The Fuzzy Boundaries neighbourhood naming initiative was featured by two media outlets yesterday.

Derek, of the popular Toronto website BlogTO wrote A Nameless Neighbourhood Needs Help!. The article discusses the background of the naming project, some of the names that have been used (though curiously it doesn't mention Junction Triangle), and gives the project an overall positive review. The comments after the article are quite lively too.

Later in the evening, the National Post website featured an article by Emily Senger, Between Roncesvalles and Landsdowne, a neighbourhood in search of a name, which I expect will be in today's print edition as well. The article briefly covers some neighbourhood history, as well as other naming efforts from around the city.

The following meeting notice comes from the Fuzzy Boundaries group:

This image features the many faces of our community past and present.

Who?

While those in the pictures may know each other by name, many aren't sure what to call the neighbourhood.

A residents' group called Fuzzy Boundaries has initiated a naming process for the area. You are invited to our second lively discussion about neighbourhood identities on Tuesday, September 15 at 7 p.m. at St. Josaphat's Ukrainian Catholic Church (110 Franklin Avenue). Urban affairs specialist, CBC broadcaster and National Director of the annual Jane Jacobs Walk, Jane Farrow will discuss the naming experience of the West Queen West community group Active 18. Fuzzy Boundaries member Chris Kwaczek will also speak about neighbourhood demographics.

A Q & A will follow. 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.

fuzzyboundaries.ca

Colour photo by Vic Gedris, black & white photo City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Subseries 52, Item 665

If you haven't been through the railway underpass next to the Dundas St. West and Dupont St. intersection on the west side of our neighbourhood recently, you have been missing out on some incredible changes! The streetscape has evolved tremendously in the past couple of months: The West Toronto Railpath linear park and trail is now open, there are bicycle lanes on Dupont St., and a brand new mural dedicated to bicycle culture has been painted along the entire 400 foot south wall.

Talk about a major transformation! Standing next to the railway bridges, you can see all these sights come together into a single place where a formerly desolate and bike- and pedestrian-unfriendly area has been completely transformed. Just stand there and look at the bright colours, watch people walk by above you on the Railpath, watch cyclists stream by on the Dupont St. bike lanes, and listen to people as they talk about the new mural. Beautiful!

The mural, titled Strength in Numbers, was installed by a group of artists from Art Starts, an organization that helps build Toronto communities by using the arts. Funding for these murals came from the City of Toronto's Graffiti Transformation Investment Program, as well as the Toronto Arts Council and Ontario Arts Council. Lead artists Joshua Barndt and Jamie Bradbury, along with five youth artists painted the murals over four weeks in July and August 2009.

I interviewed lead artist Jamie Bradbury, who provided some insight about the mural:

The following notice came from Metrolinx today. If you have any ideas about this study that you wish to share with the rest of the community, feel free to post them in the comments.

METROLINX
20 Bay Street, Suite 901
Toronto ON M5J 2N8
Phone: 416.874.5900
Fax: 416.874.5901
www.metrolinx.com

Metrolinx is working with a Community Advisory Committee to develop the Terms of Reference to study electrification of the GO rail system.

Great news for our local neighbourhood kids, and their parents too: The Boys and Girls Club which was previously housed at the 21 Randolph Ave. location has found a new space on Ernest Ave.

There's an article in this week's Villager that has all of the details. It's great to see that all the effort put in to finding a new space has finally paid off!

Some quotes from The Villager article:

The club is proud to announce the new address for its Outreach Location will be 45 Ernest Ave. in the Perth Avenue and Bloor Street West area not far from its current, but temporary spot at 120 Perth Ave.

"It feels amazing. It's like a huge load off everyone's shoulders," said Executive Director Tony Puopolo. "It's been a huge process to find somewhere. It seemed hopeless."

The search for new digs took a year since the club faced eviction last spring from its 10-year-old home at 21 Randolph Ave. It had been in jeopardy since February of 2008 when its lease between the City of Toronto (the lease holder) and Don Valley Storage Inc., owned by George Leon of the Leon's Furniture family, was up. At the end of the 10-year period, Don Valley Storage opted not to renew the lease.

Thanks to a tip from a local resident, the club learned that the 7,000-square-foot warehouse space had become available.

The club's new home will include a computer lab, an arts and crafts space, a game room, offices and some general purpose rooms as well as a kitchen. The new facility will provide an additional 120 spaces for local youth to attend a safe and positive after-school program. In the evenings and on weekends, when the children aren't using the facility, it will be available for rent to community groups.

Here is some important information from the Toronto Medical Officer of Health about the serious and toxic aspect of the Metrolinx dirty diesel plan. It hard to refute the damning information contained here so take the time to read and then get involved. Here is the link at the Toronto Board Health

If you really care about the environmental impact on our community for the next 25 years and you support green public transit you must take a read and act.

Vancouver has a transit plan for 2009, we get a plan for 1909. Cough Cough.

The following event information comes from the Perth-Dupont Community Garden website. They're having a series of workshops about harvesting garlic and seeds this month, followed by a "Garlic Party" potluck on Saturday August 29th. Details and RSVP info below, and on their website.

Garlic And Seed Saving for August

Harvesting Garlic and seeds Workshop

With a bit of a Garden tour too
This is a series of workshops harvesting different varieties of Garlic. Including Russian, Mountain Top, Sweet Haven, and Music.

Where: Perth Dupont Community Garden
When: Every Saturday starting Aug 1, 2009

• Aug 1, 2009
• Aug 8, 2009
• Aug 15, 2009
• Aug 22, 2009
• Garlic Party on Aug 29, 2009 at 2:30PM

Time: All the workshops will start at 2:30PM

What: We will be harvesting some different varieties of Garlic. Including Russian, Mountain Top, Sweet Haven, and Music. We will also be talking about seed saving. And, we will show you how to bring home your harvest with out wilting, and other harvesting techniques to make the best of all your gardening work.
Workshops are free but participants should register.

For more information, and to register, please contact Susan at perth-dupontcg@frogstar.com
The Perth Dupont Community Garden is located in the Symington Avenue Playground (Map).
The entrance to the Park and the garden is from Perth Ave.
www.perth-dupont.parkcommons.ca

As you probably already know and have even possibly experienced in one way or another, Campbell Park was used as a temporary garbage dump during the recent City of Toronto workers strike.

The "garbage strike", as it was often referred to, lasted for just over one month, and our local rink at Campbell Park was used as a temporary dump site for approximately two weeks starting around July 16th. A group of residents calling themselves Friends of Campbell Park protested the use of Campbell Park as a dump.

Over the August long weekend, City Staff finally hauled the garbage away and started to clean up the rink. However, people are reporting that the site is still contaminated with the sticky leftovers of two weeks worth of garbage runoff.

Since I was away and unable to truly experience the effects of this strike on Campbell Park myself, I will leave it up to these media / blog / photo links to tell the story. If you have any of your own stories or comments about how this strike affected our neighbourhood, please feel free to share them in the comments below.

Media / Blog Links:

• Protests mark opening of new temporary dumps, CTV, July 16 2009
• Residents upset with three new dump sites, Toronto Star, July 16 2009
• Residents to protest Campbell Park dump site, The Villager / Inside Toronto, July 16 2009
• New Day, New Dump Sites, CityNews, July 16 2009 (With video)
• Campbell Park anti-dumping protest: it was a circus, Michael's Bloor-Lansdowne Blog, July 17 2009.
• Photos from Thursday's protest at Campbell Park, Michael's Bloor-Lansdowne Blog, July 19 2009
• Park fans trash dump-free CNE, Toronto Sun, July 21 2009
• Campbell Park garbage protesters chain selves, CTV, July 22 2009
• Clean up our park: Residents, Toronto Sun, July 28 2009
• Garbage pickup resumes as some steamed over dumps, CTV, August 4 2009
• Garbage gone but contamination fears remain, The Villager / Inside Toronto, August 6 2009

A few more photo links on Flickr:

• Campbell Park Garbage Park, by Martin Reis
• The Big Clean-up, by Martin Reis
• TOStrike - Human Chain, Friends of Campbell Park, by Himy Syed

Despite a series of inaccurate maps by the Globe and Mail I wanted to reassure people that we in fact live in 11 Division in terms of Policing.

Tower Automotive, Sterling Rd.: As seen from the West Toronto Railpath. Photo by Vic Gedris, 2009-02-28.

Jonathan Castellino of BlogTO recently wrote an article / photo essay about the Tower Automotive site on Sterling Rd.

"Overlooking Toronto's junction[sic] rests the shell of Tower Automotive. Built in the first quarter of the 20th century, and closed in 2006, the former sheet-casting facility is currently being redeveloped into studio space. Thankfully, the tower itself--a 10-story building which no one in the neighbourhood can miss--as well as the facade of the low-lying former machining areas, will be preserved."

Although this building and surrounding grounds are fully secured right now, it has been a notable place for urban explorers to visit and photograph. It seems that Jonathan has visited many times, and has collected a great series of photos of the buildings' interiors, as well as the view from inside the tower.

I have always wondered what it looked like behind those walls, and what our neighbourhood, and the city beyond, looked like from the windows on the top floor. Perhaps someday I will be lucky enough to have a tour, but for now at least I can rely on some intrepid explorers' photos.