this is so surprising. they should certainly let the neighbourhood know what's happened there..as well as all those folks that volunteered their time/materials etc etc.
On September the 29th at 8:00 PM there will be a debate on Rogers television cable 10 for the candidates for councillor in Ward 18. Tune in to see what the candidates have to say.
Wait a second, the children of JT got screwed around a few years ago and then a local business worked out a deal that included an entire year of work which included of donations from companies, the community, highschool students,the City, the United Way, paying rent for a year while the new centre was being built, plus new sidewalks in front and now on the first day of school the Boys and Girls Club decides without any public notification to walk away? What the heck is going on here ?
This is an absolute outrage. I don't know the reasoning behind this or the details but the honourable and accountable thing would be for the BGC to meet the JT community in person and explain what is going on and open their books. Where did our money go folks? And now how much of our money is about to be thrown out?
If the feisty JT community was looking for a unifying purpose, this deplorable dashing of childrens opportunities is it. Why should our kids be second class citizens?
The Queen West BIA is hosting a Mayor's Debate this Thursday, September 9th at the Gladstone Hotel (1214 Queen West). The event starts with a meet and greet at 5 p.m. followed by the candidates Question and Answers session at 6 p.m.
The event is being streamed online and has three media moderators participating in the event - Marcus Gee from the Globe and Mail, Julie King from CanadaOne.com and Rick Spence of the Financial Post. The participation of three journalists promises to bring some balance to the discussion of entrepreneurship, small and medium sized businesses. More info can be found at http://westqueenwest.ca/event/toronto-mayoral-candidates-small-business-...
With the rain falling steadily, today's Junction Triangle Playdate has been moved to 2 p.m. in Perth Square Park. Hopefully the sun will be able to join us this afternoon.
It goes without saying that in this city it's all about the car. Car drivers are selfish monsters, the ogres of nightmares -- we all know that. They INVENTED the sense of entitlement. What I don't like is this attitude that cyclists are always copping, this "poor-us" response, as in, "Poor us. We're clearly superior, because OUR vehicles don't pollute. Yet car drivers hate us and would rather not have us on the roads! Why don't those sniveling pedestrians get out of our way and make obeisance to our radiantly godlike selves? Can't they see that we can't possibly abide by the absurd rules the city attempts to impose on us?"
I'm not like Rob Ford, because if he has his way when he becomes mayor (and he will -- there are enough stupid people to elect him) he will take away all the bike lanes. He believes there's no place for cyclists WHATSOEVER on our roads, and that when cyclists are killed in traffic, "it's their own fault" (for trying to ride a bike in the city at all, apparently). He's a troglodyte whose brain ought to be in a jar of formaldehyde, but a lot of godawful neo-conservative crudballs share his opinion.
I don't look forward to the day, believe you me, that his bloated carcass ascends to the mayor's chair. Because that's the day that all cyclists will be forced onto the sidewalk forever. The police do not care and never have, so they'll be thrilled to see cyclists banned from traffic. They've always had more important things to attend to, like taking bribes from the right people and working on their brutality techniques. (And I must say I was pretty proud of how they got to show off all the hard work they've done honing their insensitivity skills during that wonderful G20 summit!)
We can never live in a city where people behave with civility. I for one have long since accepted that it's impossible, when we've got so many people who are convinced that the only way for things to be fair is for the most vulnerable to accept that they must cede their rights to people with a greater advantage. That, to me, seems like inverse logic. You can yap about paradigm shifts until your face turns blue, I say you can take your paradigm shift and shove it up your Schwinn. The only thing I can do now is to vent on sites like this: the loss of any sense of fairness in this society is a foregone conclusion, and has been for a long time now.
Well, after watching some of this unfold, I have to say that it is a tremendous diasppointment that the Giraffe has been stunted. I can't imagine what better thing could happen to that intersection- something unique and interesting and a beacon to boot- perhaps it might have been a catalyst to inspire some other creative ideas for the area, or simply to have been a fresh injection of life and intrigue in an otherwise drab crossroads. Too bad.....could have been really neat.
Agreed; the old feeling there had a unique texture to it, however, enviornmental cleanup is key. Great to see it happening and although I suspect it will be a long time before anything gets constructed, (let alone remediated) it sure is encouraging to see some change as opposed to the lack of maintenance on a dilapidated facade.
Both Shelley & Michael want to thank first Kevin for organising the meet & greet and second, to all of you from the 'Hood who took the time to drop by and participate in the democratic process. The evening was a very productive one on many levels, not the least of which was a chance for folks to meet others from the ward who live south of our little pocket here on Dupont.
Everybody gained something last Thursday. It is great to see so many taking an active role in what is happening in our neighbourhood!
See you all soon (we hope!)
Michael & Shelley
Boo
The demo started sometime last week, and is still happening today. I went by on the weekend to look around and take some photos (may post some later).
At the public meeting hosted by Castlepoint back in January (notes are here), they said they wanted to preserve the walls and the boiler house / chimney, but because of the environmental cleanup that is required, they need to dig down under all of those structures. At the meeting they basically said that the walls will come down (yup, gone now) and that they were uncertain about the boiler/chimney.
Pretty much the entire site has new fencing around it now, so I have a feeling that most of it will come down over the next couple of weeks. I just really, really, hope they can keep the chimney.
I'm a bit saddened that this section of Sterling Rd. has completely changed just in the last couple of months. The Hydro building was demo'd last month (and now site remediation is underway), and with the Tower Auto walls gone, that awesome industrial canyon feeling along there is gone.
But then again....soil cleanup is a good thing too.
Campaign money coming almost exclusively from developers and construction companies is a real concern with so much land in the Junction Triangle prime for development. Equally concerning is that only seven of the 108 donors identified live in the Ward. Who will come first when tough choices have to be made, residents or outsiders with commercial interests?
Never let it be said I didn't listen to criticism. I shall do as you say and stay out of your community and hope we can form one of our own here. Too bad as I thought the Junction was doing a lot to forward the idea of much broader community. I shall respect your borders and wish you luck.
Ken
Sorry to be the barer of facts again but if this some veiled Giambrone comment as part of your ongoing Giambrone crusade you can look up the results of the 2006 election (by polling station) and that would reveal that Giambrone won every single poll in the Ward BY A MILE. Nobody even came close. Hardly playing one area off another. Ward 18 voted for Adam overwhelming in every area. If anything the ward was united. Maybe not the reality you would like, but reality nonetheless. Sorry.
Again a theory of yours is proven not to be accurate.
I have been posting information directly relating to JT and JT issues in the most recent cases backed up by documented facts.
You have started posting here the same stuff that you have been posting for years on other sites. Giambrone is gone. Move on.
Since you are no longer a candidate in this Ward possibly you could continue to post your ideas on your blog for those that are interested or post on a Lansdowne Blog where your point have more interest to people and post here when it relates to the JT (such as an event or rally ). There is more than enough places for you to express your opinion elsewhere but it would be appreciated if it related to JT. I don't think that is too much to ask.
PS : Scott is in "a community that always seemed to be an afterthought to the surrounding communities"...
Well, so am I .
Isn't it interesting that to get elected to city council, any candidate can play off one area against another such that by satisfying..oh, say, 15-20% of the people in one defined geographic area, then subsequently just ignore the otrher 80% or so?
Also sad. It means we all become divided, potentially against each other, when we should ber uniting on the issues that bring us together.
Scott, I have seen your posts where you vociferously complain about other people's opions being out of place or having some ulterior motive. Yet, isn't the essence of an inclusive democratic community one where every individual has the right to free expression of opinion? In my experience, this site seems to suffer an inordinate amount of censorship of certain others' opinions. Okay if it's one person's blog or diatribe, but this site says "this is a community website, ideas and help are always welcome!" If you purport to represent a community, you need to let the community have input.
Feel free to question my accuracy... point taken that crime stats overall are down, but the lived experience of people is that they have fear for their safety. Example: Sun story says about the Lansdowne/College stabbing, "One woman, who gave her name as Leonna, said she doesn't feel safe. "I try not to walk alone at night," she said. "I just don't feel 100% safe here." When she can afford it she said she plans to move." Maybe over the top, but that's the press that people see. So to me it makes it a legitimate election issue.
You said "If you are going to post here please keep to topics that relate to JT"..., Fair enough, but election issues I submit ARE relevant. Vic himself asked for input about election issues.
Scott, I get that you not have voted for me anyways, but I am not one to curry favour by agreeing with things I do not support.
I don't mean to be rude but this website is for residents of Junction Triangle and was created to help give voice to a community that always seemed to be an afterthought to the surrounding communities.
I have read many of your posts on other blogs and read about you in the paper and I am not sure if your over the top pronouncements are helpful or for that matter accurate.
There is crime everywhere and it will always be that way. Every large city in the world experiences crime and in the case of murder most of that is committed by people who know each other. The point is Toronto and our area is pretty safe. If you live in Junction Triangle and Ward 18 then the good news is that crime overall and in EVERY category has been on a steady downward cycle for the last 15 years despite what some people seem to think. Many long term residents gush these days about how great the JT has become with people walking and cycling the streets and walking to the many new eateries in the area. If you had not dropped out of the race you would have been at an overflowing candidates saloon at Boo Radleys; something impossible 10 years ago.
How do I know that crime has gone down? I was given the complete statistics by the Metro Police Crime Analysis Unit and while crime has dropped all across the city, it has dropped even more in our area. This information is available to the public at no charge.
If you are going to post here please keep to topics that relate to JT and please present accurate information instead of fear mongering. Thank you.
1. More police presence! Police often at Tim Horton's on the corner on breaks but ignore traffic infringements, noise, rowdyism. Many of my neighbours, business owners and landlords say they call police often but get little response. Very rarely see photo radar here too.
2. Safety audit needed: Camera at intersection while it would not deter crime, would catch the many near misses, cars whizzing by open streetcar doors, and be a backup for incidents like this. We also need better roadway markings. Signs often in disrepair, hanging at angles, signage not clear to motorists. Has been TTC accidents here too.
3. This area is the forgotten core of ward 18, with no active residents association like at Dufferin Grove or Dyan Marie-arts-land (DigIn). We need active participation by residents, who unfortunately are still angry and feeling disenfranchised from Giambrone's non-consultative Lansdowne narrowing fiasco.
4. Whatever happened to the idea of Neighbourhood Watch? Lots of kids, families still in the area despite wrong-headed move to close West Toronto school. Will it be a community center? Or will city sellout to developers to erect eyesore condominiums?
5. Many residents whose first language is not English are out of the loop and unrepresented in local and city democracy. We need the city to communicate in residents own language: Portugese, Chinese, Spanish, Italian, Vietnamese, etc.
6. There has been no significant "traffic-calming" to Lansdowne Avenenue despite city spending a few million dollars. Cyclist, pedestrian accidents, traffic gridlock, etc. We need to fix what Adam destroyed here. We need more crosswalks, lower speed limit as excessive speeding off rush hours.
7. Graffiti eradication: Just a block from our city councillor's office there is ugly gang tag graffiti everywhere. Why isn't this addressed with arts projects that other areas get?
8. Abandoned prtoperties: Coffee Time at Dundas/Lansdowne closed for long period, marked by graffiti. Much like the Seven-Eleven that sat vacant for years. Businesses on College Street (even right beside Councillor's office) can't make a living. Are they ignored because there is no College Street BIA? City needs affordable housing, yet the property at 1005 (?) College near Havelock is an abandoned eyesore that's been that way a long time.
9. Any City Councillor should represent ALL areas of his or her ward, not just special interest lobby groups. Does such a creature exist?
Yours isn't the only off-topic post I have deleted.
This forum is about the 370 Wallace lands, not about Giambrone's campaign contributions. If you want to talk about that, start another forum. Feel free to re-post if / where appropriate.
The posts about the developer and campaign contributions related to this property are OK. The followups that went on about campaign contributions in general have migrated to an appropriate forum.
I'm just trying to keeps topics in the right places here.
A reminder to everyone to please read the Code of Conduct before posting.
Yes I am fully aware Giambrone is not running for election. The point has to do with the need for constituents to question which sectors of support a candidate has. I see that Scot D's post criticizing Ana Bailo stands, but because I criticize the NDP and Kevin's links, you delete? Why the censorship?
Just walked half a block down to College/Lansdowne on a beautiful Saturday morning to find Police Forensic division investigating the scene in front of the Angolan Bar just next to the recently closed En Contro Portugese bar. There was a knife fight at 11:30pm last night and a 40 year old man was murdered. Scary as my bedroom is maybe 300 feet away and I was up working on my computer. Heard some vague yelling but nothing that twigged an alarm.
Jamie, it is great that you and your young family are moving into the neighbourhood. You are part of a trend in the area with lots of young families choosing to live in the Junction Triangle because it is one of the few (relatively) affordable areas in West Toronto.
I think it is unfortunate that you confuse Scott's criticisms of the "Brownstone Builder" and his legacy of questionable developments with the mistaken idea that he doesn't want to see new residential projects here. We all want to see good things happen here, but given the track record of Mr. Falus and the litany of complaints by many of his customers, it is clear that the neighbourhood needs to actively engage and review all of his building plans carefully. Perhaps if there were a few more people like Scott around ten years ago, the extremely lame Standard Lofts would be a nicer place rather than the cost effective and unimaginative place it is today.
Regarding the election of the next councillor, the donor list of Ana Bailao raises questions that need to be addressed - will she be representing the intersts of her constituents or those developers who funded her campaign in the past? Will she clear the air and reveal her donor list for her current campaign before the election or hide it until the vote is over? With so much land in the Junction Triangle coming on-line for development in the next few years, do we really want a councillor who was/is fully funded by developers?
Thanks for your kind words. Of course you are welcome. But I do suggest that calling people names who you have never met or spent any time with is not very nice. Especially since it was myself and many locals who fought hard to make the building you bought into a nicer place. The added green, the better sightlines, the added trees, better outside finishing, more street friendly layouts, the more secure parking garage, and the link to Railpath were the result of so called NIMBY's in your new area. We even tried to have one less building for more green but the developer would not go for it. We all spent a lot of hours with the developer, the police, the Councillor and the Planning department over about 3 years BEFORE the units went on sale and I was even having friendly discussions with the developers representative only 3 months ago about an outstanding item.So thank you, you are welcome. For the record I don't recall anybody ever saying in our area that un-used land should not be developed.In fact the issue has always been an to make any development match the area and add rather than detract. One area of work has been investigating home work studios for employment lands. A few developers have also helped out with community projects so any attempts to call people anti-development will just get you laughed at. So I am sorry but you don't have any context or knowledge about the area or any of the people who live here. That comes with time. I think you are confusing aversion to cookie cutter terrible development, such as what went on during the Mario Silva days, with some kind of aversion to development in general. It's just not the case.
If you knew me or read other posts here besides ones that relate to you then you would know that I was a very big supporter of the highrise Giraffe building that was canceled by actual NIMBYs and even suggested that it would be welcome in our area on Bloor. Hardly anti-development if you ask me. You might also notice my keen support for the redevelopment of the Church NEXT TO MY HOUSE into lofts. Hardly anti-development.
I also think that you greatly simplify the planning and zoning process that is involved in these kinds of projects. In the case of your building the developer unleashed a team of lobbyists and experts at every community meeting vs. one lone City planner fresh out of school. It was residents who said this development can be better and made it happen. Its part of the process, otherwise you get crap; developing is a for profit business as you know. Good development just doesn't happen because people want it to, it requires monitoring, posting on blogs, and sometimes protesting. I suspect that once you have a place of your own you will not be so quick to judge those that want a say in what is built in their community. Especially since their are upcoming zoning issues all around you that will have a significant impact on your property.
In terms of Ana Bailao, her record speaks for itself and as a person living in an area with a lot of unused land one has to wonder how a councillor, supported in the past almost 100% by the construction industry or those in it will vote on issues about zoning, density, and everything else that goes with it. Ana needs to prove that she will vote for the ward and not for an industry.Remember, I didn't create her donation form, she did.
I am on about 5 committees in our area and there are others and new ones starting. When you move here join in, learn about the area, and leave your mark.
this is so surprising. they should certainly let the neighbourhood know what's happened there..as well as all those folks that volunteered their time/materials etc etc.
On September the 29th at 8:00 PM there will be a debate on Rogers television cable 10 for the candidates for councillor in Ward 18. Tune in to see what the candidates have to say.
Wait a second, the children of JT got screwed around a few years ago and then a local business worked out a deal that included an entire year of work which included of donations from companies, the community, highschool students,the City, the United Way, paying rent for a year while the new centre was being built, plus new sidewalks in front and now on the first day of school the Boys and Girls Club decides without any public notification to walk away? What the heck is going on here ?
This is an absolute outrage. I don't know the reasoning behind this or the details but the honourable and accountable thing would be for the BGC to meet the JT community in person and explain what is going on and open their books. Where did our money go folks? And now how much of our money is about to be thrown out?
If the feisty JT community was looking for a unifying purpose, this deplorable dashing of childrens opportunities is it. Why should our kids be second class citizens?
The Queen West BIA is hosting a Mayor's Debate this Thursday, September 9th at the Gladstone Hotel (1214 Queen West). The event starts with a meet and greet at 5 p.m. followed by the candidates Question and Answers session at 6 p.m.
The event is being streamed online and has three media moderators participating in the event - Marcus Gee from the Globe and Mail, Julie King from CanadaOne.com and Rick Spence of the Financial Post. The participation of three journalists promises to bring some balance to the discussion of entrepreneurship, small and medium sized businesses. More info can be found at http://westqueenwest.ca/event/toronto-mayoral-candidates-small-business-...
With the rain falling steadily, today's Junction Triangle Playdate has been moved to 2 p.m. in Perth Square Park. Hopefully the sun will be able to join us this afternoon.
It goes without saying that in this city it's all about the car. Car drivers are selfish monsters, the ogres of nightmares -- we all know that. They INVENTED the sense of entitlement. What I don't like is this attitude that cyclists are always copping, this "poor-us" response, as in, "Poor us. We're clearly superior, because OUR vehicles don't pollute. Yet car drivers hate us and would rather not have us on the roads! Why don't those sniveling pedestrians get out of our way and make obeisance to our radiantly godlike selves? Can't they see that we can't possibly abide by the absurd rules the city attempts to impose on us?"
I'm not like Rob Ford, because if he has his way when he becomes mayor (and he will -- there are enough stupid people to elect him) he will take away all the bike lanes. He believes there's no place for cyclists WHATSOEVER on our roads, and that when cyclists are killed in traffic, "it's their own fault" (for trying to ride a bike in the city at all, apparently). He's a troglodyte whose brain ought to be in a jar of formaldehyde, but a lot of godawful neo-conservative crudballs share his opinion.
I don't look forward to the day, believe you me, that his bloated carcass ascends to the mayor's chair. Because that's the day that all cyclists will be forced onto the sidewalk forever. The police do not care and never have, so they'll be thrilled to see cyclists banned from traffic. They've always had more important things to attend to, like taking bribes from the right people and working on their brutality techniques. (And I must say I was pretty proud of how they got to show off all the hard work they've done honing their insensitivity skills during that wonderful G20 summit!)
We can never live in a city where people behave with civility. I for one have long since accepted that it's impossible, when we've got so many people who are convinced that the only way for things to be fair is for the most vulnerable to accept that they must cede their rights to people with a greater advantage. That, to me, seems like inverse logic. You can yap about paradigm shifts until your face turns blue, I say you can take your paradigm shift and shove it up your Schwinn. The only thing I can do now is to vent on sites like this: the loss of any sense of fairness in this society is a foregone conclusion, and has been for a long time now.
It was a great night, and a terrific format for candidates and constituents to talk about ideas and issues in the neighbourhood.
Thanks and congratulations to the Junction Triangle and Boo Radley's for organizing and hosting!
Baby Giraffe?
Well, after watching some of this unfold, I have to say that it is a tremendous diasppointment that the Giraffe has been stunted. I can't imagine what better thing could happen to that intersection- something unique and interesting and a beacon to boot- perhaps it might have been a catalyst to inspire some other creative ideas for the area, or simply to have been a fresh injection of life and intrigue in an otherwise drab crossroads. Too bad.....could have been really neat.
Agreed; the old feeling there had a unique texture to it, however, enviornmental cleanup is key. Great to see it happening and although I suspect it will be a long time before anything gets constructed, (let alone remediated) it sure is encouraging to see some change as opposed to the lack of maintenance on a dilapidated facade.
Both Shelley & Michael want to thank first Kevin for organising the meet & greet and second, to all of you from the 'Hood who took the time to drop by and participate in the democratic process. The evening was a very productive one on many levels, not the least of which was a chance for folks to meet others from the ward who live south of our little pocket here on Dupont.
Everybody gained something last Thursday. It is great to see so many taking an active role in what is happening in our neighbourhood!
See you all soon (we hope!)
Michael & Shelley
Boo
The demo started sometime last week, and is still happening today. I went by on the weekend to look around and take some photos (may post some later).
At the public meeting hosted by Castlepoint back in January (notes are here), they said they wanted to preserve the walls and the boiler house / chimney, but because of the environmental cleanup that is required, they need to dig down under all of those structures. At the meeting they basically said that the walls will come down (yup, gone now) and that they were uncertain about the boiler/chimney.
Pretty much the entire site has new fencing around it now, so I have a feeling that most of it will come down over the next couple of weeks. I just really, really, hope they can keep the chimney.
I'm a bit saddened that this section of Sterling Rd. has completely changed just in the last couple of months. The Hydro building was demo'd last month (and now site remediation is underway), and with the Tower Auto walls gone, that awesome industrial canyon feeling along there is gone.
But then again....soil cleanup is a good thing too.
Campaign money coming almost exclusively from developers and construction companies is a real concern with so much land in the Junction Triangle prime for development. Equally concerning is that only seven of the 108 donors identified live in the Ward. Who will come first when tough choices have to be made, residents or outsiders with commercial interests?
Never let it be said I didn't listen to criticism. I shall do as you say and stay out of your community and hope we can form one of our own here. Too bad as I thought the Junction was doing a lot to forward the idea of much broader community. I shall respect your borders and wish you luck.
Ken
Sorry to be the barer of facts again but if this some veiled Giambrone comment as part of your ongoing Giambrone crusade you can look up the results of the 2006 election (by polling station) and that would reveal that Giambrone won every single poll in the Ward BY A MILE. Nobody even came close. Hardly playing one area off another. Ward 18 voted for Adam overwhelming in every area. If anything the ward was united. Maybe not the reality you would like, but reality nonetheless. Sorry.
Again a theory of yours is proven not to be accurate.
Ken
I have been posting information directly relating to JT and JT issues in the most recent cases backed up by documented facts.
You have started posting here the same stuff that you have been posting for years on other sites. Giambrone is gone. Move on.
Since you are no longer a candidate in this Ward possibly you could continue to post your ideas on your blog for those that are interested or post on a Lansdowne Blog where your point have more interest to people and post here when it relates to the JT (such as an event or rally ). There is more than enough places for you to express your opinion elsewhere but it would be appreciated if it related to JT. I don't think that is too much to ask.
PS : Scott is in "a community that always seemed to be an afterthought to the surrounding communities"...
Well, so am I .
Isn't it interesting that to get elected to city council, any candidate can play off one area against another such that by satisfying..oh, say, 15-20% of the people in one defined geographic area, then subsequently just ignore the otrher 80% or so?
Also sad. It means we all become divided, potentially against each other, when we should ber uniting on the issues that bring us together.
Scott, I have seen your posts where you vociferously complain about other people's opions being out of place or having some ulterior motive. Yet, isn't the essence of an inclusive democratic community one where every individual has the right to free expression of opinion? In my experience, this site seems to suffer an inordinate amount of censorship of certain others' opinions. Okay if it's one person's blog or diatribe, but this site says "this is a community website, ideas and help are always welcome!" If you purport to represent a community, you need to let the community have input.
Feel free to question my accuracy... point taken that crime stats overall are down, but the lived experience of people is that they have fear for their safety. Example: Sun story says about the Lansdowne/College stabbing, "One woman, who gave her name as Leonna, said she doesn't feel safe. "I try not to walk alone at night," she said. "I just don't feel 100% safe here." When she can afford it she said she plans to move." Maybe over the top, but that's the press that people see. So to me it makes it a legitimate election issue.
You said "If you are going to post here please keep to topics that relate to JT"..., Fair enough, but election issues I submit ARE relevant. Vic himself asked for input about election issues.
Scott, I get that you not have voted for me anyways, but I am not one to curry favour by agreeing with things I do not support.
Ken
Ken
I don't mean to be rude but this website is for residents of Junction Triangle and was created to help give voice to a community that always seemed to be an afterthought to the surrounding communities.
I have read many of your posts on other blogs and read about you in the paper and I am not sure if your over the top pronouncements are helpful or for that matter accurate.
There is crime everywhere and it will always be that way. Every large city in the world experiences crime and in the case of murder most of that is committed by people who know each other. The point is Toronto and our area is pretty safe. If you live in Junction Triangle and Ward 18 then the good news is that crime overall and in EVERY category has been on a steady downward cycle for the last 15 years despite what some people seem to think. Many long term residents gush these days about how great the JT has become with people walking and cycling the streets and walking to the many new eateries in the area. If you had not dropped out of the race you would have been at an overflowing candidates saloon at Boo Radleys; something impossible 10 years ago.
How do I know that crime has gone down? I was given the complete statistics by the Metro Police Crime Analysis Unit and while crime has dropped all across the city, it has dropped even more in our area. This information is available to the public at no charge.
If you are going to post here please keep to topics that relate to JT and please present accurate information instead of fear mongering. Thank you.
1. More police presence! Police often at Tim Horton's on the corner on breaks but ignore traffic infringements, noise, rowdyism. Many of my neighbours, business owners and landlords say they call police often but get little response. Very rarely see photo radar here too.
2. Safety audit needed: Camera at intersection while it would not deter crime, would catch the many near misses, cars whizzing by open streetcar doors, and be a backup for incidents like this. We also need better roadway markings. Signs often in disrepair, hanging at angles, signage not clear to motorists. Has been TTC accidents here too.
3. This area is the forgotten core of ward 18, with no active residents association like at Dufferin Grove or Dyan Marie-arts-land (DigIn). We need active participation by residents, who unfortunately are still angry and feeling disenfranchised from Giambrone's non-consultative Lansdowne narrowing fiasco.
4. Whatever happened to the idea of Neighbourhood Watch? Lots of kids, families still in the area despite wrong-headed move to close West Toronto school. Will it be a community center? Or will city sellout to developers to erect eyesore condominiums?
5. Many residents whose first language is not English are out of the loop and unrepresented in local and city democracy. We need the city to communicate in residents own language: Portugese, Chinese, Spanish, Italian, Vietnamese, etc.
6. There has been no significant "traffic-calming" to Lansdowne Avenenue despite city spending a few million dollars. Cyclist, pedestrian accidents, traffic gridlock, etc. We need to fix what Adam destroyed here. We need more crosswalks, lower speed limit as excessive speeding off rush hours.
7. Graffiti eradication: Just a block from our city councillor's office there is ugly gang tag graffiti everywhere. Why isn't this addressed with arts projects that other areas get?
8. Abandoned prtoperties: Coffee Time at Dundas/Lansdowne closed for long period, marked by graffiti. Much like the Seven-Eleven that sat vacant for years. Businesses on College Street (even right beside Councillor's office) can't make a living. Are they ignored because there is no College Street BIA? City needs affordable housing, yet the property at 1005 (?) College near Havelock is an abandoned eyesore that's been that way a long time.
9. Any City Councillor should represent ALL areas of his or her ward, not just special interest lobby groups. Does such a creature exist?
What would you like them to do Ken?
Yours isn't the only off-topic post I have deleted.
This forum is about the 370 Wallace lands, not about Giambrone's campaign contributions. If you want to talk about that, start another forum. Feel free to re-post if / where appropriate.
The posts about the developer and campaign contributions related to this property are OK. The followups that went on about campaign contributions in general have migrated to an appropriate forum.
I'm just trying to keeps topics in the right places here.
A reminder to everyone to please read the Code of Conduct before posting.
Yes I am fully aware Giambrone is not running for election. The point has to do with the need for constituents to question which sectors of support a candidate has. I see that Scot D's post criticizing Ana Bailo stands, but because I criticize the NDP and Kevin's links, you delete? Why the censorship?
Just walked half a block down to College/Lansdowne on a beautiful Saturday morning to find Police Forensic division investigating the scene in front of the Angolan Bar just next to the recently closed En Contro Portugese bar. There was a knife fight at 11:30pm last night and a 40 year old man was murdered. Scary as my bedroom is maybe 300 feet away and I was up working on my computer. Heard some vague yelling but nothing that twigged an alarm.
Here is the Star story: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/crime/article/853812--man-40-dies-from-s...
Meanwhile, shootings at at King and Dufferin (Parkdale) and in Lawreance Heights and in Kensington Market, and near Weston and Black Creek - all in past 3 days ! : http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/crime/article/853756--man-taken-to-hospi...
So wher are the ward 18 candidates and the mayoral candidates on this issue now?
Jamie, it is great that you and your young family are moving into the neighbourhood. You are part of a trend in the area with lots of young families choosing to live in the Junction Triangle because it is one of the few (relatively) affordable areas in West Toronto.
I think it is unfortunate that you confuse Scott's criticisms of the "Brownstone Builder" and his legacy of questionable developments with the mistaken idea that he doesn't want to see new residential projects here. We all want to see good things happen here, but given the track record of Mr. Falus and the litany of complaints by many of his customers, it is clear that the neighbourhood needs to actively engage and review all of his building plans carefully. Perhaps if there were a few more people like Scott around ten years ago, the extremely lame Standard Lofts would be a nicer place rather than the cost effective and unimaginative place it is today.
Regarding the election of the next councillor, the donor list of Ana Bailao raises questions that need to be addressed - will she be representing the intersts of her constituents or those developers who funded her campaign in the past? Will she clear the air and reveal her donor list for her current campaign before the election or hide it until the vote is over? With so much land in the Junction Triangle coming on-line for development in the next few years, do we really want a councillor who was/is fully funded by developers?
Hi Jamie
Thanks for your kind words. Of course you are welcome. But I do suggest that calling people names who you have never met or spent any time with is not very nice. Especially since it was myself and many locals who fought hard to make the building you bought into a nicer place. The added green, the better sightlines, the added trees, better outside finishing, more street friendly layouts, the more secure parking garage, and the link to Railpath were the result of so called NIMBY's in your new area. We even tried to have one less building for more green but the developer would not go for it. We all spent a lot of hours with the developer, the police, the Councillor and the Planning department over about 3 years BEFORE the units went on sale and I was even having friendly discussions with the developers representative only 3 months ago about an outstanding item.So thank you, you are welcome. For the record I don't recall anybody ever saying in our area that un-used land should not be developed.In fact the issue has always been an to make any development match the area and add rather than detract. One area of work has been investigating home work studios for employment lands. A few developers have also helped out with community projects so any attempts to call people anti-development will just get you laughed at. So I am sorry but you don't have any context or knowledge about the area or any of the people who live here. That comes with time. I think you are confusing aversion to cookie cutter terrible development, such as what went on during the Mario Silva days, with some kind of aversion to development in general. It's just not the case.
If you knew me or read other posts here besides ones that relate to you then you would know that I was a very big supporter of the highrise Giraffe building that was canceled by actual NIMBYs and even suggested that it would be welcome in our area on Bloor. Hardly anti-development if you ask me. You might also notice my keen support for the redevelopment of the Church NEXT TO MY HOUSE into lofts. Hardly anti-development.
I also think that you greatly simplify the planning and zoning process that is involved in these kinds of projects. In the case of your building the developer unleashed a team of lobbyists and experts at every community meeting vs. one lone City planner fresh out of school. It was residents who said this development can be better and made it happen. Its part of the process, otherwise you get crap; developing is a for profit business as you know. Good development just doesn't happen because people want it to, it requires monitoring, posting on blogs, and sometimes protesting. I suspect that once you have a place of your own you will not be so quick to judge those that want a say in what is built in their community. Especially since their are upcoming zoning issues all around you that will have a significant impact on your property.
In terms of Ana Bailao, her record speaks for itself and as a person living in an area with a lot of unused land one has to wonder how a councillor, supported in the past almost 100% by the construction industry or those in it will vote on issues about zoning, density, and everything else that goes with it. Ana needs to prove that she will vote for the ward and not for an industry.Remember, I didn't create her donation form, she did.
I am on about 5 committees in our area and there are others and new ones starting. When you move here join in, learn about the area, and leave your mark.