Junction Triangle

NOW magazine has awarded the Art Starts Strength in Numbers mural at Dupont and Dundas with their "Best Mural" award.

From the NOW magazine website:

The underpass graced by this bike mural is a gateway for those heading to the Junction, but it’s a destination now, too. The 400-foot creation painted by seven artists over four weeks this summer turned a mundane slab of concrete into a giant uniting message: strength in numbers – a critical mass reminder for the city’s wide spectrum of cyclists.

Art Starts managing director (and local resident) Liz Forsberg writes:

"We were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves in print on the newstands this week. Now Magazine has just released its annual Best of the City issue and our 'Strength in Numbers' bike-themed mural at Dupont and Dundas won best mural! See it for yourself here. Huge congrats go to Joshua Barndt and Jamie Bradbury who were our lead artists and Quentin Vercetty, Gifty Singh, Curtia Wright, Hayley Fromstein and Keinon Grant who were our youth artists on the project. The mural has received unprecedented media attention, including a spot on CBC's News at 6 back in August when it was launched. We can't wait for next year's mural. And of course, we are ever so grateful to the City of Toronto's Graffitti Transformation Program for funding this initiative!"

Congratulations and thank you once again to Art Starts and all of the artists involved in putting this mural together. It's a wonderful addition to our neighbourhood!

Toronto Star columnist Christopher Hume writes about the West Toronto Railpath in today's paper:

However unintended, the transportation and manufacturing networks built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries form the backbone of much 21st-century urbanism.

The most recent example is the West Toronto Railpath Park, a 2.1-kilometre linear green space that picks up from what were once train tracks. As designed by landscape architect Scott Torrance and architects Kim Storey and James Brown, the $4 million trail/park brings new life to this part of the city and its 250,000 residents.

At a time when people feel increasingly cynical and alienated, the path reminds us that cities are also communities, not just places where people live and work, but places they inhabit. Any project that enables and encourages residents to take possession of the city should be enabled and encouraged.

As the Railpath makes clear, handled intelligently, one era's ruins can be another's monuments.

Go to the Star's website to see the complete article.

And don't forget, today is the "official" opening ceremony for the Railpath, 2:00pm at the Wallace Bridge. Try to drop by if you're around!

The Fuzzy Boundaries neighbourhood naming project was in the media again last week. This time it was featured on the Global TV evening news on Wednesday October 21st. Here's the video on Youtube:

Direct Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrYibM25BoI

On Friday, the Globe and Mail posted an article about Kid-friendly restaurants in Toronto. One of our local favourites, Yasi's Place at Wallace and Campbell, received the top honour complete with a Five Happy Face rating. The full article is online (though with an annoying page viewer), and here's the text for the specific Yasi's Place review:

YASI'S PLACE
(299 Wallace Ave.)

Tucked away on a residential street in the up-and-coming Bloor and Lansdowne area, Yasi’s has become a favourite for neighbourhood parents and kids thanks to the quality menu, smoothies and patience of staff. It’s a go-to spot for anyone who wants a great lunch or brunch withor without kids in tow.

Kicking and screaming:
Owner Yasemin Zorlutuna takes everything in stride, including kids crawling around on the floor and banquettes. Note: Ms. Zorlutuna insists there is rarely such a thing as a misbehaved child, only misbehaved parents.

Kiddy classics:
Crowd-pleasers include grilled-cheese sandwiches, “silly sticks” (French toast), and something called a “hungry monkey.” All meat comes from Vince Gasparro’s Quality Meats and other ingredients are local and organic when possible, while bread is from Ace Bakery.

Most notable adult item:
The burger, made from scratch with organic beef, is considered one of the best in the city. They also serve a two-person Turkish brunch Saturday through Monday, along with standard brunch offerings.

The Fuzzy Boundaries neighbourhood naming group pulled off another fun publicity spectacle on Wednesday evening. All 180+ names that have been suggested so far were listed, in chalk, along the West Toronto Railpath between Bloor St. and Dupont St. Be sure to go for a stroll or bike ride along the Railpath soon before the weather washes the names away.

The list of suggested names is still growing, and you have until the public meeting on January 14th 2010 to submit your own name(s), and discuss the names that have been submitted so far.

The popular Toronto news and events blog, BlogTO, wrote about this Railpath event on their website today, and it is also featured in this evening's print edition of t.o. night.

Keep an eye out on Global TV News next week, as they will also be covering Fuzzy Boundaries.

More photos, as well as a video of the entire name list are shown below. Click images to view larger versions.

Human Train: The Human Train approaches the Wallace Ave. pedestrian bridge.

On Saturday September 26th 2009, the "Human Train" rolled through our neighbourhood on its way from Weston to Sorauren Park. Organized by the Clean Train Coalition, the Human Train was a rally against the Metrolinx / GO Transit project to run over 400 diesel trains through West Toronto neighbourhoods, and to demand the immediate electrification of the Georgetown rail corridor.

The Human Train left Weston at 8:30 in the morning, and made stops in various neighbourhoods along the way (Mount Dennis, The Junction, etc.) before arriving at the Wallace Ave. Pedestrian Bridge along the Railpath in our neighbourhood shortly after noon. At the Wallace Ave. bridge, a large gathering of local residents cheered the arrival of the Human Train, welcomed the marchers to our neighbourhood, and rallied up support for the Clean Train Coalition's cause.

Our local rally on the Railpath under the Wallace Bridge attracted about 100 area residents, many parents with their kids, a group of musicians who kept the crowd entertained, face painters for the kids, and refreshments courtesy of city councillor Adam Giambrone's office.

Local resident Scott Dobson addressed the crowd and spoke about the neighbourhood's previous battles against pollution, as well as the amazing positive impact of the new West Toronto Railpath, which could all be knocked back if hundreds of diesel trains start passing by every day.

After the rally at the Wallace Bridge, the Human Train continued south to Sorauren park, via the Railpath, Perth Ave., Dundas St., and Sorauran Ave. The final rally down at Sorauren park was huge, with estimates ranging from 500-1000 people. Speeches by local politicians, activists, and Toronto's Medical Officer of Health Dr David McKeown helped drive home the point that the huge expansion of diesel rail traffic is unhealthy and unwelcome in our neighbourhoods.

Continue reading below for links to media coverage, videos, and many more photos of the event.

How was your own experience of this event? Do you think it will have any impact on the GO / Metrolinx plans?

Click the photos to see larger versions.

Fuzzy Boundaries, the local neighbourhood naming initiative, was recently featured in a video news piece by Chantal Saxe with S@Y News:

You can also view it directly on Youtube here.

The next Fuzzy Boundaries meeting is on Tuesday, September 15 at 7 p.m. at St. Josaphat's Ukrainian Catholic Church (110 Franklin Avenue).

Here's a selection of photos from the Dupont bike mural launch party on August 25 2009. This fantastic new mural was installed by a group of artists from Art Starts in July. More information and photos of the mural itself are in this previous article.

And now, for the photos:

Dupont Bike Mural Launch: Artists from the Art Starts organization at the launch party for their new cycling-themed mural on Dupont St. at Dundas.

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.

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.