Posts Tagged ‘infill housing’

to Bloor and west on Bathurst

Posted: May 18, 2024 in construction, intersections, locations
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below: Medallion embedded in the sidewalk outside Bathurst subway station entrance showing the way –   South to Bloor and west to Bathurst is first on list for today. … Or maybe round and round in circles?

brass circular medallion embedded in the sidewalk in front of Bathurst subway station, four points of the compass with labels, E to subway, S to Bloor, W to Bathurst and N to Dupont

below:  Looking south on Bathurst towards Bloor.  The southwest corner of Bloor and Bathurst is now a solid block of condos.

looking south on Bathurst towards Bloor, west side of the street

below: Same collection of buildings but from a slightly different angle.  Giant concrete pillars in front of ground level glass wall.  Argh.  Unoriginal Toronto architecture.

southwest corner of Bloor and Bathurst, tall glass and steel condo buildings

below:  Working at heights.  It looks like road access from Bathurst towards Markham Street. More concrete pillars!

below:  Alternative Thinking and its neighbour directly to the south remained the holdouts and are now completely surrounded by new development.

two older structures now surrounded by new condo buildings, older ones were three storey brick stores with apartments above from the 1880s. Alternative Thinking store

below: Around the corner on Bloor near Markham. The sidewalk in this stretch has been widened with benches and planters added.

bloor street, sidewalk in front of new condos, blue construction fence still up, new benches and planters on the sidewalk
below: Honest Eds is long gone.

behind blue construction fence, machinery, two tall condo being built with laneway between them

below:  Work continues on the re-making of Markham Street.

workmen on construction site on Markham street

below:  Ed’s Mercantile Store & Studio.  Vintage and Handmade Goods – it’s not exactly Honest Ed’s but it was at least worth a smile and a chuckle (and a photo!)

Ed's Mercantile store window on Bloor, vintage and old stuff,

below: Stop.  Stop building.

stop sign at Palmeston Blvd, with the word building scratched into it, stop building

below: From Palmerston, the new condos rise up behind.

roofline of older houses on Palmerston with new condos in the background

large red brick old house on Palmerston with large new condo in the background

below: Spring!  Lilacs in abundance in front of an old brick house with fabulous balcony space.

older brick house, 3 storeys, with 2 balconies and a porch, all with white wood railings, large pink lilac in front, with yellow tulips and greenery in front garden

below: One block south of Bloor is Lennox

Lennox street scene, trees, old red brick building, condos behind

chairs, one on either side of a brown door, red brick building

below:  There is a lane that runs north from Lennox that ends behind the stores on Bloor.   The old buildings are dwarfed by the newer condos.

looking down an alley, with backs of old buildings on Bloor immediately adjacent to tall new condo

below: Same alley, new infill housing

infill housing in a laneway, two storey house with mostly windows on upper level

below: This isn’t the exact view from that lovely infill house, but it’s close.

wall with street art, construction site on the other side of the wall

below: Still in the alley trying to get a good view of what’s happening on the site…   Some of the old houses on Markham have been kept (or at least their facades).

Markham street, old mirvish village, redevelopment, small house among the highrises

looking down an alley, tree and greenery along fence on right, street art covered wall on left, car parked in front of a garage at the end

below: Bloor Street from Markham Street west to just beyond Christie is part of the Koreatown BIA which suggests a preponderance of Korean businesses.

Koreatown banner on lamp post, condos behind

below: Businesses like Seoul Hot Dog, Mummy Korean Restaurant, and Mapo Korean BBQ.

stores on Bloor

three young Korean woman walking on Bloor

older Korean woman shopping in corner store

four little characters with drinks, on the window of a korean cafe

pictures of dishes displayed outside, under window of korean restaurant, also green sign advertising in korean lettering, for acupuncture and herbs

below: Korean Village Restaurant

Korean Village Restaurant with mural on upper level,

below: Imagine Your Korea mural (in 2 photos)

Imagine Your Korea mural in Koreatown, with bike share bikes in front, mostly empty

korea mural on corner of bloor

below: A green dragon breathes fire outside Chung Chun Rice Hot Dog in a mural by Allan Render, John Norbrega, and Stacey Kinder (Blinc Studios), 2019.

outside wall of chung chun rice hot dog restaurant, a mural with a large green fire breathing dragon

part of a larger mural, people running outside shops on sidewalk, running away from green monster

below: But in typical Toronto style, many other ethnic groups are represented here – Ave Maria Latin Cafe

Latin Cafe on Bloor with round yellow sign,

below: Pour Boys keeping an eye on Bloor.

pour boys muralon building across the street from Bloor Fruits store, selling veggies and fruits on the sidewalk

below: … Tibetan Paper Store… and more.

objects in the window of the Tibetan Paper Shop, little dolls, incense, bowls, bracelets,

below: “If you are reading this, Iran is not free”

mural that says if you are reading this, Iran is not free

tattered pink heart with a face cut out of it, stapled to a wood utility pole that has hundreds of staples on it

googly eyes have been glued onto yellow box with push button for crossing the street

 

old mural on side of white brick building, text, abstract, kizmet32,

continuing from Dundas West

Posted: April 19, 2024 in alleys, construction, graffiti and street art, locations, people, reflections
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Ready to roll again?!

people walking on sidewalk, past a sign for a sushi restaurant that says lets roll

 The last blog post ended at Dundas West Station where the Giraffe Building sits on the northwest corner of Bloor and Dundas  …. so let’s picked it up from there…..

large billboard on top of two storey building with upper level painted like a giraffe in brown and yellow, bottom level covered with ads and graffiti

If you go north on Dundas from here you’ll find yourself in the Junction.

below:  A quick peak north on Dundas West at Edna (first block north of Bloor).

southwest corner of Edna and Dundas West, standing in front of Mcdonalds at the subway station, a bus, some people walking, a man leaning against a telephone pole.

But not today.  Today we’re heading south on Dundas until it meets up with Roncesvalles.  Then we’ll walk generally north and east until we cross Dundas at Sorauren.  A brief stroll north on Sterling will bring us back to Bloor.   That’s the plan!

man holds a coffee cup as he walks past adverts on side of giraffe building

two people standing beside defaced mural in support of front line workers, dundas west and bloor

below: Crossing Bloor at Dundas

a couple walking together, crossing Bloor, with dollarama store and brick highrise apartment building behind them

man holds a piece of plaid fabric in his outstretched arms as he walks past advertisements on exterior of giraffe building

wood cutouts of people doing things, man holding a ball above his head, painted, mounted on exterior of red brick building, a school,

large painting of a glass half full of milk, on exterior of red building, word full written on the milk, beside Bloor Street fitness, with a large white boxing glove outside

below: Waiting by Jimmys Coffee

looking across Dundas West towards Jimmys Coffee, people waiting to cross with traffic light

below: Walking their bikes

a young man walks his bike on sidewalk past a store, reflections in the window
walking on Roncesvalles, a woman in a maroon skirt, a couple walking together

below: Jac’s Milk on Roncesvalles still has a mural depicting the 504 King streetcar.  The boys at the table were selling eye protectors for watching the solar eclipse (that dates this walk!)

Jac's Milk convenience store on a corner on Roncesvalles, TTC streetcar in mural on the side of the building, a person on a bike in the foreground

a woman walks her dog on the sidewalk, Roncesvalles

below: White Corner Variety

a person on a bike riding north on Roncesvalles, past Whites Corner Variety

below: Outclass reflections

a woman sits on a bench in front of a store window

below: Jogging on Roncesvalles

two women jogging on Roncesvalles at Howard Park

two young asian men working at a fruit and vegetable market, goods on sidewalk, some people passing by, a pile of orange in the foreground

below: Totally gutted

view from alley behind, most of interior of house has been gutted for a renovation

below: Also under renovations is the Hindu Prarthana Samaj Temple, the oldest Hindu temple in Toronto.  Prior to being demolished, this was an old church building dating from 1886.  First it was Ruth Street Presbyterian Mission and then later it became Fern Avenue Church of Christ until the Prarthana Samaj congregation bought the building in 1979.  Soon it will look more like a Hindu temple!

hindu temple being renovated behind hoardings

backyard views, from laneway behind

garages in alley, dark green garage door, bright blue wall,

below: Flowers on the side of a garage in an alley

pinkish peach colour lily painted on a wall in an alley, also a purple rose in the painting

 

graffiti on a brick wall in an alley, blue eyes with text eyez

sticker of a heavily armed police man with a large gun on a pole in an alley

sign upside down, yellow sign says slow, alley,

below: New infill in an alley

new infill house in an alley

below: With another one under construction nearby.   Construction of these laneway homes was allowed beginning in the summer of 2018.  Since then, their popularity has blossomed.

infill housing being built in an alley, plywood

below: Wilson’s Variety & Grocery on a corner in a residential area.

small convenience store on a corner in a residential area, Wilson's Variety and Grocery says green and yellow sign across the top of the window, black bars on the window, Canada Post mailbox in front of the store,

small narrow house, two storey, large tree in front, gingerbread trim under eaves, very small front yard,

house on Sorauren, white fence in front, red trim on porch and awning over window

backyards, alley view, one with lots of stuff in the yard

below: No payment entertainment and BE BETTER where Sorauren meets Dundas West.

where Sorauren meets Dunda West, a big billbord, an old yellow building, and another building with the words be better written in big white capital letters

below: Same corner, southwest side.  Pink door beside Timmy’s Variety.

southwest corner of Sorauren and Dundas West, building with large white sign and pink features

below: The West Toronto Railpath runs up the east side of the railway tracks.

West Toronto Railpath north from Dundas West,

concrete supports under bridge, Bloor Street over railway tracks, covered with graffiti,

below: You can tell by the sweet chocolatey smell in the air that Nestle is still making chocolate bars and other candy here.

Nestle factory, with large faded ad for Aero chocolate bars

walkway bridge over Sterling Ave at Nestle plant

sign on grey corrugated metal wall that says Nestle, coffee crisp

below: You are greater than everything

orange diamond shape construction sign that has been painted over in yellow and blue, stencil of an open hand holding a flame, text that says you are greater than everything

below: Halfway up Sterling Ave, around the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), there has been a flurry of development activity.

back corner of MOCA, Museum of Contemporary Art, with new construction of a new building beside it, crane on top of new building, sign on the back of MOCA that says over asking under taking

Sterling Ave., new building under construction on right, MOCA on left, museum of contemporary art

below: Development on the north side of MOCA.

looking across a flattened vacant lot. dirt, to a line of new townhouses, as well as older single family homes with large trees in the backyard

looking down the side of a house, to see new townhouses in the background

old used concrete barriers lined up beside each other, being stored in a vacant lot, behind a fence

below: A pair of anser eyes

man in red wool hat taking a picture of anser eyes graffiti on grey wall

below: Land Back, Turtle Island style.

poster on a wood pole, turtle with red sash around middle, words that say land back

below: Catchoo paste-up, catching a hand grenade

small graffiti pasteups by catchoo, two green outstretched hands reaching for a hand grenade

below: One wet fish dripping on Feelings Boi.   The fish is probably the work of Rowan McCulloch.

feelings boi sticker, as well as a sticker with a black and white image of a fish

below: More houses….

older brick two storey single family home with single upper storey window, also a porch across the front of the house, with white metal railing on porch

two storey bay and gable house, painted blue with white trim

two storey bay and gable house, red brick,

chair on a porch with 3 pizza boxes on it, also a bike on the porch

below: A row of bay and gable houses.

row of two and three storey bay and gable houses, large tree in front

houses on Bloor West near Sterling

addition to front of house, extends to sidewalk, large window in front, with reflections, walls are painted in mural with purple sky, blue and red trees, and green grass

below: And that brings us back to Bloor …. Bloor Gift and Smoke Shop across the street from the north end of Sterling Ave

on Bloor West, at Sterling, old red brick building, with Bloor Gift and Smoke Shop

below: Looking west on Bloor from Perth.  The southwest corner remains vacant.  Old concrete steps go nowhere now, and haven’t for many years.  The old tires are a more recent addition to the landscape.  Unfortunately this one of the many sites in the city where development is in limbo.  As early as 2010 there was a 12 storey building proposed on this site (1439 Bloor West plus 80 Perth).  At the moment, there seems to plans in the works for a 14 storey building but the plans seem rather fluid (i.e. they keep changing).

intersection of Bloor and Perth, with vacant lot on southwest corner

below: Back in 2014 or 2015, the concrete walls of this underpass were painted with murals. Now almost all of it is tagged over or scrawled on. It’s a mess.

entrance to toronto railpath beside tracks on Bloor Street, concrete walls covered in graffiti

below: UP Express train stopped at Bloor West station on its way to Pearson Airport.  The UP Express was in the news this past week because Metrolinx decided to change the scheduling such that half the trains no longer stop at the Bloor and Dundas stations.   Cue the now-normal Doug Ford flip flop when there was a lot of very verbal backlash from the commuters that use these stations.  The regular schedule has resumed.

UP Express train in station, reflected in the windows of building on other side of tracks

From here it is a hop, step and a jump back to Dundas West station.

In case you are interested –  Ten years ago, the building that houses MOCA stood alone. Its life as part of Tower Automotive had ended and its new life as a gallery hadn’t yet begun.  Previous posts:

Tower Automotive 2013
Tower Automotive 2014
First visit to the new MOCA 2018

wandering the alleys

Posted: March 16, 2024 in alleys, construction, doors, graffiti and street art, old buildings
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….of Dovercourt and Bloorcourt (south of Dupont and east of Dufferin)

blue and white banner on a utility pole, dovercourt village

Apparently there are over 250 kilometres of alleys and lanes in Toronto.  I am not sure how many are in the Dovercourt Village neighbourhood, but here are some pictures of what I saw when I walked the other day.

looking down a laneway to where it dead ends at a residential street with two storey brick houses, there is ablack picket fence in the alley, the house on the left in the alley is being renovated and has scaffolding covering the side

In many ways there is a similarity to most lanes – the garages and fences, the two storey houses, mostly brick, a few old trees, and the pavement in rough shape but there is always some interesting things to be found.

looking down a toronto alley, no dumping sign, garages, back of brick house, glass and steel highrise condo in the background

below: Somehow the back part is still standing!

backyard of a two torey house, view from alley with fence down, wood addition on brick building is old and falling apart

backyards and rear of houses, view from the lane behind

below: A narrow, skinny house with an extra layer of blue tarp privacy.

blue tarp over a fence behind a house in an alley

below: Happy dancing in the streets of Toronto – or close enough!

on a white garage door in a lane, a black line drawing of the CN Tower, 3 people dancing, the sun, a tree and two dogs

garage in an alley with street art on door and on side of building. on the side is white throwup on exploding red, yellow, and orange background

parking space in alley with chain across it, garage,

below: Monsters romping and flying around the black and white city

white garage in an alley, with a red man door, drawing and painting on the wall

below: “I want a cup of chai from the former Pink Palace”.

graffiti in an alley, black animal (cow?) on brown, with text, I want s cup of chai from the former pink palace

brick tower, perhaps steeple in the background, brick house in the middle, and a small garage with graffiti on door, large tree in the foreground

view looking down an alley to where it ends at a street with houses, large tree in the foreground, tall white apartment building in the background

below: An infill house in the lane.

black clad two storey house, dwelling, infill in an alley

below: And another infill….

black clad two storey house, dwelling with a large window facing the alley on the upper floor, infill in an alley

below: Large blue bear mural on a garage door by Jeff Blackburn

mural by Jeff Blackburn of a large blue bear face with maroon nose and mouth, white teeth, furry,

view of adjacent houses from the alley behind

chainlink gate between two garages in an alley, with view into backyard

upside down street sign that says no parking in the alley, backs of houses in the background

below: Falling apart.  Fake brick.  Asphalt based siding such as this bit here became a popular  alternative to painting  wooden structures as early as the 1930’s.  It was very popular in the 1940’s and the 1950’s in North America where it was used both for low-cost housing (and garages) and for covering the deteriorated exterior walls of older homes.

old fake brick asphalt tiles broken, on a wood garagebelow: A few simple flowers

a simple mural of flowers on a garage door in an alley, with house next door under renovations

below: and a garage in need of some paint and TLC.

view from an alley, an old wood garage in peeling teal paint, two storey brick house with a small wood balcony on the upper level

below: “We are all sacred”.  Scared might work too.

words scrawled on a wall that say we are all sacred

below: Art before dishes – a wonderful sentiment that I hope you agree with!

on a brown garage door in black marker, a line drawing of a person holding a light, and text that says art before dishes

below: Another garage door, some more peeling paint, and a faded face with pointy ears.

paint peeling on a reddish brown metal garage, old line drawing in yellow paint of a face, splotchy where bare metal can be seen

in a lane, looking at the back of a house with a yellow door and a dark green garage

below: Building back and up

alley view of the back of a house that is being updated and renovated, most of the back is covered with plywood

below: An oldie, a Lovebot the robot

an old red and white lovebot sticker on a no parking sign on a garage in an alley

below: A surprise find, and another oldie – I didn’t realize that any of these old Rob Ford portraits by Spudbomb still existed. This one dates from 2011.  Remember those days?

black paint on a white garage door, an old spud bomb painting of Rob Ford, ex-mayor of toronto, painted in 2011

below: Bastards in rust

rusty hinge on wood gate, with word bastards scratched into the metal

concrete wall under metal window frame, rust has stained the concrete, two white eyes have been drawn on the rusty part so now it looks like a face

below: I am going to pretend that it says “Tag here”.

graffiti on a wall that says tag here

low view of alley showing mostly the pavement, cracked with dirt and wet spots, some garages along the sides

below: One more garage door

garage in alley, white door with street art on it

below: Someone’s lurking above us

small alley

below: One large iguana, or perhaps a chameleon.  Whichever it is, it doesn’t look very happy.

large green iguana in a mural, looks unhappy

below: The brick building is on Dovercourt, just north of Bloor…. which is as good a place as any to end….  until next time that is.

whit truck parked in a lane with construction on both sides, on dovercourt, just north of bloor

banner on a utility pole, bloorcourt,