At its essence, retrofitting suburbs is about transforming strip malls, sprawling subdivisions, big-box stores, and all the other spaces that Ellen Dunham-Jones calls “prototypical suburban property types” into more livable and sustainable places.“[The suburbs] were wonderful places when they were being built, and they helped a lot of generations of families achieve terrific quality of life,” Dunham-Jones told ULI members gathered for the inaugural ULI Toronto Emerging Trends and City Building Fall Symposium, held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.