turn into big things. They act on them. And the whole city benefits.
A Partnership With GNN Toronto That Keeps Growing
When I asked how the Green Neighbours Network of Toronto (GNN) community could support HVRA, Tim surprised me: GNN already has.
From the EcoFair (where HVRA’s Net Zero Committee connects with residents citywide) to cross-promotion in newsletters, GNN has been part of HVRA’s momentum. Their next heat pump party? Tim had a list of groups to notify, and GNN was at the top.
This mutual support shows exactly how neighbourhoods scale impact: by linking arms.
The Heart of the Message: Be Involved in Your Neighbourhood
Before we wrapped up, I asked Tim what essential message HVRA wants newcomers or long-timers to hear.
“Be involved in your neighbourhood,” he said. It’s simple, but the way he said it—the years of experience behind it—made it feel profound.
People move often. Cities change constantly. But connection? That’s what builds a vibrant, resilient, joyful place to live.
Harbord Village is living proof.
If You Live in Toronto, Harbord Village Has a Lesson for You
This tiny neighbourhood has:
- Mapped every tree
- Created the city’s first Green Plan
- Redesigned streets with in-ground planters
- Beautified laneways
- Planted 75 new trees in a burst of coordinated advocacy
- Worked with 53 communities on Net-Zero initiatives
- And kept its heart open through fairs, festivals, dinners, and neighbourly care
It’s a reminder that climate leadership doesn’t only come from government or big institutions. Sometimes it starts with a handful of volunteers walking a block with a clipboard, a shovel, or a bag of soil.
And sometimes, the smallest communities teach the biggest lessons.
Ready to Experience the Power of a Connected Community? Join Harbord Village in Leading the Way.
In the eyes of the current chair, Wolfgang Moeder, Harbord Village shows what’s possible when neighbours refuse to settle for the status quo — and you can be part of that story too. Climate action, tree planting, laneway beautification, heat pump parties, NetZero workshops… none of it happens without people who care enough to show up, and even small things can make a difference for the neighbourhood and sometimes can gain unexpected momentum.
So here’s your invitation:
Step into the movement. Plant something. Volunteer for a planter. Join a workshop. Come to the Fall Fair. Cheer at the Pumpkin Festival. Help shape the next Green Plan. Or simply knock on a neighbour’s door and say, “How can I help?”
This is your moment to plug into a community that is rewriting what a neighbourhood can be.
✨ Visit the Harbord Village Residents’ Association and discover how you can get involved.
✨ Stay connected with the Green Neighbours Network and join a citywide community of changemakers.
Don’t wait for change — be the neighbour who starts it.
But if there’s one thing I believe in above all, it’s this: No one achieves greatness alone. Trust and collaboration are the foundation of true progress. “History is not made by individuals, but by individuals connected into groups” - Will Storr.
I love immersing myself in the histories of countries, discoveries, and theories. I find everlasting joy in getting to the root of things and understanding them deeply. A great book, meal, dessert, conversation, and company go a long way with me.
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- Inside Harbord Village: How a Tiny Toronto Neighbourhood Became a Giant in Community Climate Action - December 8, 2025
