I don't assign the blame to the railpath at all. In fact, my point is more about how now that we have the railpath it feels even more than ever that something needs to be done about it. There's no reason that any neighbourhood should have to put up with these crimes but if it happened prior to the railpath there was less of a chance anyone would be affected (as someone else mentioned, the area was less busy). Now, it's very likely that if someone feels it necessary to have sex/do drugs in public at dusk there will be families walking by.
My comfort and safety in my own neighbourhood is far more important than my property value and I can't be alone in thinking that. It's good to know that things are taken seriously when reported and hopefully none of us will have to make many calls going forward.
"While much of the city wasn’t paying attention, something incredible grew alongside the west end’s dirty auto body shops, squat industrial buildings, warehouses and factories. Something snake-like, and with a rough charm that seduces young and old alike; something so long, it begins a few blocks north of Dupont Street and winds past Wallace Avenue, mighty Bloor Street West and, after a total of 2.1 kilometres, finally curls around to rest at Dundas Street West.
The West Toronto Railpath is more than a bike trail: it’s an after-dinner stroller’s paradise, a wildlife sanctuary, a “resilience ecology,” an art piece, and, lastly, a weaving of residential neighbourhoods into a forgotten finger of land that once contained a narrow-gauge railway line.
Because of all that, this linear park may be the most important public space the city has created in the past decade."
Please read this story. More and more people are banging their heads against the wall with Metrolinx's foot dragging and deliberate stonewalling. Read for yourself.
Thanks for the diesel train update, Kevin; I wasn't able to go yesterday.
The Ontario Government's lack of planning, vision, and political representation on this issue has been appaling. You have to wonder where their interests are when they are pushing ahead to implement a decision that is bad on so many levels (fiscal, environmental, global standards for urban transportation, health care, etc.) It's a bit of a joke at this point.....
Has everyone been up to visit our new air quality monitoring station on the Railpath?
"Toronto is a city full of hidden gems; the more I explore it, the more I appreciate what each neighbourhood has to offer. Recently, I discovered the West Toronto RailPath (WTR), which—in addition to being a destination in itself—allows for leisurely travel between two areas of Toronto. The pleasant trail spans roughly 2 km, from The Junction to the northwest corner of the downtown."
The Metrolinx Electric Train Update (“Not Anytime Soon”) was a well attended meeting last night with residents, interest groups and local politicians from all levels in attendance. While everyone was given an opportunity to speak, there were no decision makers or government representatives in attendance. Well paid consultants answered questions while PR flacks made notes that will be added to a large file marked IGNORE.
Metrolinx representatives repeated that diesel trains are scheduled to begin on the Airport Rail Link beginning in February, 2015. All the approvals are in place and construction is well underway.
Sound mitigation walls five metres tall will be installed along the entire corridor before service begins. (by comparison, the Berlin Wall was 3.6 metres.) The West Toronto Railpath will see the existing fence with ivy and Virginia creeper growing on it, replaced with a massive, solid block wall running its entire length (like you see along the 401 now).
The current Metrolinx Electrification Study will finish just a few months before diesel trains start running to the airport. Officials made it clear that there are no technical issues preventing the construction of an electric train airport link except the political will (construction would take three years to complete). But it is clear the government has no interest in listening, they have all of us going to meetings with all the other electric train advocates talking to people with no power to make decisions while construction ploughs on.
Diesel trains are here to stay unless something big happens real soon. Metrolinx officials made it clear last night they are prepared to study and discuss electric trains for another two years, but they have no mandate or funding to design, build or operate electric trains. They have a mandate to talk the clock out and when the talking stops, we’ll have a much bigger diesel train network running through West Toronto.
If it's any comfort I did let the Unit Commander know and he acknowledged my email. I didn’t ask the course of action they would be taken because I am not privileged to that information. However I will bet they will increase patrols
You reporting crime will help. All calls are recorded for stats, squeaky wheel gets attention, more calls more attention. I am hoping that this community is more then a place to make a profit/money, but someone's home and community.
Keep calling when you see, know or hear about crime.
Long time residents like Jack, or Darcy, Pat or Simone will tell you that there has always been issues on the dead ends; its the nature of dead ends where there are no eyeballs. Railpath has actually made things safer by creating more street traffic and more eyeballs along the dead ends. 10 years ago one rarely saw cyclists or late night walkers around here but now its rare to go more than a minute without seeing some and that is good. Some of those people have even posted stories on this site (like the plant thief). There is crime in every community and but the good news is that the rate in ours has gone down every year for more than the last decade as seen in the stats provided to me by our local Community Officer. I think it is good that you are diligent and making calls but be careful not to start assigning blame to things like Railpath, the problems existed already.
I say continue to call the police and yes they do care.
There was a time in the JT were I was told by residents and by other residents from near by communities to be quiet and less boisterous about saying things about crime in the community, because it might drive down the price of the homes. One time someone found drugs at (Erwin Krickhan park) Rankin park at the kids play ground, but decided not to call because she didn't want to bring negative attention, wrong. We should always call the police and the police encourages us to call as well.
All calls are dispatched by the call centre, which I had a tour of. They are dispatched according to the type of calls, priority, unless it's a 911 call they always dispatched, unless otherwise, but the staff is well trained. Yes, it's a crime to have sex in public and it's also about quality of life for the neighbourhood. I will forward this email to the Unit Commander who takes all concerns from residents seriously, how do I know this because I was a volunteer member of the 11 division CPLC(community police liaison committee) for many years, as well a volunteer for Victim Services for about 10 years and yes police care, including the men and women of 11 div.
So continue to call and take notes, maybe licence plate numbers. Of course be careful, you don't want to be a victim. Don't be discourage to call you are doing the right thing. Jack
I live right along the railpath and have found myself calling the police more often than ever. If it's not one of a few cars with occupants fine having sex in broad daylight, it's obvious drug deals. I'm sick of walking my dog around used condoms and drug paraphernalia.
I can't constantly phone the police. In fact, I phoned when there were two people having sex in a car at 8pm on Friday night infront of Solways with families all walking by and they called back two hours later to say they hadn't gotten there yet and wanted to know if I still saw the car. It seems they don't really care about issues like this but it perpetuates the impression that these are areas in our city where you can get away with this stuff.
How do we get something done about safety in our neighbourhood?
I have heard this little creature many times over the past couple of years. He/she is often singing away atop one of the wooden hydro poles just north of the Wallace footbridge. I think it's been in the morning mostly, if I remember correctly.
It wasn't me, but Roy Mitchell who made the recording. This is what he posted on Facebook:
"It's all the same bird! Incredible. When I first heard it, I thought it was an audio loop. I made this recording around 12:30 am - June 19,2012"
I'll have to slow down and listen for myself next time I'm down there too. I wonder if I've heard this bird before, but never really paid attention to it.
I have listened to the audio recording many times and I hope I will be able to hear the mockingbirds create those beautiful sounds next time when I walk along the railpath. May I ask what time you happened to be there?
This is awesome! Thanks for sharing.
This is kind of cool: An audio recording of a mockingbird at the south end of the Railpath. I also like the sound of the streetcars going by on the Dundas St. bridge.
Any word on what will become of the ZELLERS? Is my pipe dream of a WINNERS just that? And what of the existing Dollarrama at Lansdowne? Seeing the condos go up, why do I feel that space will be attracting different retail? Any idea?
Was at Galleria tonight and there were signs up advertising that Dollarama was moving into the space were the off track betting was. Also Price Chopper is being converted into a Fresh Co. I have never seen any zoning amendment signs up so I don't know what possible condo development could go there.
The closed Galleria Zellers is one of 84 stores left in limbo after 189 were bought by Target, (Cloverdale, Centrepoint, Danforth, Woodbine Ctr, Bridlewood, East York TC), which spun off 39 to Walmart (Gerrard Sq, Sheridan, Cedarbrae). Zellers said it would attempt to sell the 84 to other retailers or the land owner.
Price Chopper is also a category under performer. Over the past 2 years some have closed and others repackaged as FreshCo.
Not sure if the stalled mall project will restart. The condo market is strong particularly in ward 18, but it's not easy competing with the thousands of relatively cheap units flooding the market a couple of blocks away along Lansdowne (and elsewhere) as cheap industrial land is being redesignated for condos. Falus admits "they got the land for a decent price.."
The marketing people seem really confused as to where 362 Wallace is. They show a picture of the Railpath signs because it is a "W" but they cant be bothered to mention Railpath. Yikes. JT doesnt need High Park to be cool. : )
Zellers is now closing, as is the dollar store. Does anyone know if anything new is planning to go in, or is Falus letting the leases run out, and still planning on doing another mega development there?
As Metro and Shoppers Drug Mart will be going in just down the street, I wonder what the fate will be for the Price Chopper and Pharma Plus? McDonalds recently underwent a renovation, but nothing else has changed in that mall for some time.
I don't assign the blame to the railpath at all. In fact, my point is more about how now that we have the railpath it feels even more than ever that something needs to be done about it. There's no reason that any neighbourhood should have to put up with these crimes but if it happened prior to the railpath there was less of a chance anyone would be affected (as someone else mentioned, the area was less busy). Now, it's very likely that if someone feels it necessary to have sex/do drugs in public at dusk there will be families walking by.
My comfort and safety in my own neighbourhood is far more important than my property value and I can't be alone in thinking that. It's good to know that things are taken seriously when reported and hopefully none of us will have to make many calls going forward.
The Globe & Mail's Dave Leblanc has an article today about the West Toronto Railpath:
Read the rest here.
Please read this story. More and more people are banging their heads against the wall with Metrolinx's foot dragging and deliberate stonewalling. Read for yourself.
Air-rail link: Residents frustrated with message from Metrolinx on electrification
http://www.insidetoronto.com/news/local/article/1384295--air-rail-link-r...
Thanks for the diesel train update, Kevin; I wasn't able to go yesterday.
The Ontario Government's lack of planning, vision, and political representation on this issue has been appaling. You have to wonder where their interests are when they are pushing ahead to implement a decision that is bad on so many levels (fiscal, environmental, global standards for urban transportation, health care, etc.) It's a bit of a joke at this point.....
Has everyone been up to visit our new air quality monitoring station on the Railpath?
An article posted on the Transit Hub blog:
http://transithubto.blogspot.ca/2012/06/guest-post-adventures-on-west-to...
Read the rest here.
The Metrolinx Electric Train Update (“Not Anytime Soon”) was a well attended meeting last night with residents, interest groups and local politicians from all levels in attendance. While everyone was given an opportunity to speak, there were no decision makers or government representatives in attendance. Well paid consultants answered questions while PR flacks made notes that will be added to a large file marked IGNORE.
Metrolinx representatives repeated that diesel trains are scheduled to begin on the Airport Rail Link beginning in February, 2015. All the approvals are in place and construction is well underway.
Sound mitigation walls five metres tall will be installed along the entire corridor before service begins. (by comparison, the Berlin Wall was 3.6 metres.) The West Toronto Railpath will see the existing fence with ivy and Virginia creeper growing on it, replaced with a massive, solid block wall running its entire length (like you see along the 401 now).
The current Metrolinx Electrification Study will finish just a few months before diesel trains start running to the airport. Officials made it clear that there are no technical issues preventing the construction of an electric train airport link except the political will (construction would take three years to complete). But it is clear the government has no interest in listening, they have all of us going to meetings with all the other electric train advocates talking to people with no power to make decisions while construction ploughs on.
Diesel trains are here to stay unless something big happens real soon. Metrolinx officials made it clear last night they are prepared to study and discuss electric trains for another two years, but they have no mandate or funding to design, build or operate electric trains. They have a mandate to talk the clock out and when the talking stops, we’ll have a much bigger diesel train network running through West Toronto.
A "bike spotting" article was posted by Dandyhorse Magazine today, where they interview several cyclists using the Dupont St. bike lanes:
http://dandyhorsemagazine.com/bikespotting/2012/06/25/bikespotting-dupon...
If it's any comfort I did let the Unit Commander know and he acknowledged my email. I didn’t ask the course of action they would be taken because I am not privileged to that information. However I will bet they will increase patrols
You reporting crime will help. All calls are recorded for stats, squeaky wheel gets attention, more calls more attention. I am hoping that this community is more then a place to make a profit/money, but someone's home and community.
Keep calling when you see, know or hear about crime.
Long time residents like Jack, or Darcy, Pat or Simone will tell you that there has always been issues on the dead ends; its the nature of dead ends where there are no eyeballs. Railpath has actually made things safer by creating more street traffic and more eyeballs along the dead ends. 10 years ago one rarely saw cyclists or late night walkers around here but now its rare to go more than a minute without seeing some and that is good. Some of those people have even posted stories on this site (like the plant thief). There is crime in every community and but the good news is that the rate in ours has gone down every year for more than the last decade as seen in the stats provided to me by our local Community Officer. I think it is good that you are diligent and making calls but be careful not to start assigning blame to things like Railpath, the problems existed already.
I say continue to call the police and yes they do care.
There was a time in the JT were I was told by residents and by other residents from near by communities to be quiet and less boisterous about saying things about crime in the community, because it might drive down the price of the homes. One time someone found drugs at (Erwin Krickhan park) Rankin park at the kids play ground, but decided not to call because she didn't want to bring negative attention, wrong. We should always call the police and the police encourages us to call as well.
All calls are dispatched by the call centre, which I had a tour of. They are dispatched according to the type of calls, priority, unless it's a 911 call they always dispatched, unless otherwise, but the staff is well trained. Yes, it's a crime to have sex in public and it's also about quality of life for the neighbourhood. I will forward this email to the Unit Commander who takes all concerns from residents seriously, how do I know this because I was a volunteer member of the 11 division CPLC(community police liaison committee) for many years, as well a volunteer for Victim Services for about 10 years and yes police care, including the men and women of 11 div.
So continue to call and take notes, maybe licence plate numbers. Of course be careful, you don't want to be a victim. Don't be discourage to call you are doing the right thing. Jack
I live right along the railpath and have found myself calling the police more often than ever. If it's not one of a few cars with occupants fine having sex in broad daylight, it's obvious drug deals. I'm sick of walking my dog around used condoms and drug paraphernalia.
I can't constantly phone the police. In fact, I phoned when there were two people having sex in a car at 8pm on Friday night infront of Solways with families all walking by and they called back two hours later to say they hadn't gotten there yet and wanted to know if I still saw the car. It seems they don't really care about issues like this but it perpetuates the impression that these are areas in our city where you can get away with this stuff.
How do we get something done about safety in our neighbourhood?
I have heard this little creature many times over the past couple of years. He/she is often singing away atop one of the wooden hydro poles just north of the Wallace footbridge. I think it's been in the morning mostly, if I remember correctly.
It wasn't me, but Roy Mitchell who made the recording. This is what he posted on Facebook:
"It's all the same bird! Incredible. When I first heard it, I thought it was an audio loop. I made this recording around 12:30 am - June 19,2012"
I'll have to slow down and listen for myself next time I'm down there too. I wonder if I've heard this bird before, but never really paid attention to it.
I have listened to the audio recording many times and I hope I will be able to hear the mockingbirds create those beautiful sounds next time when I walk along the railpath. May I ask what time you happened to be there?
This is awesome! Thanks for sharing.
This is kind of cool: An audio recording of a mockingbird at the south end of the Railpath. I also like the sound of the streetcars going by on the Dundas St. bridge.
http://soundcloud.com/royb50/mockingbird-on-railpath
Hello I'm wondering about the venue?
Toronto Life article with plenty of photos:
http://www.torontolife.com/daily/daily-dish/opening-daily-dish/2012/06/1...
Any word on what will become of the ZELLERS? Is my pipe dream of a WINNERS just that? And what of the existing Dollarrama at Lansdowne? Seeing the condos go up, why do I feel that space will be attracting different retail? Any idea?
Was at Galleria tonight and there were signs up advertising that Dollarama was moving into the space were the off track betting was. Also Price Chopper is being converted into a Fresh Co. I have never seen any zoning amendment signs up so I don't know what possible condo development could go there.
In 2004 the Galleria development was approved for 1,565 res units but long time leases by McDonalds and Zellers led to phasing issues.
https://www.geog.utoronto.ca/graduate/planning/student-work/cip/2006-07-...
The closed Galleria Zellers is one of 84 stores left in limbo after 189 were bought by Target, (Cloverdale, Centrepoint, Danforth, Woodbine Ctr, Bridlewood, East York TC), which spun off 39 to Walmart (Gerrard Sq, Sheridan, Cedarbrae). Zellers said it would attempt to sell the 84 to other retailers or the land owner.
Price Chopper is also a category under performer. Over the past 2 years some have closed and others repackaged as FreshCo.
Not sure if the stalled mall project will restart. The condo market is strong particularly in ward 18, but it's not easy competing with the thousands of relatively cheap units flooding the market a couple of blocks away along Lansdowne (and elsewhere) as cheap industrial land is being redesignated for condos. Falus admits "they got the land for a decent price.."
I had heard rumours that he was a partner in the deal, but I definitely could have been led astray.
Just did some googling, and found this from 2004 http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/2004/agendas/committees/ts/ts040608/it004.pdf which lists the owner as Marca Development Corporation on the first page, but farther in it lists the owner as Ontario Potato Distributing Inc.
Dollarama is interesting, as there is already a location very close in the Standard Lofts.
The marketing people seem really confused as to where 362 Wallace is. They show a picture of the Railpath signs because it is a "W" but they cant be bothered to mention Railpath. Yikes. JT doesnt need High Park to be cool. : )
I'm not sure Falus owns that site. I think it is a U.S. based group. Dollarama is apparently moving into the mall.
Zellers is now closing, as is the dollar store. Does anyone know if anything new is planning to go in, or is Falus letting the leases run out, and still planning on doing another mega development there?
As Metro and Shoppers Drug Mart will be going in just down the street, I wonder what the fate will be for the Price Chopper and Pharma Plus? McDonalds recently underwent a renovation, but nothing else has changed in that mall for some time.