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East Danforth

No problem, MJL.

My wife and I just bought in the area, we like it so much. It's got issues (what neighbourhood doesn't?), but is still good, and is "up and coming" with young families, even in the slow economy nowadays.

The Danforth East Community Association and the Danforth Mosaic BIA seem to be doing good work - both are relatively new organizations, too.
 
There's also a group called the Danforth Village Business Improvement Area or the DVBIA www.dvbia.ca.

This covers an area from just west of Main Street and stretches east towards Victoria Park.
Like the organizations mentioned in the previous post, the DVBIA is fairly new also. Whether it maintains any sort of momentum remains to be seen.

This area is gritty, but it "can" improve... it will take a lot of work though.

A good start would be to blast some streetfacing retail into the solid brick wall that lines the west-end of the Shoppers World mall.
Zellers should have a entrance on Danforth.

In addition, the businesses to the east of Zellers need to have entrances on Danforth as well.
Currently the entrance is from behind - totally geared to those who drive into the mall's parking lot.
 
Though may I reiterate a very ambitious concept I've had in the past, especially if Zellers etc decamps for elsewhere: making do with the mall altogether, stripping it to its skeleton (pre-Shopper's World, this was an Albert Kahn auto plant, the most River Rouge-ian thing in town--and the topsy-turvy roof monitors are a remnant of that), and turning it into a community marketplace...
 
Northstar, I saw a good idea that might fit well for the Zellers Shoppers World Plaza. When I first moved here to TO a few years ago my wife and I lived not far from a real ugly mall at Morningside and Kingston Rd. They have torn down the old mall and built some stores that are much more pedestrian friendly from the sidewalks. On the inside of all these building is the parking for the people that have to drive. I thought this type of design might fit well for the Zellers and Shoppers World area, it would still provide parking for the people who will never give up their cars (no matter what the price of fuel is) and it will service the high amount of pedestrian traffic in that area. Check out the area around Morningside and Kingston and see if you think that type of design would work for Zellers and everything. Whatever happens I hope that their is a Coffee Time in whatever they choose for the area-that is where I meet a friend of mine once a week for a talk.
 
I walked past Greenwood & Danforth today and there was this packed vegetarian restaurant opposite the abandoned KFC... it looked like it has Toronto Life and NOW reviews in the window, anyone know what that place is called and if its any good?

As well, I noticed that The Only Cafe at Donlands (my regular when I'm in town) bought the nextdoor retailer and turned it into a coffee shop called "The One and Only."
 
GTS said:
... a real ugly mall at Morningside and Kingston Rd. They have torn down the old mall and built some stores that are much more pedestrian friendly from the sidewalks.
Click to expand...
I know the mall you are talking about.
Old 1960 style malls all over the country are getting facelifts.
A similar thing is happening to Don Mills Shopping Centre at Lawrence & Don Mills.

Shoppers World is okay... it's basically an outdoor shopping mall as opposed to an indoor shopping mall.
It underwent a facelift about 10 yrs ago when the Dominion (now Metro) expanded to the East, and an addition was made (where the Coffeetime now stands).
The problem with this facelift is that it left a cold brick wall facing Danforth, where there should have been streetfacing retail.

A retail deadzone was created.
I hope the DVBIA realizes this, and works with the mall to try and rectify the planning error.

The area will probably never become as trendy as the Greektown, Leslieville or the Beach area; but I think little things like opening up this cold brick wall at the northwest end of Shoppers World would help nudge along improvements in the right direction.
 
northstar said:
Shoppers World is okay... it's basically an outdoor shopping mall as opposed to an indoor shopping mall.
It underwent a facelift about 10 yrs ago when the Dominion (now Metro) expanded to the East, and an addition was made (where the Coffeetime now stands).
The problem with this facelift is that it left a cold brick wall facing Danforth, where there should have been streetfacing retail.

A retail deadzone was created.
I hope the DVBIA realizes this, and works with the mall to try and rectify the planning error.
Click to expand...

Yeah, what basically happened is that Zellers basically took over almost all of the original indoor mall in the name of big-box scale.

And as I indicated, the main thing that'd make a total Shopper's World teardown seem shortsighted is that there's the corpse of industrial heritage underneath that begs creative resurrection, of some sort...
 
adma said:
Yeah, what basically happened is that Zellers basically took over almost all of the original indoor mall in the name of big-box scale.

And as I indicated, the main thing that'd make a total Shopper's World teardown seem shortsighted is that there's the corpse of industrial heritage underneath that begs creative resurrection, of some sort...
Click to expand...

You're right. I'm not sure, though, if anything substantial is left of the old World War II-era plant (wasn't it an aircraft factory?). But a redevelopment that paid tribute to its industrial past, and maybe even preserved anything that happened to have survived all the refurbs of the past decades, would be quite cool.

It also used to be an Eaton's store back in the 1960s.

EatonsShoppers.jpg
 
Skeezix said:
You're right. I'm not sure, though, if anything substantial is left of the old World War II-era plant (wasn't it an aircraft factory?).
Click to expand...

Actually, we're talking more about WWI-era than WWII-era: it was a Ford plant, and it may actually have been by Albert Kahn, i.e. our very own mini-River Rouge. Then Ford decamped for Oakville, and the plant was swallowed up by Shopper's World. But look at the topsy-turvy (and now apparently useless) roof monitors for a hint of what was. The scale of it is certainly substantial, even if other than the roof, it bears absolutely no resemblance to what once was.

Strip the mall away, strip it to its skeleton, turn it into a community marketplace, and you've reclaimed industrial archaeology...
 
Does anyone know the status of the mosque at Donlands and Danforth? And whats with the big spire, is it going to be a minaret?
 
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Some news from the East:

Neighbourhood "upgrades" local deli:

Danforth deli gets extreme makeover (Star)

Locals start extreme make-over of Danforth (National Post)



Review of Melanie's Bistro

Melanie’s Bistro & Patisserie (Toronto Life)

I can personally recommend Melanie's Bistro, too. After moving in to our house in the area just before Christmas, we took all our friends here for a late lunch, and everything was fantastic and very well priced. All of us are planning return trips. It's on the north side of the Danforth, about halfway between Coxwell and Woodbine - just west of East Lynn Park.
 
Oh my, this thread has been an interesting read.

Anyway, I'm a long time reader, first time poster.

I'm pretty new to the area (I'm on Coxwell a bit south of Danforth) but in my short time, it's been great. I've walked the stretch of Danforth west from Coxwell to Chester a few times and it's neat seeing so many distinct neighbourhoods all on the same street. There are tons of different shops and restaurants and pubs, etc. along the way. Sure there may be a couple of boarded up stores here or there, but not to the point that it's alarming. I don't think I've ever felt unsafe there either.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to enjoying the neighbourhood when it gets a little warmer.
 
mjl08 said:
Does anyone know the status of the mosque at Donlands and Danforth? And whats with the big spire, is it going to be a minaret?
Click to expand...

Here are some articles about the mosque:
The National Post
The Star

It's too bad they're not going to use the minaret to make the call for prayers. I've always found the adhan beautiful. It's too bad too that a lot of churches don't ring their bells anymore. I'm not by any means religious, but I feel they're integral sounds in a diverse urban environment - not to mention a nice break from the sounds of traffic, sirens, etc.
 
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