International Market

Posted: October 19, 2017 in construction, old buildings, stores, transportation, windows and walls
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International Market in this case refers to an area in Toronto, approximately around the intersection of Dufferin and Eglinton West.

street sins on a pole, a one way sign, plus two signs with street names, Belgravia Ave and Dufferin Street, both with orange tops that have the words International Market

There is definitely a diverse (as in multicultural) feel to the area

below: … such as Jamall, Carribean Custom Tailor

older building, with some green around the doors, sign says Jamall Carribean

below:  and the Lady Ann Superstore African Boutique with the adjacent Centro Cultural Latino American.

storefront, Lady Ann Superstore African Boutique with a mannequin, child size, on the sidewalk outside dressed in red African style clothes.

Because Eglinton Avenue runs through the area….

 

street scene on Eglinton Ave with bus shelter, utility pole, street signs, stores, and billboard

there is a lot of upheaval caused by construction of the Eglinton Crosstown line.

wire fence in front of a construction site, lots of dirt, street and buildings in the background.

below: Completion of the subway/LRT isn’t scheduled until 2021.  That seems like a long way off doesn’t it?

a surveyor at work, behind construction fence and cones and in front of stores, Chamsine, and Shantys take-out, which are two storey brick buildings

below: A subway station is being built at Oakwood Avenue.   Because the space is too small for a conventional crane like the ones you see all over the city, this green horizontal structure is being used instead.  It is supported by the metal beams and can slide along the top rail.

a large horizontal crane stretches over a vacant lot where a subway station is being built

below: Rendering of Oakwood station that I found on the Eglinton Crosstown website.

drawing of Oakwood Crosstown station, design plans, taken from Crosstown website.

below: Immediately south of Eglinton is a small lane, Reggae Lane.  Welcome to Reggae Lane was the second mural painted here.  You can see the original Reggae Lane mural in the background.  I blogged about it when it was first painted two years ago.

view looking down an alley, cars parked behind buildings, two murals, Welcome to Reggae Lane,

below: Some of the concrete planters on Eglinton have old black and white photos on the sides.  This was an Art Starts project.

a small tree grows in a concrete planter in front of a grocery store

below: The pictures are small and difficult to see but they are historical photos of the area – stores, people, parks, etc.

small, old black and white photos reproduced and mounted on the side of a concrete planter outside

below:  One of many restaurants on Eglinton, the Budapest Restaurant and Biguly Bar, obviously Hungarian.

a car parked in front a Hungarian restaurant, the Budapest

below: There is also Uzbek cuisine, the Taj Restaurant.   Uzbekistan is one of the “stans” found in central Asia (near Afghanistan) that gained independence from the former Soviet Union 25 years ago.

a blue food truck is parked in front of the Taj Restaurant, an Uzbek restaurant

below: A yellow phone booth?

a public phone, small yellow phone booth mounted on a blue brick wall

below: Faded memories of years gone by.

looking in the window of a store that sells photo frames and such, an old TV sits in the window too. The pictures are all faded to shades of blue and purple

below: The Popular Car Wash – a great price for a car wash.

an old sign for popular car wah, $5.99 in front of a gas station

I’ll leave you with a few more images of the area.  It’s seen better times but it was an interesting place to walk around.   There are signs of improvement – and we’ll see what impact the subway has once it’s finally finished.

street scene with construction cones and signs, some traffic, sidewalk, pedestrians, and stores,

a window of an empty store that is covered with posters

5 black mailboxes arranged vertically in a row between two doors.

three storey brick building with stores on the ground level, traffic in front,

open door of an electronics store, with some speakers and other electronics on display outside too

looking across Eglinton Avenue to some stores, construction traffic cones in front,

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