locations | as I walk Toronto

Archive for the ‘locations’ Category

College to Elm

Posted: December 9, 2024 in construction, graffiti and street art, locations, public art, stores, windows and walls
Tags: Adrian Hayles, arch, Aura, buildings, College St., condos, construction, Elm St., History of Music on Yonge St., hoardings, Joseph Sheard parkette, lights, McGill St., mural, redevelopment, Steps Art, trees, Yonge St., Zanzibar tavern

…. A short distance but with a lot happening.

An early morning walk with a weak winter sun low in the sky. Tall buildings that cast shadows, or reflect light. Patterns of light and shadow.

below: Crossing Yonge from Carlton to College

below: North on Yonge. The facade above Shoppers remains. “….has design value and technological merit as a representative of the 1950s Toronto School of ‘Picturesque Modernism’ in its expressive use of concrete seen in the cantilevered canopy and decorative piercings of the concrete screen for the above-ground parking, in the ‘egg-crate’ elevations designed to reduce solar gain, and in the predominant white aesthetic of glazed white brick and concrete surfaces.” (form City of Toronto report on heritage inclusion)

below: Rising above Yonge and College

below: Looking north, up the canyon that Yonge has become. The very tall building that is obviously under construction in the distance is at Yonge and Bloor.

below: Empty, boarded up and waiting its turn. Southeast corner of College & Yonge. I have vague memories of a candy store on this corner although I think that there were a number of businesses that passed through here.

below: The east half of Yonge street in front of College Park is now a construction zone. An additional entrance on the east side of Yonge along with more elevator service between street and track levels, is being built for College subway station. Are there any streets in the downtown area that don’t have partial closures for construction?

below: Sunspots, reflected light on the side of College Park

below: More emptiness, more waiting.

below: Granby and McGill are two streets that run parallel to College but don’t actually meet Yonge Street, pedestrians only here

below: Looking back at Yonge Street from the same spot. When the area was pedestrianized back in the 1980s, the city purchased added the arch. The arch came from St. Andrews United Church at Bloor and Park Road (not on this site, moved here). The mural on the wall, right hand side …

… is The ‘History of Music on Yonge’ mural that covers two large walls on the same building. This is the south side of that building. It was painted by Adrian Hayles and features music legends who played in Toronto in the 1950s and 1960s.

On the north side of building, the mural shows Ronnie Hawkins, Glenn Gould, Dianne Brooks, Jackie Shane, Muddy Waters, Shirley Matthews, B.B. King, Gordon Lightfoot, and Oscar Peterson.

below: Behind Yonge street, between Granby and McGill (Joseph Sheard parkette)

below: Looking north up Yonge from Granby

below: Aura

below: People on a corner… To the woman in the brown coat – A penny for your thoughts (Does anyone use that expression anymore?)

below: The southeast corner of Yonge and Gerrard is still a construction site….

below: …. but now it is on its way up!

below: On the northeast corner, also Yonge and Gerrard is an older building that is still standing… for now. An almost obscene 76 storeys with 828 residences. No car parking; parking for 828 bikes only. May I recommend the elevator repair business as a career prospect for those who are looking for ideas? Also, we could have quite the discussion about bikes and bike lanes……

below: Looking south on Yonge from Elm

below: The Zanzibar Tavern glows in the morning light

below: Hoardings around the construction site on the northwest corner of Yonge and Elm

below: Orange! Even more construction on Yonge, this time the southwest corner of Yonge and Elm

below: No more pizzas here.

below: Looking west on Elm

below: A quick stop at the Cong Caphe. That’s an iced coconut coffee!!

searching for the end of the trail

Posted: December 5, 2024 in construction, history, locations, nature, transportation
Tags: autumn, bridge, condos, construction, Eglinton, Inn on the Park, leaves, Leslie St., LRT, redevelopment condos, Thorncliffe trestle, tracks, trails, Wilket Creek Park

… but finding many other things instead.

This is a follow-up to my last post about the Don Mills trail. Remember that I mentioned that it came to a dead end just north of Eglinton? I thought that surely someone somewhere in the city government would have looked into options re connecting the Don Mills trail to a street or another multi-use path. The dead end is just east of Leslie, so off I went to check it out (and I wasn’t going to walk all the way to a dead end just to turn around again) .

Hey look! There is a vacant lot at approximately where the trail ends.

Did I wander back there? Sadly not….. I didn’t have any lock cutters with me…. This was once a Sony Music building but it was demolished in 2016. There was no development notice sign at the site (9 acres).

below: This is the Sony Music (or CBS) building, built in 1959. They don’t make them like this any more – so spread out and only one storey high. Land must have been much cheaper back then!

older colour photo of sony music building on leslie street (demolished in 2016)

Photo credit: by Bob Krawczyk, found on ACO Toronto website (Architectural Conservancy Ontario)

When I was researching the Sony Music building online, I came across the Phoenix Centre. That’s the name of the planned private club being developed at the old Wrigleys site next door to the now vacant lot. If I had realized that when I was out walking, I would have taken more photos. As it is, this is the best I’ve got:

southwest corner of old Wrigleys building on Leslie street, now OTT, low rise modern building

This building, built 1962, was included in North York’s Modernist Architecture, first published in 1997. In addition, The former Wrigley property has cultural heritage value as it is historically associated with the 1950s planning and development of Don Mills by E. P. Taylor and Don Mills Developments Ltd. (if interested, more info at ACO website). The Phoenix Centre plan retains most of the office space architecture but completely remakes the factory space.

There is also talk of a bridge (pedestrian & bikes?) over the CPR tracks to the Crosstown developments. Makes sense to connect the Don Mills trail, Crosstown, and Leslie Street!

Part of the reason I didn’t take any photos of the old Wrigley building is that I had chose to walk south the day…. just south is a fire station as well as some condos.

And there is a well worn path that accesses the back of the properties.

This road doesn’t actually lead to those new condo towers. The CPR railway tracks are in the way. Those towers are part of the Crosstown development on the old IBM and Celestica property (access from both Eglinton & Don Mills)

The road didn’t lead to the end of the Don Mills trail either… but it did lead to the back of a parking garage. No dogs allowed and no trespassing. No luck here.

I got a better view of the neighbourhood though….

Black and white on a grey day.

As I walked back out the path, I noticed this sign. I took it to mean the property behind the blue fence, not the property the path is on… probably?

It stopped munching and stared at me, trying to decide to sit and watch or to run away…. it scampered away before I could get any closer (I don’t pretend to take good pictures of animals but it looked so cute, all puffed up to stay warm).

A very short walk farther south on Leslie brings us to the Inn on the Park site on the northeast corner of Leslie and Eglinton.

below: Inn on the Park as it once was (about 1969) I have ‘borrowed’ this photo from another website – Jamie Bradburn’s Tales of Toronto. Follow the link if you are interested in the story of the hotel – it’s an interesting read. Did you know that in 1962 North York had a ban on cocktail lounges?

below: The site today. It’s now a Toyota/Lexus dealership and home to a few new condos.

But there are more changes coming….. (surprised?)…. more glass and steel towers by the looks of it. The notice also states that parking is planned for 845 cars and 1860 bikes. Does Doug Ford approve?

below: A sad sight, Sunnybrook Park LRT station all ready to go but no trains running. One of the Toronto mysteries, when will the Eglinton LRT open?

Standing by the LRT tracks and looking south. Wilket Creek park and the Thorncliffe trestle railway bridge can be seen. I crossed the road because I had seen stairs down to the park….

A big new set of stairs!…. But. Not shown – the locked gate that blocked the entrance. There is still no entry to Wilket Creek/Sunnybrook Park from this side of Eglinton.

It’s getting to be crowded….

below: Crossing Eglinton and looking westward

New pedestrian and bike paths that provide access to the park from the north side of Eglinton have been built but they too are locked closed. It’s very frustrating to see this infrastructure built and then left unusable. The signs says construction danger but there doesn’t seem to be any construction happening…..

Just in case I have confused anyone, here is a map of the area that Google maps created. Near the top left it even says Don Valley Bike Trailhead… which is very wrong. No trailhead here of any kind as we’ve just learned. Also it was the Don Mills trail not the Don Valley trail (the latter is somewhere else!)

New benches! Wilket Creek Park is one section of the string of parks that parallel the branches of the Don River in Toronto’s ravine system. I’ll leave you with a few pictures that I took the other day while I was in the area…

more streets and trails….

Posted: December 2, 2024 in history, locations, nature
Tags: Bond Park, churches, CNR, Don Mills Trail, graffiti, housing, industrial, path, railway, residential, Scarsdale Road

A circular walk to explore the Don Mills trail south of York Mills Road… but how to get there…. We decided to start by walking south on Scarsdale Road to Bond Avenue.

Scarsdale is a nondescript street in North York with a few churches, private schools, some light industry, offices, and all in all, a lot of lowrise late 20th century architecture.

below: Don Mills Baptist Church looking very un-church like.

below: Unmarked

below: Once at Bond, the buildings are mostly residential.

below: There is a walk-through to the neighbourhood behind

below: The old railway bridge over Bond is now part of the Don Mills Trail. Originally it took 6 years to build (1912 to 1918) the bridge – using six 2-foot-thick beams that span the 15-foot-wide opening, spaced to handle the weight of locomotives and heavily loaded railway cars.

below: Also under the bridge is an entrance to Bond Park.

below: Another entrance to Bond Park, this time from the trail via a hole in the fence.

below: “Responsible alcohol consumption is allowed in this park”….rules and responsibilities are then listed along with health information about alcohol.

below: A few remnants of its former life. Once upon a time this multi use path was a spur line for the CNR, the Leaside Spur. One of its functions was to connect the CNR main line (now also used by GO to Oriole station and beyond) to the CPR line near Eglinton. The CPR tracks are those that cross Eglinton just east of Leslie and then cross the Thorncliffe trestle bridge over Wilket Creek Park. The path ends just before the CPR tracks – there is no connection any more.

below: Abandoned and rusting. CNR stopped using this spur line in 1999. The city bought the property ten years later.

below: Crab apples and dead leaves litter the path

below: Storage in bins and barrels, on the other side of the fence.

below: Left behind

below: The north end of the Don Mills Trail runs beside the live CNR line. Not much of a view is it? No trains passed by. Very quiet.

below: Many, many large satelite dishes (and many small ones too). I was feeling like a spy as I tried to take pictures through the fence… but I didn’t see any surveillance cameras…

below: Approaching York Mills Road

below: The north end of the trail runs beside the bridge York Mills over the railway tracks (on the right in this picture). From here there is an access road to Scarsdale on the south side of York Mills, or an exit through to Longos Plaza on the north side.

below: Have a seat!

below: Rogers has a large property on the east side of the CNR tracks and has access to this area.

With thanks to my mother for walking with me – she didn’t hesitate to climb through holes in the fence! She also doesn’t like this picture, but it’s the better of the two that I took that morning!

Bonus section! Just in case you are interested in what’s on Scarsdale Road….

below: Colonel C.O. Dalton CSO and Colonel H.E. Dalton CSO Armoury

below: Greek Orthodox Education in Ontario – Metamorphosis Greek Orthodox School.

below: Korean Presbyterian Church

above the railway tracks, at CIBC Square

Posted: November 18, 2024 in construction, locations, public art
Tags: CIBC, construction, downtown, park, poppies, railway, Roxy Paine, Royal York hotel, Scotiabank Arena, Steve Driscoll, tracks, Union station

There are so many new buildings in Toronto! One of them is the new CIBC building at 81 Bay Street which is immediately south of the railway tracks and across the street from Union Station. It is also adjacent to the new GO Bus station.

below: If you take the elevator to the 4th floor of the new CIBC building, you can access the new park. This is the view that greets you. The park extends over the railway tracks – a great use of space!

below:Looking east from the park (on a foggy morning, and with a spot of dirt on the glass fence). The trees on the right mark the spot where a strip of land separates the railway tracks from the Gardiner Expressway/Lakeshore combination. Between Yonge and Parliament there are no buildings adjacent to the tracks on the south side. That tall splotchy looking building is the Sugar Wharf Condos which, as the name suggests, are close to the Redpath Sugar property.

below: Looking north across the roof over the railway tracks. The gold building is another bank building, RBC (Royal Bank of Canada). On the right, the building that looks like there are diamond shapes in the glass, is a second CIBC tower but on the north side of the railway tracks.

below: Construction continues on the north side. It too will have a park that extends over the tracks. The two parks should merge into one once construction is completed.

below: Westward

below: In the center of the park is a large shiny metal leafless tree. This is “New Amalgam” by Roxy Paine (2022). It is 72 feet high.

below: Looking over the covered tracks at Union Station and all the ventilation system components on the roof.

below: A closer look at the nearby construction at track level (and lower).

There are also stairs on the exterior of the CIBC building that lead to the elevated park.

below: Looking south on Bay Street where Scotiabank arena takes up most of the street scene. That’s the Gardiner Expressway as it crosses Bay.

below: Through the window to the interior of CIBC where Steve Driscoll’s artwork shines brightly.

below: “A light stolen from the sun” is a collection of 12 digital prints on laminated glass. they can also be viewed from the 4th floor but access is controlled. Also, camera use will get you a nice chat with a security guy. The usual, phones are allowed but even little cameras are a no no.

below: An outpouring of red poppies is the stunning centerpiece in this Remembrance Day tribute (created by Fresh Floral Creations).

With thanks to Nancy and Merle who went exploring with me that day.

walking River Street, mostly

Posted: August 20, 2024 in alleys, construction, graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: Adam Beck Box factory, Bevy coffee shop, Broadview, CN Tower, Cornwall St., DVP, graffiti, Joseph Lammirato, mural, Nigel Smith, Queen City Vinegar Co., railway tracks, redevelopment, Regent Park, River St., River Variety, Toronto Humane Society, uber5000

The general plan was to walk River Street. River Street runs parallel to the Don River (makes sense!) on the west side with the north end of the street just above of Gerrard. Transit on River Street is limited (is there any?) so I started the walk at Broadview and Gerrard, just to the east of River Street.

below: At the corner of Broadview and Gerrard is the Roman Coliseum mural that was painted in 2016 as part of ‘Around the World in East Chinatown’. It was one of seven murals and all of them were featured in a blog post back when they were new (seven new murals, August 2016)

below: Chinatown East mural by ACK crew, bacon, wunder, tensoe 2, and cruz1, on Gerrard east of Broadview. Chinatown East is generally Gerrard east of Broadview, but we’re going to walk west today and leave Chinatown for another day.

below: A long vacant lot on Gerrard.

below: Munro Street, south of Gerrard

below: On the north side is the site of the old Don Jail and its Governor’s House.

many yellow flowers in the garden in front of the Governor's House, with plaque in the garden

Governor’s House,1888, From 1888 until 1968, this was the residence of the Don Jail’s governor (chief administrator). Until this house was finished, the governor lived in an apartment in the central administration block of the jail. Designed by architect Mancel Wilmot, this house features a shallow pitched roof with a front-facing gable and double-height bay window that are typical of Toronto’s late 19th century residential architecture.

below: Bridgepoint and the old Don Jail with the red brick steeple of St. Johns Presbyterian church on Broadview in the distance. Bridgepoint Health Hospital was built on the site of the old Riverdale Hospital which in turn replaced an older building. The original House of Refuge was built in 1860. The Don Jail has been repurposed as part of the hospital complex.

below: Looking north from the bridge at Gerrard towards the green pedestrian bridge that connects the two sections of Riverdale Park. Beyond that is the Bloor Viaduct.

below: Northwest view

below: View from the Gerrard St Bridge (over the Don River and DVP). Looking southwest. The tall brown buildings are at River Street.

below: Miniature racer, art on a pole by Joseph Lammirato.

… and another! You’ll find lots more on his Instagram page (@joseph.lammirato)

below: Flower Power happiness

below: The north end of River Street (north of Gerrard)is showing signs that redevelopment is in the works.

below: If you are driving north on River Street, chances are you are headed down the hill to the Bayview Extension. The alternative route is a small street that swings left and joins up with Spruce Street.

below: It also leads to access to Riverdale Park. – there’s that green pedestrian bridge again. From here you can see Broadview Avenue on the other side of the ravine.

below: Back to River Street, and let’s head south.

below: St. Sava, Serbian Orthodox Church.

below: Walking past some of the older Regent Park brick buildings that still remain. The intersection of Gerrard and River streets marks the northeast corner of the original 1940s and 1950s Regent Park development.

About 20 years ago, redevelopment of the area began. The work was divided into five phases. Phases 1 and 2 have been completed while the third phase is either close to completion or has just been finished. There is a lot of information online so you should be able to find many more details if you want. I didn’t feel like going down that rabbit hole!

below: I was surprised at how much variety there was in the housing that I saw.

below: Queen City Vinegar Co. Ltd. factory built in 1908 and converted into lofts (residential) in 2008.

below: Stalled development (Dare I say arrested development?) According to the development notice sign, the original file dates from 2017. Even by Toronto standards that is slow!

below: Behind the red hoardings is just a vacant lot. Nothing seems to be happening here. When I said arrested I was not implying anything criminal…..

below: Of course the CN Tower can be seen here too! This is the view along Shuter Street.

below: Dundas, looking west towards River Street with tables in front of Bevy Coffee. The slightly darker brick building was the Adam Beck Box Factory where cigar boxes were once made. Like the Queen Vinegar Company mentioned above, this building has been converted into lofts (Tannery Lofts, mis-named as this wasn’t a tannery! But it does sound sexier than Box Lofts!).

below: Similar location, but from the parking lot and alley behind – brick building is the Tannery Lofts

below: 1930s view of Beck’s cigar box factory

below: Monsters ready to box

below: River Variety is no more.

below: No more gyros or poutine here.

below: At Mark Street, more old and new

below: Every child matters

below: West side of River Street, at Queen

below: Old photo from 1914, working on the Queen Street bridge over the Don River, looking westward towards River Street. The light coloured bank building is still on the southwest corner (see above photo). The red brick structure on the northwest corner is also still standing, although an additional storey has been added to it.

old black and white photo of men working on the queen street bridge over the don river

photo credit: City of Toronto Archives

below: Looking north on River Street from King. South from here River becomes Lower River.

below: Part of the mural on the side of Toronto Humane Society (Queen & River) painted by Uber5000

below: Parked in the bike lane.

Note: River Street is serviced by TTC bus route 121 that runs between Gerrard (just west of Broadview), then down River to Queen before heading west to the Esplanade and Union Station.

a short walk up Church Street

Posted: July 18, 2024 in construction, graffiti and street art, locations, old buildings, stores
Tags: Church St., churches, Gilda Radner Way, Lombard St., Metropolitan United, mural, Paint Your Faith, pawnbrokers, Piliriqatigiingniq, redevelopment, St. Michaels, stores, streetcars, TTC

Northbound, starting at King… where this large mural still shines. Piliriqatigiingniq was painted in 2015 (see link for more info)

below: A yellow parking lot attendant booth, a throwback to an older, less digital age. Back before machines and parking apps on your phone changed our lives.

below: Looking west on Court Street through to Toronto and Victoria Streets (and beyond). A wide range of sizes and styles all mixed up together.

below: The omnipresent condo construction and ubiquitous summer roadworks can be found here too!

below: Lots of glass on the northeast corner of Church & Lombard – This section of Lombard is also Gilda Radner Way.

below: The view on Lombard, looking east from Church. Lots of midrise buildings.

below: Crossing Lombard. Looking north up Church Street

below: Church & Richmond, northeast corner.

below: Church & Richmond again but from a different angle, south side of Richmond with McVeighs Tavern on the southwest corner.

below: Flags flying over the entrance to McVeighs (“since 1962”) – a little bit of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland & Labrador.

below: West on Richmond.

below: A stretch of Church Street was known for its pawn shops and many still remain. Here we have Simon’s Pawnbrokers as well as two “exchanges”, Five Star Exchange and Toronto Exchange.

below: Balconies old and new.

below: Can you tell where this picture was taken? A little bit of Toronto love on a mailbox on the corner of Church and ???

below: Peeking over the mail box above is the yellow of the old Shwarma King on the northeast corner of Queen and Church. It is now being demolished.

below: The side of Metropolitan United Church.

below: The north end of Metropolitan United with St. Michaels Hospital behind it (just south of Shuter).

below: More of the mural as well as St. Michaels Cathedral on the other side of Shuter Street. The mural is “Paint Your Faith” by Elicser, Chor Boogie, Mediah and Siloette

below: St. Michaels RC Church in the foreground, looking north along Church St.

below: Many more facades that have been preserved during redevelopment.

below: 205 Church Street with its green awning; Its neighbour may be feeling the squeeze, just south of Dundas.

below: Looking east on Dundas

below: Northeast corner of Church and Dundas.

below: Westward along Dundas towards the Bond Place Hotel and its tall blue mural celebrating health care workers and their dedication during the COVID pandemic (and since?)

below: mmm

Proudly Parkdale

Posted: July 11, 2024 in abstract, construction, graffiti and street art, locations, old buildings, stores, windows and walls
Tags: alleys, Canadian flag, Chief Ladybird, Elicser Elliott, emily may rose, hello kirsten, Hope community garden, houses, lanes, Monica on the moon, muisca, murals, Queen St. West, Rocky Zenyk, store windows, stores, TTC, TTC streetcar, windows

… a little bit of Queen Street West

below: These late-19th and early 20th century commercial buildings along Queen Street West with their display windows are part of the Parkdale Village Heritage District. The 2022 draft plan for this district describes this row as Edwardian Classicism style. The plan is more than 160 pages long but in case you are interested in the history (and politics?) of it, here’s the link: Parkdale HDC plan (a pdf )

below: South side of Queen West, looking west from Jameson

below: A broom for $8.99. $7.99 will buy you a pair of crocs or six tall glasses. Chili sauce, lights shaped like lotus flowers or Buddha, wicker baskets, espresso makers, mixing bowls, and frying pans also available!

below: Lightning alert! It’s a potato, no, it’s a cloud! Or maybe a lightning bug! Small metal street art by Rocky Zenyk

below: Where the aliens hang out on a hot July day!

below: Scaffolding in front of the church – Epiphany and St. Mark Anglican church. The octagonal belfry is being repaired and restored with the help of a 2024 Toronto Heritage Grant. It is considered to be Gothic Revival style. The cornerstone laid October 1880 and the first service in the church was held in January 1881. The gateway was added much later.

below: Hope over the entrance to the community garden at Masaryk Park

below: Arty metal panels line the south wall of Masaryk-Cowan community center. Bonar-Parkdale Presbyterian Church is in the background.

below: Notice for redevelopment of Parkdale Library and Masaryk-Cowan community centre site.

below: Queen Fresh Market

below: A unique building topper – North side of Queen, at Dunn.

below: $25,000 winning ticket sold here! Hopes and aspirations… and Canada Dry.

below: More details on brick buildings on Queen West.

below: Standing alone

below: Tiny Cafe

below: Murals and street art in an alley. Butterflies and monochrome daisies

below: Emily May Rose mural in an alley – women, we come in many shapes and sizes.

below: Hello Kirsten on the far left

below: A mural painted by Chief Ladybird. Mother and child finding peace in the city.

below: Face in the alley

below: And more faces, Picasso like faces and body parts.

below: Muisca

below: Elicser – so many faces merging into one.

below: Monica on the moon – “Over the mountains; Under the stars”

below: A few reminders of Parkdale’s grander past on the quieter side streets – lots of old trees and some houses that remain as they once were.

below: A little bit of religion and a little bit of social justice at the end.

Uptown Yonge as the sun goes down

Posted: June 27, 2024 in construction, locations, old buildings, people, stores
Tags: buildings, concrete, construction, Eglinton, LRT, stores, Yonge

Were you an Edmonton Oilers fan? Did you jump on that bandwagon? On the night of the 7th game of the Stanley Cup playoffs were you glued to the TV? Or are you wondering what I’m talking about?!

I usually watch hockey games now and again, especially during the playoffs but I found that watching the Edmonton-Florida series was just too stressful. Instead, these long June evenings are great for walking! A little bit of Yonge Street, Uptown Yonge, was my stomping grounds the evening of the last game.

A few scenes from Yonge between Eglinton and Sherwood, in no particular order…

below: Old and new. I like the way the evening light catches the architectural details along the rooflines.

below: Playing peek-a-boo. The new pushes from behind.

below: Seating!

below: Northwest corner of Yonge and Eglinton, Yonge- Eglinton Centre with its updated glass facade.

When the Yonge Eglinton Centre was built in 1968, Eglinton was the last station on the TTC subway line. The Y-E Centre was a large development, and was the tallest building in the neighbourhood. There was a shopping centre, a cinema, an office tower, two tall residential towers, most of which still remain. Eglinton is no longer a gateway to suburbia; it is Midtown. The Y-E Centre is just another tall building in a sea of them.

below: The new entrance to the Eglinton LRT (unopened of course) with the Canadian Tire headquarters behind. Southwest corner of Yonge and Eglinton.

Lament for the Eglinton LRT. Metal fences and torn cloth. In tatters and disarray. Still not opened.

Maybe one day I will be able to walk somewhere in this city and not run into another hole in the ground. Note the usual – facades being saved, single houses that stubbornly remain.

Bus stop all tied up in knots.

below: With some paparazzi stalker vibes I’m afraid.

… Back home in time for most of the third period…. Sad to see Edmonton lose, but why is there hockey this late in June?

booming Bessarion

Posted: June 23, 2024 in construction, locations, public art
Tags: apartments, condos, construction, Demakersvan, development, Ethennonnhawahstihnen, Inges Idee, Jax, Joep and Jeroen Verhoeven, Leaping Lamp, park, Pierre Poussin, subway, TTC

Bessarion subway station has always had the reputation of being one of the least used stations in Toronto. I haven’t seen any recent numbers, but I suspect that a lot more people are now using the station. There are a lot of development changes happening in the area so the numbers will only increase in the future.

below: South entrance to Bessarion station

below: A Stop sign sits in the middle of one of the entrances to the new development on Sheppard Ave East beside Bessarion subway station. If you follow the left fork in the road, you will end up in the parking lot of the Canadian Tire store. This store is all that is left from the original 50 acre site that was home to a Canadian Tire warehouse and distribution centre. In 2000 Canadian Tire filed a plan to re-develop the whole site, including a new head office tower for the company. Although the plan was approved, it never came to be. Instead, most of the land was sold to Concord who is now in the process of redeveloping it.

below: Concord has filled this community with a lot of public art including these colourful creations, “Jax” (2021) by Pierre Poussin

below: A few maple leaves forming a canopy – “Maple Leaf Trellis” by Demakersvan (aka brothers Joep and Jeroen Verhoeven)

below: Leaping Lamp by Inges Idee (a German artist collective)

below: There is also a rabbit (title: “Rabbit”), another artwork by Inges Idee. It’s made to look like a folded ribbon of highway; it sits next to the 401 highway.

below: Birds hanging out together between Bessarion station and the new community centre. They won’t be flying anywhere any time soon!

below: A small bird, a continuation of the tree full of birds, sits outside Ethennonnhawahstihnen’ Community Centre (it’s pronounced Etta-nonna wasti-nuh and it means ‘where they had a good, beautiful life”)

below: Real trees ready to plant.

below: A line of towers with row houses on the lower level marks the south side. The 401 highway is behind. A new park, also Ethennonnhawahstihnen’, lies in front of the new residences.

below: Water feature in the summer, outdoor skating rink in the winter

below: The view from the southeast corner of the property – the back of IKEA and the 401!

below: At least there have been a lot of trees planted back here and some thought has been put into using the landscaping to mitigate the noise from the 401. But the fact that thousands of cars and trucks pass her every day can never be downplayed. I hope that the units are well sound proofed. Having stood on balconies on other buildings that overlook a major road, I can imagine how noisy it is here too.

below: Looking southeast from Burbank

below: South side of Sheppard

below: The north side of Sheppard Ave looks like this – a row of lowrise apartment buildings from the 1960s or 1970s.

below: There are 2 major redevelopments proposed along here, 680-688 Sheppard and 690-720 Sheppard. Both involve condo towers.

Just west of Bessarion station is Greenbriar Road. There was a small community of single family homes, duplexes, and small apartment buildings back here. Almost all of it is gone or on the way out

below: A single, lonely, holdout surrounded by newer residences.

below: No sign?!

below: Southeast corner of Sheppard and Greenbriar (12 storeys, 145 residences)

below: There is a development notice sign on the front yard of 25 Greenbriar (23, 25, 27 and 29 to be replaced with 10 storeys, 169 residences).

below: A little farther south on Greenbriar the fences are already up (22-36 Greenbriar, 24 storeys, 351 residences).

Extra note: The northeast corner of the old Canadian Tire acreage, at 1181 Sheppard Ave East, remains undeveloped. It is the last piece once owned by Canadian Tire. It is adjacent to the Metrolinx rail corridor, about 100 m from the new Oriole GO station. [ed note: Prime real estate by the sound of it!]. Two towers will probably get built here, once the heights are finalized.

Sunny times

Posted: June 19, 2024 in general Toronto, locations
Tags: bottles, candy, chips, fish, food, grocery store, jars, meat, multi ethnic, multicultural, rice, sauces, shopping, snacks, soya sauce, store, vinegars

And now for something completely different.. something very yummy!

I stopped at Sunny Foodmart on Gateway Blvd because I needed something quick for lunch after a walk. I was amazed at what I saw. I have been in Asian grocery stores before but this was so much more.

below: Obviously she is over-dressed for the hot weather that we’ve had this week! Photos are from a couple of weeks ago 😄

below: Pani Puri originally from India or Pakistan, sort of like samosas but round. Fried dough balls stuffed with good things.

below: Quite a selection! Wasabi, soy sauces, teriyaki sauces, sukiyaki sauces, rice vinegar, oyster sauce, and many labels that I can’t read.

below: More bottles, more sauces. Sesame oil, apple cider vinegar, and cooking wine too.

below: Filipino spaghetti sauce – I had no idea that that was a thing! And the packaging is bilingual English/French!

below: Chaat is another new word for me. It’s another food that originated in India and has spread as street food in many south Asian countries. In the freezer below you’ll find sausages, fish balls, Chicharon Bulaklak (pork ruffle fat), smoked herring, and dried danggit (a type of fish from the Philippines, also called rabbitfish or spinefoot fish). In case you’re wondering what ruffle fat is, it’s not actually fat… Chicharon Bulaklak is made with the mesentery (or the connective tissue that joins the internal organs together). It’s salty and crunchy apparently. No, I haven’t tried it!

below: Bags of dried hawthorn, dried orange peel, dried lily bulbs, and longan berries, along with white pepper, cardamom, and aniseed. One of bags is labelled as amomum tsao-ko which is also known as black cardamom.

below: Freezers full of goodies – corn on the cob, scallion flower rolls, assorted dumplings, and golden saba bananas (short stubby bananas from the Philippines).

below: More frozen food – udon noodles, lamb rolls, lobster rolls, and bean curd. Boxes of coconut milk are stacked on the other side of the aisle.

below: That’s a lot of hoisin sauce!

below: Floor to ceiling jars, bottles, and cans including cans of green jackfruit still in the box.

below: Pork pieces, feet and hocks

below: Colourful veggie jars. Red peppers, sliced pickled jalapeno peppers, pickled wild cucumbers, white asparagus, peas, pickled white cabbage, and roasted eggplant.

below: There were a couple of aisles of bags of rice stacked in piles on the floor. Thai jasmine rice is pictured here.

below: Marjan rice from the foothills of the Himalayas (Pakistan) as well as Basmati rice.

below: No grocery store would be complete without a candy section – orange, mango, peppermint and ginger chewy candies. Lollipops. Ricola in the original herbal formula. And don’t miss the Super Lemon or Super Cola candies!

below: Pizza snacks (very Asian!) and shrimp chips. Honey butter chips and sweet potato snacks. On the bottom shelf, want want crackers – part sweet and part salty and totally yummy!

My apologies. All photos were taken with my phone so the quality may be questionable especially after reducing the resolution a little before uploading them. I hope that you still enjoyed the tour!

as I walk Toronto

Recently added

Previous posts

Categories

recent flickr photos

facebook

Instagram

Meta