Recent comments

  • Toronto Coffee Company   22 weeks 1 day ago

    I've been to the TCC a few times and always enjoyed my hot chocolates :) But passing by there recently, I noticed that the window were covered up and there was a sign posted. Has it closed?

  • El Almacen?   23 weeks 23 hours ago

    Welcome! Can you update us on your hours? Thanks.

  • Locksmith recommendation   23 weeks 23 hours ago

    High Park locksmiths - I don't have his card but have used him 2x now - quick and affordable.

  • Nitta Gelatin factory emissions increasing?   23 weeks 2 days ago

    new filters being installed but there is need for fine tuning as the smell persists at times (but at a lower level). Please do contact Michael Vieira, Constituency Assistant of the Office of Ana Bailão, City Councillor, mvieira2@toronto.ca (416) 338-5277. the more pressure the more likely this gets resolved.

  • Interested in moving to the area...   23 weeks 2 days ago

    Hi, the n'hood is really great for all the reasons mentioned.
    the trains are not an issue for me as covered by others. I like that there is little auto traffic with all the good things that implies in terms of noise and air quality.
    On Nitta: see the thread:
    http://www.junctiontriangle.ca/node/1661
    I just put up a new entry about filters being installed but there is need for fine tuning as the smell persists at times (but at a lower level). For others please do contact Michael Vieira, Constituency Assistant of the Office of Ana Bailão, City Councillor, mvieira2@toronto.ca (416) 338-5277. the more pressure the more likely this gets resolved.

  • Interested in moving to the area...   23 weeks 4 days ago

    Hi there,

    I'm glad you're considering the neighbourhood. We are a vegan family who moved here, to the end of Wallace Ave, 1.5 years ago. To be honest, I didn't even know about the gelatin factory until the summer, and only on certain days the closer we got to Lansdowne.

    As for the trains, we live right beside the other tracks, W of Rankin. I thought they would a lot worse that they are to be honest. I don't feel the rumbling, and I only hear a horn blowing once a day, and never early in the morning or late at night. I'm not sure if the tracks nearer to Rankin are any different (I don't imagine they would be) but sometimes I forget there is even a train. I've also never found the trains stinky.

    The neighbourhood is really, really great. I hesitated to move here and have never regretted it. The community is amazing and more and more new businesses are moving in along Bloor and even Dupont. There's a great little bulk/health food store a block or so East of Lansdowne called the Nut House that is great for us, as well as a vegetarian South Indian restaurant. Zocalo near Symington and Bloor has wonderful vegetarian brunch options. Not to mention, the parks, the rail path, good transit. The pros definitely outweigh the cons.

  • Junction Triangle Hosts First Metrolinx Wall Summit   23 weeks 4 days ago

    I was at one of the public consultation meetings and there were 4 people there and 3 of them were against walls if they were not needed. Hardly the endorsement that Metrolinx is claiming!

    Question, has Metrolinx compared the need for walls if there is an electric system? If so why not? Every major rail operator from Caltrain to British Rail says that electric trains are cheaper to operate and are "significantly quieter". Why is this news to Metrolinx? Are they not in the train business? Do they not have access to the internet? At conventions dont they ever bump into the majority of commuter train builders who are going or converting to electric? Where's the science?

  • Interested in moving to the area...   23 weeks 5 days ago

    You can rarely smell the gelatin factory on wallace. It seems to mostly blow south to the poor folks living on paton and accross from it on Lansdowne. I walk my dog along wallace every day and in the last two years have only been stopped for Go Trains on those tracks twice. I wouldn't worry about either the gelatin or the train to be honest.

  • Interested in moving to the area...   23 weeks 5 days ago

    I don't live at Wallace and Rankin (more like Symington and Paton), but here are some of my own observations and comments:

    Overall, the neighbourhood is great. I love it here. So glad we made the decision to move here.

    Nitta Gelatin has its stinky days, especially if the wind is from the east. Fortunately, it typically blows west/south. Personally, the smell isn't really that bad to me (i.e. not gag-inducing or anything), but I also don't deal with it from as close-by regularly. Hanging out near your potential home to catch a whiff might be hit-or-miss, as it's not often that it's super noticeable.

    The trains shouldn't be a big deal for now. Only 5 trains in the morning and evening. First one a little before 7:00am. You can see the schedules here (we're between the Union Station and York U stops)...
    Morning: http://www.gotransit.com/publicroot/en/schedules/pubsched.aspx?table=65&...
    Evening: http://www.gotransit.com/publicroot/en/schedules/pubsched.aspx?table=65&...

    No weekend GO service now, though they experimented with limited weekend service last summer.

    There's also the occasional VIA train. No freight on that line.

    There are long-term plans to double-track that line and increase service, but that seems to be permanently delayed.

    I'm also guessing there's a big difference in train noise depending on which side of Rankin you're on.

    In all honesty, there's probably more overall bus noise on Symington than train noise on Rankin.

    Hope this helps. Let us know if you have any other questions.

  • El Almacen?   25 weeks 2 days ago

    Hello and happy holidays to everyone.
    We would like to inform you all that we are now open daily
    Serving coffee.mate baked goods and selling used goods.Please drop in and say hello.business hours will be posted after the holidays.
    We are gratefull and honored to be part of the junction triagle.thank u
    And hope to see u all in the near future.

  • General Electric / Hitachi Uranium Processing Plant on Dupont St.   25 weeks 2 days ago

    I did notice you were referring to specific people and posts. Those specific posts engage in ad hominem attacks based primarily on the fact that someone is an anarchist. Someone pointed out that this is invalid, to which you responded that someone being an anarchist is a valid consideration, that it goes to motive. But how can this be? What are the motives?

  • General Electric / Hitachi Uranium Processing Plant on Dupont St.   25 weeks 2 days ago

    Thanks for the first year university lesson. I passed it some time ago though.

    If you read my posting carefully you would note that I am referring to specific people, posts, and videos and not talking about anarchism in the broad sense. All the people you list were anarchists, or influenced anarchism ( although in my opinion Thoreau was not an anarchist at all) but they are not part of what this thread is about. I am just using the terms that people are using to define themselves as seen in their own writing and video. If they are giving anarchism a bad name then whose fault is that?

  • General Electric / Hitachi Uranium Processing Plant on Dupont St.   25 weeks 3 days ago

    Your idea of anarchism is flawed. It appears you think all anarchists are of the black bloc property destruction variety. This is far from the truth. Most anarchists are non-violent.

    Among famous anarchists we have:

    Lao Tzu ('founder' of Taoism, probably the oldest known anarchist, would be what we describe as green anarchist)
    Mohandas Ghandi (you know who he is)
    Leo Tolstoy (who wrote War and Peace)
    J.R.R. Tolkien (who wrote Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit)
    Noam Chomsky (famous linguist and philosopher)
    Albert Camus (famous author and philosopher)
    Max Stirner (philosopher, unionist)
    Rudolph Rocker (philosopher, unionist)
    Jean Paul Sartre (philosopher, fought the Nazis in the French resistance as a communist, later became anarchist)
    Michel Foucault (philosopher)
    Jacques Derrida (philosopher)
    Henry David Thoreau (philosopher and author, influenced Ghandi)
    Mother Jones (unionist)

    Thus, if being an anarchist proves motives of violence, then what do you have to say about Ghandi, for example? The truth is that being an anarchist says nothing about a person's views on violence or property destruction. For that you have to ASK the person what their stance is on violence. Further, an anarchist is more likely to be peaceful and non-violent compared to, say, a Conservative.

    Also, anyone who believes that power corrupts has anarchistic tendencies. If you also reject corrupt power, congratulations, you're an anarchist. Most people lead fairly peaceful lives based on consensual communal arrangements between themselves and others, not based on authoritative FORCE and COERCION, and this is a cornerstone of anarchism, the rejection of authority and power.

  • 830 Lansdowne Ave Development   25 weeks 5 days ago

    I understand this point of view to a degree but...If good is happening, which it appears it is, then I really don't care about the background of the story. Bottom line is it's a lot better then what has gone on at that building previously.

  • 830 Lansdowne Ave Development   25 weeks 6 days ago

    Exactly! How is it possible this man receives a grant to re-pair his own mess? Who can we contact to complain? I mean why is it if he is running a business and it ultimately goes into disrepair under his watch provincial funds go towards rewarding his negligence? I'm tired of the bailouts. It's his responsibility to clean up the place why are funds that could go elsewhere being used for a man that obviously has the resources to pay for things himself. Shameful!

  • 830 Lansdowne Ave Development   26 weeks 20 hours ago

    The problems in Barrasso's buildings started in the late 90's. Mario Silva was our councillor from 1994 to 2003. Part of the problem was that the only option the city had was to take them over and become a landlord which it was reluctant to do. You can find some stories online from that time.

    I am happy to see them fixed up and people who need housing in there but I cant still cant help but feel that Barrasso is being rewarded for bad behavior.

  • 830 Lansdowne Ave Development   26 weeks 2 days ago

    This man should be in Jail, he is not fit to own such properties. He is a crook only there for the money. It was sad the way he has treated his tenants. Also our previous City Councillor and the City should take some blame for what happened and responsibility for this landlord of hell. Everyone knew the state of the apartments and this landlord and they let it go on. Shame on them( past councillor, the City and everyone eles responsible for these vulnerable people) Jack

  • 830 Lansdowne Ave Development   26 weeks 2 days ago

    The Toronto Star has a story about the apartment building at 1011 Lansdowne and efforts to make it better. http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1303079---odd-bedfellows-make-ni...

  • Solways closing   26 weeks 5 days ago

    I have bittersweet feelings about Solways closing. I'll miss seeing dinosaurs while walking on the Railpath and how my kids were always in awe over the claw that picked up huge piles of metal.

    So goes the evolution of our neighbourhood...

  • Solways closing   26 weeks 5 days ago

    Via a friend on Facebook:

    "i just saw a truck hauling away the solways crane and the lot is completely empty. no metal whatsoever."

  • Junction Triangle Rail Committee   26 weeks 6 days ago

    The Ontario Auditor has raised questions about the financial viability of the Metrolinx Diesel Airport Link and the ridership numbers.

    http://www.auditor.on.ca/en/reports_2012_en.htm (Item 3.09). An amazing read and a vindication of what residents have been saying. Interesting that the public has not been made aware of MX's "revised" ridership numbers. Might be time for an access to information request. Start reading at page 211.

    "Ministry of Transportation documentation indicated that a private-sector group that previously was the successful proponent for designing, building and operating the ARL was unable to secure financing for the venture because prospective lenders felt that despite all reasonable efforts to attract riders, the service might not generate enough revenues to be a viable business. A market assess-ment conducted by Metrolinx also suggests that ARL ridership may not meet the initial assumptions about ridership growth."

    "Metrolinx should work with the Ministry of Transportation to clearly define the business model under which the Air Rail Link (ARL) should operate to ensure that the ARL will be a viable and sustainable operation. Given the importance of having a reliable estimate of projected ridership at the various possible fare levels, Metrolinx should periodically update its ridership forecast."

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/metrolinx-in-ontario-a-gs-s...

    http://torontoist.com/2012/12/ontarios-auditor-general-thinks-the-union-...

  • General Electric / Hitachi Uranium Processing Plant on Dupont St.   27 weeks 2 hours ago

    I've taken it down while I confirm some information...

  • General Electric / Hitachi Uranium Processing Plant on Dupont St.   27 weeks 10 hours ago

    One of the people involved in running last Saturday's meeting was an anarchist named Ashleigh Ingle. She was working very closely with Jonah Schein, and had some conversation with Andrew Cash in the middle of the panel. This all makes sense when we study Schein's history- he's played dirty tricks with the anarchist Ontation Coalition Against Poverty.

    It's hard to be certain- but it looks like some dirty tricks may be being played here...

    http://www.genuinewitty.com/2012/12/12/ge-hitachi-andrew-cash-jonah-sche...

  • Boys & Girls Club Raffle Tickets - win one return trip for 2 on Westjet with Spending Money!!   27 weeks 6 days ago

    see the above post!

  • Solways closing   28 weeks 5 hours ago

    I was just browsing around on Google Streetview in front of Solways:
    http://goo.gl/maps/OwaVs

    Streetview really captured a great moment in time here. It was a weekday morning, in August 2011. Ernest Ave. was packed with trucks, the sweeper guy was out working hard (they even managed to miss censoring his face in one of the views), other Solways workers are checking out the Streetview car, the Georgetown GO train is pulling into Bloor station.... and everything has a nice glow to it from the sunrise.

    There are many things I will actually miss about Solways. Having some rough-around-the-edges type of business still working here gives this neighbourhood some character. I enjoyed watching the trucks and heavy machinery moving piles of metal around, especially with my son. And I'm not the only one....It's funny how often I'd see parents with their kids hanging out watching the show! Sometimes you'd see large, strange metal objects stored there. And who can forget the dinosaurs?

    Solways also provided a valuable service for people in the neighbourhood and from elsewhere. It was convenient for anyone who wanted to get some cash for recycling metal rather than throwing it out. Even the scrap collectors patrolling our laneways do a valuable service. I never throw out any kind of recyclable metal into the garbage...it gets separated and put in the lane, because I know someone will take it, recycle it, and earn some money for doing so. This kind of "service" will likely slow down a bit once the scrapyard isn't so close-by.

    I keep bumping into artists, especially anyone who does sculpture, who sing the praises of Solways for buying new metal and for finding really interesting odd'n'ends to put into their works. They will miss this place.

    Of course, I won't miss the trucks on Symington and Ernest (especially those who decide to do crazy/dangerous stuff like back up down the block without a spotter during the morning school rush). I won't miss the noise and dust either (and I'm sure the "Brownstones" residents would agree). No more fires here, I hope. And I can live without the more enthusiastic scrappers who steal wire, building materials, or other stuff that can be carted away quickly for good money. I can't imagine how badly contaminated the ground is under that site too.

    So long....farewell.