Recent comments

  • new banh mi sandwich place on dupont/symington?   3 years 1 week ago

    We can't say enough how grateful we are to be in such a wonderful community! Along with banh mi with tasty char-grilled fillings, we offer soup, salad, baked goods and smoothies too. For the latest on what we are doing, you can always find us on facebook.com/baguetteco

    Best,
    Lynn and Yong

  • End of a JT landmark?   3 years 1 week ago

    Thanks, that's reassuring.

  • End of a JT landmark?   3 years 1 week ago

    The only change is to reconfigure the east side stairs so that access is in the north-south direction, winding back on itself a once half way up. There will be no change to the main span or west side stairs. I live inthe neighbourhood and am doing work for the developer on this bridge with access to the building plans. The main span of the bridge is listed with the City as a heritage structure, so it would generally not be possible to demolish it without a very valid reason. Aside from a very cool structuee, this bridge serves a very usefull purpose for the community and is very well used by many people.

  • End of a JT landmark?   3 years 2 weeks ago

    Vic is correct. The bridge will be closed later this summer for 2 weeks. We are hoping that there will be bird netting put under the bridge too so people can sit under the bridge without heing pooed on.

  • End of a JT landmark?   3 years 2 weeks ago

    Unless something recently changed, the plan has been to just reconfigure the staircase so it does not interfere with the new road.

  • Davenport Diamond Grade Separation   3 years 2 weeks ago

    Seems like they are inviting select households to be part of the residents panel. I don't think it is fair to allow metrolinx to decide who can be on this panel. Has anyone received an invite who lives close to the tracks? I somehow doubt it. I would like to sign up on this panel, but require a 6 digit code. I think this is terrible, will bring down property values, add more pollution to the neighbourhood including sound, vibration, air, etc... Elevating a diesel train makes the pollution worse. This should be underground, end of story.

  • new banh mi sandwich place on dupont/symington?   3 years 2 weeks ago

    You're probably thinking of Baguette & Co. at Dupont and Edwin: https://www.junctiontriangle.ca/node/2434

  • Davenport Diamond Grade Separation   3 years 2 weeks ago

    The Barrie corridor and the Georgetown corridor should meet at Weston and from Weston to Union station should be a double track, in another words both track join to run parallel each other, so from York University instead going strait to Union station, go to join the Georgetown at Weston and run parallel to Union station. If a bridge is needed, is much easier to serve both at the same time.

  • Property Tax Reduction [Re: Nitta Gelatin Odour]   3 years 3 weeks ago

    i have just filed a request to the corresponding office to review my property tax and potentially have it reduced. i cant wait to see what they say.

  • Property Tax Reduction [Re: Nitta Gelatin Odour]   3 years 3 weeks ago

    i see. so there is nothing else we can do to get rid of this nasty smell...maybe i'll move out of the area soon if this smell does not go away...it smells really really bad, and it was my fault for not realizing this smell prior to purchasing the new home...just sour!!!!

  • Property Tax Reduction [Re: Nitta Gelatin Odour]   3 years 3 weeks ago

    CRA does not manager property taxes, they are managed by the city of Toronto, and the Ministry of the Environment is provincial so they would not be impacted by the city reducing your property taxes. The city of Toronto does have provisions for temporary property tax reductions when you can't make use of your home, but this is normally meant for people who's homes burn down of something similar, even then the reductions are generally not significant. I would also make the point that you are not charged property taxes for the use of your home, you are charged property taxes for city services like garbage pickup, use of streets, public transit, parks, fire department, police etc. I'm not clear that any of those services are impacted by the smell.

  • Nitta Gelatin factory emissions increasing?   3 years 3 weeks ago

    it's really really bad at this very particular moment...jesus christ

  • Nitta Gelatin factory emissions increasing?   3 years 3 weeks ago

    Oh it was horrible last week...coming out of the station you could smell it...i understand it's a place of employment but the days of industries in the middle of residential neighborhoods needs to be reconsidered...

  • Nitta Gelatin factory emissions increasing?   3 years 3 weeks ago

    hi neighbors,

    i've just moved to the this neighbourhood. this does smell really bad...realized the smell last week..did anyone else smell it?....let's complain

  • Davenport Diamond Grade Separation   3 years 4 weeks ago

    thank you for the summary!

  • Davenport Diamond Grade Separation   3 years 4 weeks ago

    It bugs me that lines like this are promoted as being environmentally good but in fact they subsidize urban sprawl allowing people to lead low density lives in Georgetown and Newmarket while higher density areas like ours are stuck with eyesores, noise, no direct benefits and we are left begging for local transit.

  • Davenport Diamond Grade Separation   3 years 4 weeks ago

    These are notes from the meeting taken by Liz Sutherland of Cycle Toronto. She has made them available for those who were not able to attend.

    Metrolinx community meeting on the “Davenport Community Rail Overpass”
    a.k.a. the “Davenport Diamond superbridge”
    March 11, 2015

    Donna Cowan of DIGIN organized a meeting for local residents with Metrolinx to hear about the plans for grade separation of the Barrie GO line at the Davenport Diamond (where the GO tracks cross the CN/CP line just north-west of the Dupont-Lansdowne intersection).
    The grade separation is planned as part of Metrolinx’s Regional Express Rail (GO train service expansion), and more specifically to support 15-minute all-day service to Barrie.
    Meeting participants included representatives from:
    • DIGIN Community Group
    • Davenport Neighbourhood Association
    • Cycle Toronto Ward 18
    • Clean Train Coalition
    • Councillor Ana Bailão’s staff
    • MPP Cristina Martins’ staff
    • MP Andrew Cash’s staff
    • 15- 20 residents (DIGIN kept a list).

    The project (highlights):
    • Metrolinx staff (Manuel Pedrosa and two others) presented the plans for the rail bridge.
    • The north-south GO track would start to rise just north of Bloor, reaching its apex just north of Dupont, and descending to ground level before St. Clair.
    • Construction will take 2 years.
    • Metrolinx has already investigated, and rejected, a tunnel option that would mean 4-5 years of construction, much higher costs, and lengthy road closures (Bloor, Dupont, Davenport, St. Clair).
    • The purpose of this meeting is to solicit community input on the elements they would like to see included in improvements to the land under and around the elevated rail line.
    • There is no set budget for community improvements as they are still seeking input on what the project would look like.
    • Metrolinx noted that they now have a “Design Excellence Committee,” including actual designers (as opposed to engineers), who will have a say in how infrastructure is built.
    • It is not known yet which body (City, Metrolinx, a potential “Friends of the Railbridge” organization, etc.) will maintain the land under the bridge.

    Residents’ reactions (highlights):
    • Metrolinx has already decided on the “over” (bridge) option and discarded too soon the “under” (tunnel) option. Earlier consultations in 2009 (before the project was postponed) showed that residents clearly preferred a tunnel. Why is this consultation not about the two options?
    • The bridge will be a large eyesore and no one was told about it in advance. The people who have bought homes in the new condo building at Dupont & Lansdowne will be staring at a bridge straight out of their bedroom windows.
    • The tracks will be 8.5 metres above ground. The likely addition of noise-walls means the structure will tower 13.5 metres, or 4 storeys, over the ground. What will be the aesthetic impact on our neighbourhood?
    • This plan is not consistent with the City’s secondary plan for Davenport Village.
    • This plan will disrupt the Junction Triangle Traffic Management Planning project.
    • Residents are still feeling burned about the noise wall consultations and the lack of a timeline to convert diesel trains to electric. All that RER means to local residents is more pollution.
    • Residents have noted in the Star article that Metrolinx has no funding for the community benefit projects they are proposing for the area. They want Metrolinx to put up some money early as a gesture of good faith.
    • If a bridge has to be built, residents want to see Metrolinx make this project “great.” Let’s design a beautiful bridge and useful spaces for communities underneath it.
    • Residents want to see renderings of what the bridge will look like at different points, e.g., at Wallace, Dupont, etc.

    Cycling/active transportation considerations:
    • Metrolinx is aware of the opportunities to connect any new active transportation corridors with the West Toronto Railpath and the Green Line.
    • Cycle Toronto Ward 18 representatives noted that a north-south rail trail along the CN tracks was promised in the 2001 Toronto Bike Plan. The Davenport Diamond project should include a north-south cycling route that would help to kick-start this rail trail and connect central Toronto to the Finch Hydro Corridor and York University.
    • Residents were supportive of suggestions to improve active transportation corridors (east-west and north-south).
    • Metrolinx responded that there was certainly an opportunity to look at both east-west local connections and a north-south cycling corridor under the new bridge.

    The consultation process:
    • Metrolinx plans to set up a 36-person community panel that will meet for four Saturdays plus one evening between April and June to discuss how to use the repurposed land under the proposed bridge.
    • Author, broadcaster, and Jane’s Walk co-founder Jane Farrow, now with public consultation firm MASS LBP, has been hired by Metrolinx to help facilitate the community process.
    • Next Metrolinx community meeting is April 1 with BIG on Bloor/Bloordale BIA: https://www.junctiontriangle.ca/node/2450
    • May 13 will be the date for a major public consultation meeting (Details TBA).

    Cycle Toronto Ward 18 will be monitoring this process closely and intervening whenever possible to promote high-quality active transportation infrastructure as part of the project. If you would like to get involved, please email us at ward18@cycleto.ca.

    Further reading
    Recent background:
    https://www.junctiontriangle.ca/DavenportDiamond (includes more deep background via links)
    http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/transportation/2015/03/07/metrolinx-conv...

    Older (from 2009-10):
    http://transit.toronto.on.ca/archives/weblog/2009/05/02-davenport_.shtml
    http://railroadedbymetrolinx.blogspot.ca/2010/02/we-need-heroes-in-daven...

  • Davenport Diamond Grade Separation   3 years 4 weeks ago

    I may have missed it somewhere on this site but how did the discussions on March 11th go, between DIGIN and Metrolinx?

  • Davenport Diamond Grade Separation   3 years 4 weeks ago

    This will be a huge eyesore for our neighbourhood....raised tracks right through residential areas.

    This is what I imagine it would look like:

    https://acdn.architizer.com/thumbnails-PRODUCTION/23/0c/230c32ca45946710...

    ....and Metrolinx will get away with it...shame.

  • Davenport Diamond Grade Separation   3 years 4 weeks ago

    A story from today's Globe and Mail about plans to elevate the Barrie Go line through the Junction Triangle.

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/metrolinx-hopes-go-train-bri...

  • Baguette and Co.   3 years 4 weeks ago
  • Baguette and Co.   3 years 4 weeks ago

    Hello from Urban Gardener!

    We just came across this thread and wanted to say that we're not going to be a fruit stand -- but a garden boutique. We're a full-service landscaping company and the store will feature plants, garden supplies, and handcrafted artisan items. We're really excited to be in the neighborhood and we'll be opening April 2.

    See you then!

  • Baguette and Co.   3 years 4 weeks ago

    So will it be a fruit stand?

  • Baguette and Co.   3 years 4 weeks ago

    Confirmed by the sign up today

  • 5th Anniversary of Junction Triangle Naming Project   3 years 4 weeks ago

    Monday, March 16 is the fifth anniversary of the Fuzzy Boundaries neighbourhood naming project. Here's how the Globe and Mail's John Barber described the initiative on May 13, 2009.
    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/nameless-neighbourhood-seek...