Junction Triangle

After a 10 year run from February 2008 to March 2018, and the last few years only seeing sporadic updates and activity, I have decided to put this website into permanent hibernation mode. I am not deleting the site, content, comments, etc., but all features have been disabled and no new content will be posted from this point forward.

I haven't really posted on this website in a very long time. So here's a simple photo-post to change that.

I don't think I've ever seen this many events happening all on the same day in the Junction Triangle. Bikes, bees, butterflies, beauty, bartering, and boxcars*. Here's a quick rundown. Click the links to get more info about each event.

100 in 1 Day Festival:
Three events that are part of the 100 in 1 Day Festival are taking place in the Junction Triangle, along the West Toronto Railpath. All of them help celebrate the awesomeness of our neighbourhood and surrounding areas:

• West Toronto Railpath Milkweed Planting Day. Railpath at Wallace Bridge, 9am-1pm. Help plant 500 new milkweed plants along the Railpath to provide habitat for monarch butterflies!
• Buzz on the Bridge. Wallace Ave. Footbridge, 10am-6pm. "Community party with local artists playing music and showing their art, bridge decorating and mural painting for kids and adults and other community building activities. Swing dancing from 12-2".
• Love Letters to the Junction Triangle, Past Present, and Future. Railpath at Wallace Bridge, 10am-3pm. "A collection of thoughts, feelings and photos of the traditional and newly welcomed communities in the Junction Triangle", with opportunity to submit your own thoughts etc.

Kids and Cargo Bikes, 10am-11am at Perth Square Park, followed by a family ride on the Railpath. Come and show off your own cargo bike, or see what other people have. Some vendors are also coming.

Really Really Free Market, 10am-4pm at Campbell Park. Drop off items to give away for free, or pick up your own free stuff or services. Also, free food. Free. Really. Really.

Details from the organizer, Mark:

Hey Everyone,
I am going to be doing 'Buzz on the Bridge' at Wallace Street bridge again this year as part of 100in1day Toronto on Saturday June 6th. I'm hoping to build off the success of last year's event, which was really great. I'd like to plan something similar to last year, but this year I am hoping to do more ground work early to get some other key partners on board and maybe do more advanced 'advertising'.
If anyone has any thoughts or ideas to contribute, I am all ears. I would like to set up a meeting soon for those who are interested in getting a bit more involved.
I have posted the event on the website at: https://toronto.100in1day.ca and even got a twitter handle for the event @buzzonbridge
There is a 100in1day workshop downtown at MaRS on the evening of April 8 (Wednesday from 6-8) that I will likely attend to get the planning going, if anyone wants to join.
Thanks, bye for now,
Mark

More info at the Buzz on the Bridge listing at the 100in1day site.

Description of this event comes from the 100 in 1 day festival website.

LOVE LETTERS TO THE JUNCTION TRIANGLE, PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
by Vicki McGregor, Jennifer Harrison, and Nuria Gonzalez

Showcasing diversity and connecting community members in the Junction Triangle. Encouraging learning and discussion about the neighbourhood.

ABOUT THE URBAN INTERVENTION

10:00 am to 3:00 pm on Saturday June 6th 2015

A collection of thoughts, feelings and photos of the traditional and newly welcomed communities in the Junction Triangle.

The intervention will feature photos of the past and present to showcase diversity and encourage inclusiveness in our neighbourhood. Community members’ thoughts and feelings about the Junction Triangle will be displayed in love letters. On the day of the event, people can write letters to add to the display on the West Toronto Rail Path.

We’re asking people to participate by submitting photos from different time periods: past (older than 10 years) and present (within the last 10 years). Photos of historical places, community events, and personal significance are welcomed. Please note, the exhibit will be curated and the photos will be donated to a local community hub following this event.

Junction Triangle residents will submit their statements about the following:
My fondest memory of the Junction Triangle is….
I love the Junction Triangle because….
My vision for the future of the Junction Triangle is….

These materials will be part of my intervention:
pens, table, a few chairs, string/rope, tape and clothes pins, print photos, print cards for statements

It would be great if participants can bring with them:
Submit statements and photos via social media ahead of the event so they can be displayed.

Photo by Martin Reis, in the Junction Triangle Flickr Pool

Sometime during the night of August 16-17, the brand new mural under the Wallace Ave. Footbridge was severely vandalized. It's not the first time that this mural was tagged, including while it was still a work in progress. Artist Richard Mongiat has fixed it each time.

Personally, as much as I actually enjoy good street art and graffiti, simple vandalism of other peoples' work is extremely disrespectful. And it makes me enjoy other street art less.

MX Air Station

This evening, a local resident witnessed someone digging up and stealing plants from the West Toronto Railpath. I received the following email and photos that describe what happened:

Railpath plant thief

I was cycling under the Wallace Avenue bridge about 8 p.m. on Thursday evening. As I cycled through the plaza underneath the bridge I noticed a man digging in the flower bed close to Wallace Avenue where tall white daisies are growing.

I thought at first he was a volunteer planting flowers and kept cycling. My three year old son made a fuss about the rail mural as we cycled south on the Railpath and we ended up turning around and returning to the plaza underneath the bridge. That's when I noticed this man in his late 20's/early 30's with dark hair potting three plants and walking away. I confronted him about why he was taking the plants. He said they were wild flowers and they would grow back. I told him they were planted just recently and he was a thief. He made a fast exit up the stairs of the Wallace bridge as I chastised him. I took two pictures with my iPhone, but could not chase him down because I had my two kids with me on the bike.

Two men under the bridge witnessed the incident and said nothing. Two young women, possibly students, walking up the stairs saw the confrontation, but said nothing.

Despite the nominal value of the plants, I still found myself P.O. at the level of selfishness it takes to steal plants from a public park.

Junction Triangle Resident
June 23, 2011

Railpath plant thief: Closeup

I stumbled upon this scene yesterday while crossing the Wallace Ave. footbridge. A railway crane car was moving along the tracks picking up pieces of rail with an electromagnet and dropping them on the flatbed.

The video is seven and a half minutes of adrenaline soaked non-stop action, with plenty of drama and suspense too. OK, maybe not, but it's a snapshot of life along our changing railway tracks.

A short film by local artist Martin Helmut Reis, filmed yesterday morning on the Wallace Ave. Bridge.:

Canadian Snow Television - Episode Two from Tino on Vimeo.

Recoded Feb. 2, 2011 on the over a century old Wallace Avenue Foot Bridge. Music by Max Richter. Gentle snowfall and people going to work. Temperature -10C.