Junction Triangle

The following notice comes from the West Bend Community Association and Friends of Dundas and Bloor:

Make Your Views Known at the OMB Hearing for
1540 Bloor Street West (Giraffe)

The OMB hearing for 1540 Bloor Street West (the Giraffe building) will be held January 19th – 21st, and Jan 25th - 29th, 2010, at the OMB office at 655 Bay Street, Suite 1600, beginning at 10:00 am. If possible we would like you to attend Tuesday to show a strong community presence.

I recently added a new feature to this website: The News Aggregator. You should see this listed in the menu on the left side of the screen.

The News Aggregator collects recent posts from several other local websites and puts them all together in one place. If you're looking for news about other neighbourhoods all around us, this would be a great place to start.

I also wanted to highlight a few other excellent local news sites and community groups. These are all listed on the Local Links page, along with various others:

The Fuzzy Boundaries neighbourhood naming group is in the news again this week. The Town Crier has a story titled What do you call this place?. Here are a few excerpts:

Name suggestions for the area unofficially known as the Junction Triangle are flooding in ahead of a Jan. 14 meeting where community members will name their ’hood — once and for all.

“There’s something like just over 200 names now on the website and so, we’ve just been taking those suggestions on the website and responding to comments that we get,” said Kristen den Hartog, a member of Fuzzy Boundaries, one of several residents groups dedicated to naming the area.

“I really just like hearing what people have to say and I like the idea of the community itself, deciding.”

Fuzzy Boundaries’ public meeting will be held Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. at 45 Ernest Ave.

Tower Automotive, 158 Sterling Rd.

Want to know what's happening with the vacant Tower Automotive property on Sterling Rd. south of Bloor St.? Castlepoint Developments is hosting a series of meetings to discuss plans with the community. Details about this first meeting were passed on to us by Phil from the South Perth and Sterling Road Residents Association:

We will be hosting the first of our Community Outreach meeting(s) for the Sterling properties owned by Castlepoint on January 18, 2010 - 7pm at the Church of the First Born (72 Perth Ave.) located directly next to our vacant property fronting on Perth Street. Parking is available on the vacant lands.

Coffee/Tea and cookies are provided

NOTE: I closed comments on this item. Discussion is over here where I posted the notes from the meeting.

Meeting announcement from the Fuzzy Boundaries group:

More than a year ago, a residents' group called Fuzzy Boundaries asked the community to name the neighbourhood, and since then more than 200 ideas have been put forward.

You are invited to our third public meeting, where residents will make their pitch for a favourite name.

There will be no keynote speaker, just a gathering of neighbours exchanging ideas. Brockton Addition? Junction Triangle? The Railpath? As always, it promises to be a lively and engaging discussion. Afterwards, vote for your choice January 15 to 29 at fuzzyboundaries.ca or at the Perth/Dupont Library.

When?: Thursday January 14, 7pm, at 45 Ernest Avenue (the new Boys and Girls Club location).

All are welcome to attend this free event.

For details, call Kevin at 416-537-1128 or visit fuzzyboundaries.ca where discussions about our great neighbourhood take place online.

Some more details about the January 14 meeting, as posted on the Fuzzy Boundaries site:

Thursday's third and final public meeting will be held at the new Boys and Girls Club location at 45 Ernest Avenue at 7 p.m. The meeting will be moderated by Fuzzy Boundaries' group member Warren McPherson. The meeting is designed to give everyone an opportunity to speak about a name they like or dislike.

The format is quite simple, the moderator will select people at random to speak for one or two minutes for a neighbourhood name they like. The floor will then be open for one other person to speak against that name (if there is anyone). The moderator will then select another person to speak about a different name, then a person against that name and so on until all the names have been covered. Then the meeting will go through all the names a second time that people want to speak for and against and then a third time (and so on) until everyone has had an opportunity to speak.

At the end of the meeting ballots will be made available for anyone wishing to vote for a name. For people who want to think about their decision a little more, the formal voting period will run from Janaury 15 to January 29. You can vote on-line here at the Fuzzy Boundaries web site or at the Perth/Dupont location of the Toronto Public Library at 1589 Dupont Street.

We hope to see you on Thursday night.

Campbell rink has certainly improved in the past 2 years and here is an opportunity to help make it better. As part of an initiative by CELOS to deal with ongoing issues at the City's outdoor rinks the public are invited to email their concerns which will be presented to the City Ombudsman. Read the blog story at this link.

http://bloorlansdowne.blogspot.com/2010/01/are-there-any-problems-at-tor...

The email address to send your concerns is: mail@cityrinks.ca

Today, December 21st, marks the official start of the Winter season. The temperature is below zero, the days are very short, and there's a surprisingly small amount of snow on the ground. Christmas lights decorate the neighbourhood to liven things up a bit while many families make last-minute holiday preparations.

I enjoy all seasons, each with their ups and downs. But at this time of year it's always fun to think back half a year ago when the days were long, the weather was warm, and everyone was outside enjoying it all. So on that note, I want to share with you some photos from this year's Perth Park Festival, which took place on June 13 2009. This was a fantastic event put together by a team of local volunteers, and attended by people of all ages from around the neighbourhood.

Definitely a fun and relaxing event, enjoyed by all, especially the kids! Many people are looking forward to next year already. Here are the photos, and memories of warmer days.

GO Train crossing Wallace Ave.

According to Transit Toronto and the CBC, Metrolinx has purchased the remainder of the Newmarket Subdivision railway tracks from CN and now owns the complete corridor from Union Station to Barrie.

The Newmarket Sub is the railway track on the east side of our neighbourhood between Campbell Ave. and Lansdowne Ave. This is the track that Wallace crosses, next to the water tower (as in the photo). This track mainly serves GO Transit's commuter trains between Barrie and Union Station, as well as a few VIA and freight trains.

This is an important event for our neighbourhood. GO / Metrolinx are currently planning on expanding traffic on this rail corridor, which will involve adding at least one extra track as well as another massive grade separation project at the Davenport Diamond at the north-east corner of the Junction Triangle. Now that Metrolinx has purchased this rail corridor, they have much stronger control over how it will be developed.

GO / Metrolinx has said they will hold some community consultations about the Davenport Diamond Grade Separation project and rail expansion on this corridor sometime in the New Year. It will be extremely important for residents in our area to stay focused on this topic, as the implications may be immense and extremely long-lasting: More trains, a massive railway overpass/wall structure, a long trench/tunnel, the closing of Wallace Ave., increased diesel train traffic, and more.

Toronto Star Columnist Joe Fiorito chimes in on the diesel debate. Of note, and not well understood by residents, is that "mitigation" of the diesel pollution and noise will mean large walls along the tracks. As usual, after looking at the details, this columnist comes to the conclusion that electric trains from day one would be the best option on every level.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/737504--fiorito-metrolinx-diesel...

This Saturday, December 5th, the skating rink at Campbell Park is scheduled to open for the season.

Here is the schedule for Saturday's skating activities, courtesy of the City Rinks website:

Saturday