TTC | as I walk Toronto

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from Harbord to Dundas via Kensington

Posted: January 18, 2024 in alleys, doors, graffiti and street art, locations, reflections, stores
Tags: anorthosite, Baldwin Ave., crab, Dick Dastardly, gates, graffiti, hoardings, houses, Kensington, Lord Lansdowne school, mannequins, Muttley, Nick Sweetman, redevelopment, rock, Rocky Zenyk, Sasha Q, Saul Gwartzman, Spadina, streetcar, TTC, When Math Meets Art

…. or thereabouts.

It started with a stop that was earlier than planned. I was on my way to meet a friend in Kensington but that morning my walk started closer to Harbord because the 510 car wasn’t going anywhere. An incident on a streetcar involving the police means the whole route gets backed up.

below: This building on the west side of Spadina (372/374 Spadina) has languished for a few years. It falls within the Harbord Village HCD (Historic Community District) and there may have been a change of ownership.

below: I tried researching the present status of the property but I came up empty. There is a building permit in the window but there are no signs of work being done.

below: My fellow TTC travellers and I walked the curve in Spadina.

below: At the south end of the curve is Lord Lansdowne School which was built in 1960/1961 to replace an older school nearby and to accommodate the post-war population growth in the city. The main part of the school is a nine-sided circular building with 18 tapered steel pylons radiating outward like flying buttresses. The roof consists of folded concrete plates,

below: A big chunk of anorthosite sits in the schoolyard. Some of the rocks brought back from the moon are anorthosites. But this isn’t a moon rock! This type of rock isn’t found in many places in North America but there is some to the north of the city in the Canadian Shield region. It is composed predominantly of feldspar. It is an igneous rock which means that it was formed from the cooling and solidification of molten rock (such as lava).

large grey rock in a schoolyard with a plaque on it describing the rock

Plaque: “This basic igneous rock was found at a depth f 12 feet during the course of excavation for this school. The composition is a very rare type and is assumed to have been carried here from Caribou Lake north of Parry Sound by a glacier during the Great Ice Age approximately 12,000 years ago. “

below: Every Child Matters on the schoolyard fence

below: Also on the fence, parent and child walking hand in hand past the playground.

below: Intersection of Spadina and College, looking south.

below: A small disc mounted on a concrete pole – a tribute to Saul Gwartzman by Rocky Zenyck. Gwartzmans Art Supply store is still on Spadina Ave.

circular brass piece, mounted on utility pole, a face in the middle of it, with words marked on it

Engraved in around the face on the disc, “We remember. Saul Gwartzman. Born on Spadina Avenue above the store where he supported artists in Toronto for decades, 1936-2019”

below: Walking on Spadina, south of College.

below: Canadian souvenirs are unavailable at the moment!

below: Dragons on the wall, Oxford Street.

below: One of the Kensington poles with a globe at the top. Another site in limbo – the hoardings are still around the lot on the southwest corner of Baldwin and Spadina. I wrote about them in Dec 2020 (post: a long time lingering) and they were old then.

There were not many other people walking around Kensington that morning, we were a bit early for that. Even without people, it is a neighbourhood that is full of colours and full of life. Parts of it are run down and grubby but that rarely stops a photographer! The next photos are a random sample of what we saw that day.

below: Looking west on Baldwin. The king is on the wall.

below: Kids for sale!

below: Mice in the cheese store window. There’s Mickey Mouse and the little brown mouse, Jerry, from another cartoon series as well as some not so famous rodents.

below: Uncle Vintage at the other end. The mural on the right is “When Math Meets Art”

below: From a different angle. It was painted by Sasha Q (aka Oleksandra Stepanenko)

below: Mural of a blue crab by Nick Sweetman,

below: Look Mom Paint!

below: Three old black and white photos of Kensington scenes in the window of the Peruvian food store,

below: A bright and cheerful red daisy keeping an eye on things.

below: “And then the streets became my notepad – GOD”

below: More hoardings and the consequent graffiti covering them.

below: It’s difficult to see, but some of the words written on the hoardings are “It’s hard but ur strong”.

below: Mark has left his mark.

below: The backside of Moonbean Coffee as seen from the alley behind. Little faces in Paradise.

below: Yummy! Mini Boston Cream Bombs on display in the window.

below: Not so yummy?!

below: Pigeon fanciers, this one’s for you. It seems there were some takers. Sorry, but I didn’t follow up with the research on this one so I am not sure what happens if you call!

below: Union Jack either faded to pink, or in trans colours?

below: Super Serve on Dundas, across the street from People Hair Salon.

below: It looks like Rowell Soder mural although he rarely paints the eyes – the mushroom top should give you a hint as to what this store sells.

below: I like yellow rubber duckies but I doubt that I would wear this many at once!

below: You grow girl!

below: She leans left.

below: Little yellow bald guys as well as some words written on a wall; they are Leonard Cohen lyrics.

“From Leonard Cohen Book of Mercy, …I heard my soul singing behind a leaf, plucked the leaf, but then I heard it singing behind a veil. I tore the veil, but then I heard it singing behind a wall. I broke the wall, and I heard my soul singing against me. I built up the wall, mended the curtain, but I could not put back the leaf. I held it in my hand and I heard my soul singing mightily against me. This is what it’s like to study without a friend.”

below: Mirror, mirror, on the wall.. A Sigil is a sign in magic or witchcraft or similar.

below: Mannequins in feathers….

below: … and mannequins in hats

below: The mural on the left features a white egg with a large open mouth. The text above it says, “Feed Eggs”. Any ideas?

below: It’s Dick Dastardly and his dog Muttley

below: A mandolin player by SashaQ and a Phillip Saunders portrait in blue.

below: Leftovers from both Halloween and Christmas

below: An eclectic collection of posters and notices cover a restaurant window… pictures of food as well as posters for young Asian musicians.

below: Fight Your Demons

below: South on Spadina

below: Spadina and Dundas

With many thanks to Merle for walking with me on that grey day! We enjoyed wandering around the street and alleys and discovering what Kensington has to offer. It was fun to have someone helping to find all the little bits and pieces that often get overlooked. Here we found a party, or at least the remains of one. All those little coloured blobs are actually shiny words that say “party”. I hope that it was a good party!

Merle has a blog too where she meets and interviews interesting seniors (or seniors who are doing interesting things), Super Bubbies! I forgot to ask her how old one needs to be a Bubbie and am I old enough?!!! If you are interested in the photos that she took on this walk or you’re curious as to what makes aa Super Bubbie, check out Super Bubbies! I find it fascinating how different people can walk the same route and come away with quite a different recollection of the walk.

Keep exploring! Keep being super!

Silhouettes on the door

Posted: October 9, 2023 in construction, graffiti and street art, locations, transportation
Tags: apartment buildings, art, condos, graffiti, Helen Porter Lane, houses, Kenwood, laneway, laneway housing, paper, paste ups, Raglan Road, redevelopment, residential, robin, St. Clair, TTC, urban ninja squadron, Vaughan Road, visual noise

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.

“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”

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

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

… and many other houses have already been demolished.

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.

below: Linked buildings

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

…. 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.

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

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

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.

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

below: Give Love and be a Hero

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.

More people – Street musicians playing on the sidewalk.

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

From single family….

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

… To massive apartment buildings

below: Southwest corner of St. Clair and Vaughan Road

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.

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

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

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

below: Kenwood

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

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.

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

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

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

below: Westbound TTC buses on St. Clair

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

Stop – Take a Breath

a tale of two bridges

Posted: September 15, 2023 in construction, locations, old buildings, transportation
Tags: Canadian National Railway, CNR, construction, dump truck, Eastern Ave., GO Transit, Leslieville, Metrolinx, Ontario line, Queen St. East, Riverdale, Riverside, street, traffic, train, trucks, TTC

Traffic on Eastern Avenue near Broadview has faced construction and traffic delays over the past few months. The slow downs are ongoing as work on the railway bridge progresses. This work is because Metrolinx is adding tracks to make room for the new Ontario Line. Like many parts of the city, there are many changes occurring in the area.

Demolition on the north side of Eastern, and poof, gone, one large 5 storey Self Storage facility at 356 Eastern. Removed to make way for new tracks. The beige house faces Lewis Street.

… and now sitting gutted on the south side is another not old building (South side of Eastern Ave between Broadview and the railway tracks).

South side of Eastern, from another angle.

West side approach to the Canadian National Railway bridge

Along with the new railway line, Metrolinx is building what they are calling the East Harbour transit hub. This involves a new Ontario Line station as well as a new GO station on the Lakeshore East and Stouffville GO lines. Eventually, plans are to have TTC streetcars or LRT link here (it is directly south of Broadview and there is a plan to extend Broadview).

below: Construction along the railway line, south of Eastern Ave

below: One side (the east side) of the railway tracks has been demolished. Ultimately the whole bridge will be replaced but it is being done in stages to allow GO trains and VIA rail trains to continue running throughout the process.

A constant flow of dump trucks back and forth, in and out, of the construction site south of Eastern (on both sides of the railway tracks). The 38 acre site that includes the old Lever Bros (Ponds, Sunlight etc) soap factory is being redeveloped at the same time – it extends south to Lakeshore and west to the Don River.

Looking west on Eastern Ave, back towards downtown.

405 Eastern Ave, immediately east of the railway bridge, is also under construction. It has nothing to do with transportation as it is a new Enbridge building. A large 3 storey building with both offices and industrial (computers?) will probably be built here.

Makes sense, gas pipelines on site.

Just north of Eastern Ave, the railway tracks cross Queen St East., crossing over a bridge of the same style and vintage. Once upon a time this was a level crossing with a railway station on the northwest corner, the Riverdale station on the Grand Trunk Railway. This is soon to be the location of the Riverside Leslieville station on the not yet built Ontario Line.

So far the bridge is still intact but it too will be completely changed by the time Metrolinx is finished. The station itself will be on the bridge (if their drawings & plans are to be believed).

Here there will be 6 tracks – 4 for GO Transit and 2 for the Ontario Line.

Finch West

Posted: July 21, 2023 in construction, public art, transportation
Tags: Brandon Vickerd, construction, Duke Heights, Finch Ave., Finch West station, LRT, Metrolinx, Norfinch, people, reflections, sidewalk, stations, transit, transportation, TTC

I have blogged a few times about the new Eglinton LRT/subway line that may or may not ever get finished in our life time. As well, I have shared some pictures of the construction that is the beginning of the work on the Ontario line through downtown. But apparently, that’s not all that Metrolinx is up to – I have heard rumours of another LRT line under construction in Toronto, the Finch West line. So I went to investigate.

below: Waiting on the platform at Finch West subway station.

Like so many transit projects in the city, the history of the Finch LRT has not followed a straight path. In 2009 the provincial government announced a new subway/LRT line along Finch from Don Mills to Humber College. But that promise was shortlived – the eastern end was removed a year later. Next, mayor Rob Ford cancelled the whole project after taking office at the end of 2010. City Council reinstated it (the western portion) in 2012 and construction was to begin in 2015 for a 2020 completion date. Work began a little later than planned but at least it actually started. The new LRT line goes from Finch West station at Keele to Humber College, 10.3 kilometres in total. It’s behind schedule but I don’t think that that surprises anyone.

My walking plan was to take a Finch bus westward along the new route and then walk back…. Traffic, of course, was horrible and by the time we got to hwy 400 I was ready to get off the bus. It didn’t help that they were repaving parts of Finch Avenue.

below: Like many plans, changes had to be made along the way since the sidewalk kept coming to an abrupt end….

below: .. and intersections weren’t always easy to navigate.

below: At the eastern end of the new LRT, on the east side of the intersection of Keele and Finch is a new public art installation. This steel structure is 40 feet high and represents Elia Public School which once stood at this intersection. It was designed by Brandon Vickerd. In the photo below, the building behind seems to be another Metrolinx building – that T symbol is on the new LRT stations as well.

below: Also at Keele and Finch – there are already two buildings to access the subway. It seems to suggest that TTC and Metrolinx have structures on three of the four corners of that intersection. Finch West station is on the section of Line 1 (Yonge-University) that opened late in 2017. Pictures from those days can be found at “to the end of the line”

below: Most of the LRT runs above ground. In order to provide easy access with the existing subway line, the LRT goes underground just west of Keele.

below: New LRT trains parked at the new Finch West Maintenance and Storage Facility just west of Jane and Finch.

below: No one will be able to say that they can’t find the stations along Finch. This is Driftwood station.

below: Walking past Norfinch Oakdale station.

below: Track work at Tobermory station.

below: Looking west from Romfield

Dupont Street scenes

Posted: June 10, 2023 in construction, graffiti and street art, locations, old buildings
Tags: altered sign, Ave Rage, Average Art, basketball, boom lift, construction, Dupont station, graffiti, guns, houses, Joe's convenience, lovebot, Megan Oldhues, murals, redevelopment, reflections, rose, signs, stores, T-bonez, TTC, urban ninja squardon, windows, workmen

Another sunny spring day and another walk in the city. This time we walked along Dupont with the occasional diversion to an alley or side street. First stop? First Last Coffee. Always start with coffee! In general, this blog covers Dupont between Spadina and Ossington and as usual, there may not be much order to the photos!

below: The transparent domed Dupont subway station at the northwest corner of Spadina and Dupont

below: Because of the redevelopment along Dupont (some buildings have been demolished but their replacements are still holes in the ground), Casa Loma can now be seen from the street.

below: Northwest corner of Dupont and Shaw

below: Someone’s comment on the construction….

below: … And another comment – he’s so happy to have a gun that he’s drooling.

There are quite a few construction photos, maybe more than you’d like, but construction plays a large role in the scenery along Dupont these days.

below: Joe’s Convenience chaos.

below: Reflections in a restaurant window

below: Dispensary of a different kind

below: Cyclists waiting for the lights to change.

below: No energy today (all sold out?)

below: Looking at the northeast corner of Dupont and Dovercourt. The interior of this old industrial building has been renovated and part of it is now a basketball school.

below: View through the window

below: The billboard at Dupont and Dovercourt features an image by Maggie Groat and was part of the CONTACT Photography Festival. More of her work is on display at Ontario Square (on the waterfront) and can be seen in a blog post, Double Pendulum, from a few weeks ago.

below: Silver Star Car Wash – I could say that it’s all washed up but considering the time that it takes for the development process – especially in a case like this where the application involves an amendment to the Official Plan and the Zoning By-law.

below: Although it looks like a gathering of praying mantises, it’s really a symbol of a booming construction industry, boom lifts for rent.

below: 888 Dupont (at Ossington) is one of the next buildings to be redeveloped but that is for another story on another blog post.

below: An old rusty sign on the side of a building in an alley just off of Dupont tells us that J.F. Spencer, Sheet Metal Worker, once worked there.

below: Looking along Dupont from Delaware Ave

below: Probably the most affordable house on the street!

below: Some people have rose bushes in their front yard…

below: … and some people have horses.

below: A seaside Nova Scotia scene by Megan Oldhues.

I’ll end this post with a few photos of the graffiti that I saw starting with this old Lovebot.

below: A pinkish red portrait of a young woman.

below: Voodoo Ninja, brought to you by Urban Ninja Squadron along with Ave Rage (or maybe it’s Average) who gets to play the victim.

until next time…. stay focused! … if possible….

Moving Toronto

Posted: May 12, 2023 in history, public art, transportation
Tags: 100 years, history, old buses, old streetcars, Pape station, people, photographs, platform, posters, Pride bus, subway, subway train, TTC

…for 100 years. At the moment there is a selection of old TTC photos on display at Pape subway station in celebration of 100 years of Toronto Transit.

below: Already lining the walls at Pape Station are images of Pape station itself and the surrounding neighbourhood. This is ‘Sources/Derivations’ by Allan Harding MacKay. You can see the reflections of one of the old TTC photos in this section of MacKay’s artwork.

The TTC posters are at platform level between the westbound and eastbound trains so you can look at them while waiting for a train.

below: First Pride bus, 2008

below: People waiting for the North Yonge bus at Eglinton station, 1950s

below: Waiting for the subway. “Line 1 customers ride the higher capacity Toronto Rocket (TR) subway train on its 2011 launch. By 2017, Line 1 had grown by 8.6 km.”

below: Two posters, two eras. On the left: “A chartered TTC bus circles outside Rosedale station in 1961 as it awaits passengers. Only one other station, Davisville, from the original 12 was a surface station.” On the right: “Rushing to catch a Peter Witt streetcar along its Yonge Street route on a summer day in 1930.

below: “A TTC car picks up scholars with disabilities outside their school in the 1920s.” A couple with their COVID masks on sit in front of more images from ‘Sources/Derivations’ by artist Allan Harding MacKay.

below: “On a warm day in 1994, customers eagerly wait to board an Articulated Light Rail Vehicle streetcar along Queen Street at University Avenue.

prospects on Lawrence East

Posted: April 28, 2023 in intersections, locations, stores, transportation
Tags: Ammis restaurant, car sales, Ghadir, Halal, Ian Leventhal, Mayfair Drapery, Modernnisa, Moon Lounge, multicultural, murals, parking lot, Precious Blood, restaurant, Scarborough, signs, stores, Tony, Tru Belle, TTC, used car sales, Wexford Heights

Lawrence Avenue East between Victoria Park and Warden Avenues is a fairly typical Scarborough “thoroughfare” street, or arterial road. It has seven lanes of traffic and is lined mostly by strip malls set back from the street to accommodate parking lots in front. It is designed for cars. Also typical of Scarborough are the many different ethnic restaurants and shops. I decided to walk these few blocks after I heard about The Lawrence Prospect which is a group advocating changes to this stretch of Lawrence Avenue… Changes like dedicated bus lanes and bike lanes as well as sidewalk improvements to increase pedestrian safety. They are promoting the idea of a “complete street” which simply means that the street works for all users, not just for cars.

below: This stretch of Lawrence lies in the Wexford Heights neighbourhood

below: The wavy roof over the entrance is a throwback to the late 1960s and 1970s when there was a lot of development in the area. It was an era when the car ruled. Land was cheaper and more abundant. Strip malls and ‘plazas’ were popular.

Like many areas of Scarborough (and Toronto for that matter), it is very multicultural. You can find a cast array of different ethnic restaurants and stores here.

below: Weekend breakfast, Halwa Puri, Butter Chucken, Lunch Special, and Family Deal with tandoori chicken!

below: Ibrahim BBQ Shawarma, halal, with Iraqi kabab and Shawarma wraps, 2 for 1!

below: Very few remnants of a much slower and sleepier past remain. Little white picket fences are rare!

below: Part of the impetus for the Prospect project was the fact that some street work was going to be completed here this spring/summer. Why do a partial job only to have to redo it a year or two in the future? As of today (28April) there is no construction happening here. The only sign of work is at the corner of Lawrence and Warden where the sidewalk was widened.

Bike lanes on Lawrence Avenue from Victoria Park all the way to Rouge Hill (16.2km) were approved in 2008 but were never built.

below: The Moon Lounge with its neighbours – Mayfair Drapery & Rug below with Tru Belle on top – skincare, hair care (pink!), and body sculpting advertised.

below: Unloading can, bags, and boxes

below: Window of Top Gun Burger

below: Lawrence East is served by TTC route 54. It runs east from Eglinton station (at Yonge) to Leslie Street, north on Leslie, then east on Lawrence. The route ends at Starspray Blvd – you’ve probably never heard of it but it’s on the waterfront just before the Rouge River. That’s a distance of almost 28 km.

below: Greetings for Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, during which Muslims fast during daylight hours (among other things). This year it was observed between 22 March and 20 April.

below: The planet is in our hands

below: Precious Blood Roman Catholic Church

below: Looking west at Pharmacy with a Seniors crossing sign.

below: Do any drivers notice these signs? What are they supposed to mean?

below: Wedged between the UPS store and Tim Hortons drive thru are these murals by Ian Leventhal. (NW corner Warden & Lawrence)

below: Moovattuphuza is a town in Kerala India.

below: Diana is holding a large fish and is pictured beside a fishing village in Greece.

below: Nearby (SE corner of Warden & Lawrence) is Tony’s portrait.

below: Modernnisa women’s clothing store – evening gowns, kaftans, abaya, and hijabs

below: “Dear Toronto, We’re just getting started, Love Scarborough”. It’s an ad campaign for Scarborough Hospitals that is appearing in bus shelters. Along with the play on the “Love Scarborough” phrase there is a sense that maybe Scarborough’s time has come. In 2017 Catherine Hernandez’s novel “Scarborough was published; it has since been adapted into a movie. The movie was shot primarily in Scarborough and premiered at TIFF in Sept 2021.

below: Multicultural yet very Canadian.

below: Nigeria Palace, Bamar Biryani and Kabob, Luxmy Restaurant

below: Northwest corner of Warden & Lawrence

There was one thing missing here – I didn’t see one single blue and white City of Toronto development notice sign! Nada!

below: There is no construction happening here – left over from a previous job?

Little India again

Posted: January 16, 2023 in locations, stores, windows and walls
Tags: alley, book store, Canadian flags, Coxwell, Gerrard India Bazaar, Gerrard St., graffiti, Islamic, laneway, laundromat, mannequins, mural, paan, reflections, sari, stores, streetcar, TTC, window, windows

Little India, also known as the Gerrard India Bazaar, is a section of Gerrard Street to the west of Coxwell Ave. I have walked around, and blogged about, Little India before. Some of these images may resemble those that I have posted in the past,

below: TTC 506 streetcar southbound on Coxwell stops before it turns right onto Gerrard.

In the windows of the Islamic bookstore….

On the street outside Lahore BBQ and Paan Center. …

below: Three storeys of saris and South Asian fashion. Bright pink!

Mannequins in the windows of other clothing stores ….

And mannequins where you don’t expect them….

Windows from the outside

below: A boy and his robot?

below: Drumsticks, masala chai and Amma

And windows to look in

below: Carpets and patterns on pattern.

below: Christmas poinstettia in the quiet before opening time.

below: Canadian flags for the world’s best butcher

below: The missing letters make the sign

below: Waiting for the streetcar

below: “You Are Here” This painting is still on the wall but it is no longer The Flying Pony coffee shop, now it’s The Black Pony.

below: The old Belfast Tavern building remains, boarded up, neglected, and only a shell of what it once was.

below: Parked.

below: Large mural on a fence in the lane behind Gerrard Street, north side.

below: Cat on the wall

below: Rowell Soller mural

below: For whatever reason, Gerrard makes a jog at Coxwell.

below: Gerrard India Bazaar banner and street sign.

Osgoode trees

Posted: December 1, 2022 in construction, nature, old buildings, transportation
Tags: Canada Trust, conservation, controversy, development, downtown, historic, Ontario line, Osgoode, station, subway, transit, transportation, trees, TTC, University Ave.

Welcome to Osgoode subway station.

It’s not the busiest station on the University Line but changes are in the works. It is going to become one of the transfer stations with the new Ontario Line. This line will cross downtown underground with stations at: Corktown, Moss Park, Queen, Osgoode, Queen/Spadina, and King/Bathurst.

When the University Line was built in 1966, Osgoode station was yellow with greenish accents.

Like other University Line station, it is nondescript and built with the minimum of fuss.

One could say the bare minimum

One of the only extras that have been added to the station recently is direct access to the Four Seasons Centre on the southeast corner.

The other three corners of the University and Queen West intersection have stairwells on the sidewalks that connect to Osgoode station. But…. I didn’t really mean to dwell on the station itself….

below: Canada Trust building on University Avenue

I came here to document the intersection as it is now, pre-Ontario Line construction (and years of disruption!)

below: Looking north up University Avenue from Queen, east side of University (including the present subway entrance on the sidewalk – close to where the pedestrians are in the photo).

Behind the black wrought iron fence is the former Osgoode Law School (for which the subway is named). There is public access to the grounds and it is an oasis of green and shade in the summer time. Green ribbons have been tied around the large trees.

… and at least one tree has been tagged as an historic tree.

Metrolinx wants to build another subway entrance here. Apparently a third-party independent review of alternative station designs is in the process but hasn’t been completed yet. Metrolinx decided that in the meantime they’d cut down the trees on the 5th of December (this coming week) anyhow. If you want to see one of the ideas for the plan, there are artist’s renderings on their website: The Ontario Line – Neighbourhood Updates – Downtown – Osgoode Station. As usual, what is pictured now is never guaranteed to be the end product!

The Law Society of Ontario is the custodian of this greenspace and they have formally objected to Metrolinx trying to short-circuit the process.

Yet another location to keep an eye on!

Annex alleys

Posted: October 26, 2022 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: alley, Annex, backyards, Bagpipe Lane, Barbara Barrett Lane, bus, C Mazzulla, Christina Mazzulla, David French Lane, dog, dudeman, Elicser Elliott, emily may rose, faces, fence, garage, Harbord village, houses, lane, Leslie Phelan, magnolia, murals, raccoons, spray paint, tomo, TTC, you are here

This past Saturday’s walk started on a familiar corner, Bloor and Bathurst, but at a new place, Mallo Coffee. I don’t always mention my coffee starts and stops but not all of them have wonderfully eccentric washrooms! The wiggly strands of light were blue which gave the room an eerie blue glow.

Pre-COVID there was a proliferation of small independent coffee shops in the city. It’s nice to see that many have survived and many new ones are opening up. It’s not so nice to see the remains of those that didn’t make it.

From Bloor and Bathurst I walked generally east with a little south thrown in. Is this The Annex? or Harbord Village? Technically the quadrant to the southeast of Bloor and Bathurst is Harbord Village but I kept seeing street art referencing The Annex.

When you’ve been taking pictures in a city for more than 10 years, you end up walking the same streets and alleys. Sometimes you find yourself with identical pictures. Other times things have changed and there’s a new story to present. For this blog post there is a bit of both. Some of the murals that I saw in the lanes behind Bloor were new to me but there were many that I have blogged before. Rather than show all of the previous murals, I have linked to older posts.

below: Part of “Meet me at the Magnolias” by Leslie Phelan

below: The back part of a larger Elicser Elliott mural on the side of Dirty Bird Chicken and Waffle restaurant on Bloor Street. The full mural is featured in the blog post “feeling hungry?” from early in 2017.

Bagpipe Lane runs behind the south side of Bloor for less than a block

below: A few simple designs

below: Boris Badenov from the “Rocky and Bullwinkle Show” – who is he trying to blow up now?!

Barbara Barrett Lane is the eastern continuation of Bagpipe Lane. This is what you see when you first enter the lane from Borden Ave.

below: Nine years ago this was part of a mural that covered the back of buildings on Bloor Street. You can see it, and other murals that were in Barbara Barrett Lane at the time, in a blog post from 2013.

There is a large mural by Elicser Elliott on Barbara Barrett Lane. I have already posted quite a few pictures of it so rather than show more of the same, here is the link to the “elicser paints people” post.

David French Lane runs south from Barbara Barrett Lane.

below: Near the north end of David French Lane is this black and white garage. It is now partially covered with ivy and vines but it too also been around since 2013. At that time many of the garages were already covered with street art but they have all been re-painted (see 2013 blog post, ‘graffiti on garages’)

below: This mural on David French is very similar to the “street scene” mural on Barbara Barrett shown above. I wish there was a signature of some sort on them!

In 2017 there was a laneway paint project, “You Are Here” on David French Lane. Once again, you can see images of most of the garages in a previous blog post.

below: Dudeman’s skulls and old TTC bus were part of that project. Route 77B was a combination of the 77 Spadina bus and the 510 Spadina streetcar; it runs from Spadina station (on Bloor) south to Queens Quay before looping and returning north.