Raise the Hammer

"For a true campus feel and a healthy integration, take a stroll through the University of Toronto: majestic old buildings, a sense of history and place, and a seamless transition from the campus to the street. The Ryerson re-design, set to be published this March, would do well to emulate this design. As would McMaster."

The truth of the matter is that U of T is not integrated by design. In fact, when most of its central institutions were founded (e.g. UC, Vic, St. Mikes, etc.) the school was relatively sequestered from the city, and its setting was best described as "semi-rural" (per Marty Friedland's history). That being said, the existence (and expansion) of the university attracted a great deal of residential development in the early part of the 20th century, which itself eventually drew a great deal of commercial development, so much so that the university vicinity eventually became the commercial core of the city (i.e. Bloor Street and Yorkville). This was all in spite of the university's best efforts, which, being a somewhat elitist institution, has often made attempts to sequester itself from the city at large (note the university's erection over the last half-decade of numerous imposing "gateways" to the campus, a classic delineater of private-public boundary). That being said, non-university residents frequently use the college grounds as though they were public parks, and homeless people can often be found surreptitiously sleeping in its libraries. The university can't do much about this (although it would if it could) because of the institution's very central location.

Mac's situation vis-a-vis the city is very different and I doubt if there's the potential for its campus to be swallowed up by the city in the way U of T's has been. Mac's campus is virtually suburban in comparison.