Downtown Yonge

[vatche]

I was there Canada day weekend and stayed at the ritz, went for a run at 8 am from the hotel down to the water , across the CN Tower grounds , under the highway and ran along the water and my impressions were the same thing. Dirty, litter everywhere, run down , gum stuck on the sidewalks. Was not impressed at all. It’s notthe Toronto I lived in back in the 80’s. Sad.
They need to spend some money in the city and clean it up . Big time .

 

[Admiral Beez]

I’m going to San Francisco for my 20th anniversary in October. It looks like I’ll be getting a view of what Toronto downtown will look like in the near future.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...ory.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f39baf918806

Per the article, San Francisco has surrendered its downtown to drug addicts, where plastic straws and bags are a controlled substance, but plastic needles are freely provided. But meanwhile they spend nearly a billion dollars on their homeless industrial complex.

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

When I was in Washington DC, I was shocked to see the immense number of homeless people, especially outside of every Metro station.

 

[SunriseChampion]

This is why in another UT thread I stated I have abandoned Yonge Street for Bay Street. Bay Street is much more pleasing to walk along.

I don't really care about the "sub-par" architecture and lack of "culture" on Bay Street. It is a much better walking experience than Yonge Street.

This is the same reason that King Street is my favourite high street in Toronto and I try to avoid Queen entirely.

Me and my friends pretty well try to avoid Yonge Street at all cost. Well, at least north of Wellington.

King vs Queen is like Bay vs Yonge

 

[Softee]

Something is going in the former HMV flagship space at Yonge and Dundas. The notice on the window says "New Retail Store".

 

[Jasmine18]

Dundas Square got more sketchy ever since that clinic opened there imo...

 

[Bayer]

Not sure what to make of the people here who think Yonge and Dundas is "seedy". Perhaps living in a large city doesn't suit them? I've lived downtown for 31 years and I walk there almost every day and it has most certainly not got worse. And not all attractions need to to be family-oriented - life isn't all about kids. Read Times Square Red, Times Square Blue by Samuel Delany (if you dare).

 

[Richard White]

Not sure what to make of the people here who think Yonge and Dundas is "seedy". Perhaps living in a large city doesn't suit them? I've lived downtown for 31 years and I walk there almost every day and it has most certainly not got worse. And not all attractions need to to be family-oriented - life isn't all about kids. Read Times Square Red, Times Square Blue by Samuel Delany (if you dare).

I work downtown and Yonge-Dundas has its issues. If you go much further east you run into low-income areas. At night I have seen people camping out in the square.

It is well trafficked but an area I tend to avoid if possible.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Not sure what to make of the people here who think Yonge and Dundas is "seedy". Perhaps living in a large city doesn't suit them? I've lived downtown for 31 years and I walk there almost every day and it has most certainly not got worse. And not all attractions need to to be family-oriented - life isn't all about kids. Read Times Square Red, Times Square Blue by Samuel Delany (if you dare).

Samuel R. Delany definitely isn't anyone's choice of lighthearted reading - even for adults. Proceed with extreme caution.

I work downtown and Yonge-Dundas has its issues. If you go much further east you run into low-income areas. At night I have seen people camping out in the square.

It is well trafficked but an area I tend to avoid if possible.

The low income areas to the East is undergoing pretty rapid trasition, and I suspect it will accelerate when Seaton House gets downsized and redeveloped. As to the issues at Y+D - I wonder how much of it is discharge from St. Mike's.

AoD

 

[sixrings]

Dundas Square got more sketchy ever since that clinic opened there imo...

Jasmine. I missed you. Still loving that Ford vote? Anyways I'll go sketchy or not.

 

[Richard White]

The low income areas to the East is undergoing pretty rapid trasition, and I suspect it will accelerate when Seaton House gets downsized and redeveloped. As to the issues at Y+D - I wonder how much of it is discharge from St. Mike's.

There are a few TCHC and Co-op buildings on Mutual Street that have some interesting individuals in them as well. My Ex lives in one and I would not go near her building at night, at least not alone.

That said, the area is getting better but is is still not the best.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

Not sure what to make of the people here who think Yonge and Dundas is "seedy". Perhaps living in a large city doesn't suit them? I've lived downtown for 31 years and I walk there almost every day and it has most certainly not got worse. And not all attractions need to to be family-oriented - life isn't all about kids. Read Times Square Red, Times Square Blue by Samuel Delany (if you dare).

Yonge Street at night is full of seedy characters, and Yonge-Dundas Square is the epicentre of it all. Y-D Square is one of the only places I avoid at night in the city (not because of safety, but because it's just not a nice place to be).

Now here's the curious thing: Walk two minutes north to Yonge and College, and you see none of the similar seediness at College Park. Even at night that packed with people lounging around, using the space as it was intended. I don't see any of the questionable characters from Yonge-Dundas. The two spaces couldn't be more diametrically opposite (in terms of vibe).

I think this just goes to show how critical it is for these large public squares to give people a reason to linger. The public features of College Park, as basic as they are, give people a reason to hang around in the space. Yonge-Dundas doesn't have any of that, and the result is that the square just gets overridden with seediness at night.

I'm holding out hope that the parking garage under Y-D Square will be hit by catastrophic flooding soon, forcing us to redesign the thing. That's how we got College Park, after all.

 

[Richard White]

Now here's the curious thing: Walk two minutes north to Yonge and College, and you see none of the similar seediness at College Park.

Actually the Mcdonalds at Yonge and Grosvenor (a block north of college) is a popular hangout for the homeless. It is at the point where they have to hire security overnight because of loitering, drug use and the safety of their staff.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

Actually the Mcdonalds at Yonge and Grosvenor (a block north of college) is a popular hangout for the homeless. It is at the point where they have to hire security overnight because of loitering, drug use and the safety of their staff.

Oh yeah, but I’m talking about the park itself. I was at College Park last night around midnight. The park was packed with people, without a homeless person in sight. Very curious when, as you said, just around the corner there’s plenty of homeless people on the street. Perhaps there’s something about the design of that park that we should be applying to Y-D Square

 

[Richard White]

Oh yeah, but I’m talking about the park itself. I was at College Park last night around midnight. The park was packed with people, without a homeless person in sight. Very curious when, as you said, just around the corner there’s plenty of homeless people on the street. Perhaps there’s something about the design of that park that we should be applying to Y-D Square

It may also be the isolated location, proximity to Aura and TPS HQ. Realistically, security is probably keeping an eye on them in the park as it is a POP.S (Privately Owned Public Space). As it is a POPS, their security can kick them out and likely they do hence why they are not congregating outside in the park adjacent to 444 Yonge.

Yonge and Dundas Square while privately owned likely does not have 24 hour security like they do at 444 Bay to kick them out. This would also explain why Toronto Police do not patrol the area regularly. Much like any private property they would need to be called by users of the space before they can do anything.