W
wyliepoon
Guest
I decided to head to Chinatown today for a little photo tour, just to check out if the place is really "dead" just like the Star article said.
Personally, I don't buy the Star's argument. However, there are plenty of signs of changes and transitions in Chinatown. Although a number of stores sit empty and some places are getting ready to shut down, I still can't see how Chinatown is dying. The market crowds are still there. Most of the grocery stores along Spadina are bustling.
I think the biggest transition in Chinatown is the re-orienting of the neighbourhood. Dundas, the traditional "main street" of Chinatown, is getting quieter and has lost most of the shoppers to Spadina, which now boasts more stores, two malls, and access to the LRT.
Let's see some photos...
The AGO coming down
Goodbye to the "old" AGO!
Empty building on the east end of Chinatown, with Chinatown moose in front
Closing sale for a houseware store
Call in the street sweepers!
Beginning of the end for the China Town Dollar Mart, which is relatively new on the Chinatown scene. I remember passing by it two years ago, when they had massive loudspeakers at the front door announcing the latest discounts.
Seeing the Dollar Mart go is bitter sweet. Another Chinatown business goes down the drain, but I think it's just too tacky, even for Chinatown.
Hsin Kuang Centre is one of the smaller landmarks of Chinatown. Named after the Hsin Kuang chain of Hong Kong dim sum restaurants that used to have two locations in Toronto. Hsin Kuang no longer exists here or in HK, but the name is still attached to this building.
Views from the Dragon City staircase, which provides great aerial views of one of Toronto's most bustling intersections.
Far East Theatre, once a theatre showing Chinese films and live Chinese operas, but now it is closed, a victim of the rise of Chinese videos, VCDs and DVDs.
Chinatown Centre- the top floors of the mall are now being converted into a hotel.
Asian Farms supermarket- why Ulysses S. Grant, a US Civil War general and later President, is the supermarket's logo still mystifies me.
Thank God the graffiti on the Royal Bank building is now covered up- by a Telus ad.
Dragon City- featuring downtown Toronto's first media tower?
At Spadina station
Dundas streetcar passing by the AGO
Spadina streetcars crossing Dundas
Streetcars at Spadina and Dundas
At the Spadina LRT stop
At the Spadina LRT stop 2
(Essentially the same as the previous one, except with southbound streetcars bunched up, and an old guy shouting behind me)
View from the back of a streetcar on the Spadina LRT between Dundas and College
Personally, I don't buy the Star's argument. However, there are plenty of signs of changes and transitions in Chinatown. Although a number of stores sit empty and some places are getting ready to shut down, I still can't see how Chinatown is dying. The market crowds are still there. Most of the grocery stores along Spadina are bustling.
I think the biggest transition in Chinatown is the re-orienting of the neighbourhood. Dundas, the traditional "main street" of Chinatown, is getting quieter and has lost most of the shoppers to Spadina, which now boasts more stores, two malls, and access to the LRT.
Let's see some photos...
The AGO coming down
Goodbye to the "old" AGO!
Empty building on the east end of Chinatown, with Chinatown moose in front
Closing sale for a houseware store
Call in the street sweepers!
Beginning of the end for the China Town Dollar Mart, which is relatively new on the Chinatown scene. I remember passing by it two years ago, when they had massive loudspeakers at the front door announcing the latest discounts.
Seeing the Dollar Mart go is bitter sweet. Another Chinatown business goes down the drain, but I think it's just too tacky, even for Chinatown.
Hsin Kuang Centre is one of the smaller landmarks of Chinatown. Named after the Hsin Kuang chain of Hong Kong dim sum restaurants that used to have two locations in Toronto. Hsin Kuang no longer exists here or in HK, but the name is still attached to this building.
Views from the Dragon City staircase, which provides great aerial views of one of Toronto's most bustling intersections.
Far East Theatre, once a theatre showing Chinese films and live Chinese operas, but now it is closed, a victim of the rise of Chinese videos, VCDs and DVDs.
Chinatown Centre- the top floors of the mall are now being converted into a hotel.
Asian Farms supermarket- why Ulysses S. Grant, a US Civil War general and later President, is the supermarket's logo still mystifies me.
Thank God the graffiti on the Royal Bank building is now covered up- by a Telus ad.
Dragon City- featuring downtown Toronto's first media tower?
At Spadina station
-----------------------
Dundas streetcar passing by the AGO
Spadina streetcars crossing Dundas
Streetcars at Spadina and Dundas
At the Spadina LRT stop
At the Spadina LRT stop 2
(Essentially the same as the previous one, except with southbound streetcars bunched up, and an old guy shouting behind me)
View from the back of a streetcar on the Spadina LRT between Dundas and College