Interested in moving to the area...
January 4, 2013 - 1:47am — Anonymous
My family is interested in moving to the Junction Triangle - specifically Rankin and Wallace.
We're curious to know how other people in the neighbourhood like living there? Our biggest concern is the Nitta Gelatin Factory. We're a vegetarian family of 4 (3 and 1 on the way) and we're pretty worried about how the smell may bother us! We google'd it and it sounds like it's a fairly noticeable scent.
Also - how loud/stinky/disruptive are the diesel GO trains along the Barrie line close to Rankin?
I work not that far from there, and really love the Junction area... But I guess I'm not there often enough to notice the smell and/or sounds vs. if I were to live there...
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated :) Thanks!
gelatin
I live there and have never smelled it. Last night i woke up with shortness of breath, wheezing and coughing. There was someone outside doing the same.
does the gelatin factory affect air quality or allergies?
wallace/rankin
Hi, the n'hood is really great for all the reasons mentioned.
the trains are not an issue for me as covered by others. I like that there is little auto traffic with all the good things that implies in terms of noise and air quality.
On Nitta: see the thread:
https://www.junctiontriangle.ca/node/1661
I just put up a new entry about filters being installed but there is need for fine tuning as the smell persists at times (but at a lower level). For others please do contact Michael Vieira, Constituency Assistant of the Office of Ana Bailão, City Councillor, mvieira2@toronto.ca (416) 338-5277. the more pressure the more likely this gets resolved.
Hi there,I'm glad you're
Hi there,
I'm glad you're considering the neighbourhood. We are a vegan family who moved here, to the end of Wallace Ave, 1.5 years ago. To be honest, I didn't even know about the gelatin factory until the summer, and only on certain days the closer we got to Lansdowne.
As for the trains, we live right beside the other tracks, W of Rankin. I thought they would a lot worse that they are to be honest. I don't feel the rumbling, and I only hear a horn blowing once a day, and never early in the morning or late at night. I'm not sure if the tracks nearer to Rankin are any different (I don't imagine they would be) but sometimes I forget there is even a train. I've also never found the trains stinky.
The neighbourhood is really, really great. I hesitated to move here and have never regretted it. The community is amazing and more and more new businesses are moving in along Bloor and even Dupont. There's a great little bulk/health food store a block or so East of Lansdowne called the Nut House that is great for us, as well as a vegetarian South Indian restaurant. Zocalo near Symington and Bloor has wonderful vegetarian brunch options. Not to mention, the parks, the rail path, good transit. The pros definitely outweigh the cons.
You can rarely smell the
You can rarely smell the gelatin factory on wallace. It seems to mostly blow south to the poor folks living on paton and accross from it on Lansdowne. I walk my dog along wallace every day and in the last two years have only been stopped for Go Trains on those tracks twice. I wouldn't worry about either the gelatin or the train to be honest.
Rankin/Wallace
I don't live at Wallace and Rankin (more like Symington and Paton), but here are some of my own observations and comments:
Overall, the neighbourhood is great. I love it here. So glad we made the decision to move here.
Nitta Gelatin has its stinky days, especially if the wind is from the east. Fortunately, it typically blows west/south. Personally, the smell isn't really that bad to me (i.e. not gag-inducing or anything), but I also don't deal with it from as close-by regularly. Hanging out near your potential home to catch a whiff might be hit-or-miss, as it's not often that it's super noticeable.
The trains shouldn't be a big deal for now. Only 5 trains in the morning and evening. First one a little before 7:00am. You can see the schedules here (we're between the Union Station and York U stops)...
Morning: http://www.gotransit.com/publicroot/en/schedules/pubsched.aspx?table=65&...
Evening: http://www.gotransit.com/publicroot/en/schedules/pubsched.aspx?table=65&...
No weekend GO service now, though they experimented with limited weekend service last summer.
There's also the occasional VIA train. No freight on that line.
There are long-term plans to double-track that line and increase service, but that seems to be permanently delayed.
I'm also guessing there's a big difference in train noise depending on which side of Rankin you're on.
In all honesty, there's probably more overall bus noise on Symington than train noise on Rankin.
Hope this helps. Let us know if you have any other questions.