Posts Tagged ‘laneway housing’

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,

Silhouettes on the door

Posted: October 9, 2023 in construction, graffiti and street art, locations, transportation
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I heard about these silhouettes that have painted on the plywood used to board up the doors and windows of five empty houses so I went to see them for myself.  They are on Raglan Road which is close to St. Clair and Bathurst.

black silhouettes of people painted on plywood used to board up doors and windows of empty houses waiting to be demolished

black silhouettes of people painted on plywood used to board up doors and windows of two empty houses waiting to be demolished

black silhouettes of people painted on plywood used to board up doors and windows of empty houses waiting to be demolished, older woman

“Took a walk and passed your house late last night
All the shades were pulled and drawn way down tight
From within, the dim light cast two silhouettes on the shade
Oh, what a lovely couple they made”

two black silhouettes painted on plywood covering a window, parent holding up young child in air above head

row of houses boarded up and empty

I am not sure how long these houses have been empty but there is graffiti in the back too.

graffiti across the back of two empty houses

As I was in the neighbourhood, what else is there to see here?  Anything new? Back in 2015 I posted a few pictures from the St. Clair and Vaughan Road area (see Intersections).  This time I stayed within the northwest quadrant of that intersection.   Like most places, somethings have changed while other things remain the same.

Back to early October 2023 …  many other houses were empty and boarded up

behind metal construction fence, an empty house that has been boarded up

yellow fire hydrant in front of hoardings around old houses waiting to be demolished. The hoardings hava painting of a young man, a red poppy and a large orange flower

… and many other houses have already been demolished.

man walking past construction site with tall condo tower as well as single family houses in the background

vacant lot with houses and highrises bhind

red and blue barrels in a vacant lot in front of other buildings

In the above picture you can see that this area has some older smaller apartment buildings.  Raglan Road runs parallel to Vaughan Road, home to many mid-sized older buildings.

front entrance of an older brick apartment building

three storey brick apartment building on Vaughan Road

three storey brick apartment building on Vaughan Road

cement truck delivering cement to a work site beside an older brick apartment building

below: Linked buildings

elevated corridors, open to outside, linking buildings

Once it was the Happy Family Restaurant.  Now someone (a happy family?) lives there.

squarish building, two storey, lower level once a store, now a residence, two entrance doors, old yellow sign

…. other businesses are boarded up.  This was the Dutch Dreams Ice Cream shop before they moved farther south on Vaughan Road.  While it sits empty it is a space for graffti.  Dutch Dreams had moved out before December 2015.

old black Mercedes car parked beside a boarded up red brick building

below: Just wait – Not sure what we’re waiting for but I see an alpha and an omega on a death moth?

paper graffiti with words just wait, black and white drawing of a dragonfly, on red brick

below: Peeling and faded.  Sailor dude and some colourful designs.

peeling and faded paper graffiti

below: Elaborate probably female form with gown and hat beside a not so elaborate wine bottle.  The label on the bottle says Lutte Libre Bruht.

black stencil graffiti on plywood

below: They’ve been here a while – Urban Ninja Squadron’s T-Bonez in various poses including dressed as Robin, the Boy Wonder.

peeling pasteup graffiti on plywood

below: Give Love and be a Hero

paper pasteup printed in red, on plywood board covering window

In the summer of 2020 there was fire in the adjacent building that impacted the old Dutch Dreams building too.  That was three years ago.   It is a pity that empty buildings sit for so long especially since nothing good comes of it.

in alley, back of buildings that had burned, fence with no trespassing signs around them

More people – Street musicians playing on the sidewalk.

mural on a box on the street, a group of musicians playing, trumpet, bass, singing,

As I walked around the neighbourhood I noticed a mix of architectural styles and building sizes.

From single family….

tall trees and single family homes

streetscape with different shaped houses

Through midsized apartments like the older ones shown above as well as some newer ones….

midrise apartment buildings with some single family homes in the middle

apartment buildings with green space between them

… To massive apartment buildings

very large, wide, highrise residential building with white balconies

large tag graffiti that says a c k , on the side of a brick house

below: Southwest corner of St. Clair and Vaughan Road

person in wheelchair being pushed across St. Clair at Vaughan Road, southwest corner with CIBC bank in old brick building

beside lowrise building from the 1960s, a single story older brick building, Choice coin laundry

brick buildings on vaughan road, 4 storey apartment building, coin laundry, and a convenience store

mister milk convenience store on vaughan road, once a two storey house, with upstairs enclosed balcony

below: The bright yellow building of Hercules Automotive and Tire Service in an alley behind St. Clair.  The top of St. Alphonsus R C church can be seen above it.

low yellow building in alley, Hercules Automotive and tire service, parking lot in front of it, top of St. Alphonsus R C Church behind it, also three tall condo towers in the background

below: Walking westward on St. Clair approaching Wychwood Ave with yet another vacant lot.

father and son walking on sidewalk, along St clair west, towards wychwood ave

below: St. Clair Avenue Baptist Church, on this site since November 1924.

Baptist church on Wychwood ave., brown brick building

below: Beside St. Alphonsus RC Church at Vaughan Road and St. Clair.

statue of man holding a bird, a small wreath hangs beside the statue

street sign for Helen Porter Lane, with Kenwood Arts sign attached to same pole

below: Kenwood

wood utility pole in alley, painted with pink, blue, and green heart, with stripes and squares below

below: A Jack Layton quote: “Love is better than hate; Hope is better than fear.”

words written in many colours across a board on a wood fence in an alley, a quote from Jack Layton that says

hand written poem story on board, hanging next to a garage with paintings of birds in a tree

“AND people stayed home and read books and listened and rested.
… and learned new ways and stopped and listened more deeply
… and people began to think differently.  And people healed
… AND when the danger ended and people found themselves, they grieved for the dead … and made new choices … and dreamed new visions… and created new ways of living… and healed the earth as they were healed.”

below: “My Blue World – I know a place where the world is still where time and space have no hold”  Painting by Elly Dawson 2020.  Poem by Lanna M.

my blue world, a painting on a wood fence, of two boats in the water,

below: A large Canadian flag hangs over the Toronto skyline.

mural on a garage door, large canadian flag behind the toronto skyline, blue lake in front, blue sky behind

Also in Helen Porter Lane, someone has taken advantage of the space here to build new housing.

new housing built in a lane

 

The orange sign on the streetcar stop says that the 512 St. Clair streetcar stopped running early in September 2023 and will be out of service until summer 2024.   The whole line from Yonge to Gunns Loop

 

bus shelter on route 512, St. Clair streetcar, at Bathurst

below: Westbound TTC buses on St. Clair

2 TTC buses plus traffic, westbound on St. Clair in front of Loblaws just before Bathurst street

While we’re on the subject of the TTC, one very dirty bus shelter!

Stop – Take a Breath

stop sign with words and breathe added to it

locked gate, fence, vacant lot, with lowrise apartment buildings in the background