Shabby Toronto

[Mystic Point]

I should elaborate on the language and dialect differences.

Soft drinks are called " Ketters. "

Dogs are called " Narz. "

Grass or marijuana is called " Horn. "

And the teenage girls call boys " Bay-Junk." which is a version of " junk " as in penis.

They should publish a dictionary of local vernacular.

 

[Tewder]

Point taken at re Les Halles. But what I think is noticeable about Toronto, unlike other large, popular cities, is that we don't have one area that is uniformly high end and beautiful. As an example, Bloor St. and Yorkville, succeed in places...but are intermingled with sketchy retail, broken down sidewalks, rusty poles etc.

I would agree with you. My complaint about the condition of Toronto is not that we have messy urbanism or just plain ol' mess, but the fact that it is pervasive which just makes the whole city feel like an unmade bed (disclaimer: there are some nice areas by the way, just talking in broad generalizations!)

 

[maestro]

The City, is bound by Bloor Street to the North, Parliament to the East, Dufferin to the West and the Lake to the south. The other regions are basically suburban sprawl

calling communities outside of the city's core sprawl is a just tad ridiculous. Unfortunately, too many share your viewpoint that density is the direct cause of sprawl and that single use, multi-tower developments surrounded by visitor parking lots and greenspace are the solution to curbing it.

 

[junctionist]

The City, is bound by Bloor Street to the North, Parliament to the East, Dufferin to the West and the Lake to the south. The other regions are basically suburban sprawl. Sometimes rich sprawl. And sometimes poverty sprawl. But sprawl nonetheless. How do I know it's sprawl? Because there is no " there " there.

What exactly does that last sentence mean?

 

[Mystic Point]

There is no " there " there, means, there is no focus or point. It's just a sprawl of bland suburban development.

If you go to Yonge and Eglinton, or Etobicoke, or the Beach, or Forest Hill for that matter, it's just as though someone dropped a large bag of dry cat food from the sky. And where ever the individual pieces of cat food landed, they decided to build a million forgettable houses with the occasional strip mall to break things up.

 

[Mystic Point]

calling communities outside of the city's core sprawl is a just tad ridiculous. Unfortunately, too many share your viewpoint that density is the direct cause of sprawl and that single use, multi-tower developments surrounded by visitor parking lots and greenspace are the solution to curbing it.

When you leave the core, the rest of the " city " is sprawl. I don't know what else you could call it.

If there's another name for it, please share.

 

[adma]

Hey, I don't mind a lot of that Brooklyn sprawl I see from the elevated train to Coney Island. Makes a nice antidote to Manhattan uberhipness...

 

[urbandreamer]

^Yes. Very upper class English. I like.

 

[Malthus]

There is no " there " there, means, there is no focus or point. It's just a sprawl of bland suburban development.

If you go to Yonge and Eglinton, or Etobicoke, or the Beach, or Forest Hill for that matter, it's just as though someone dropped a large bag of dry cat food from the sky. And where ever the individual pieces of cat food landed, they decided to build a million forgettable houses with the occasional strip mall to break things up.

Have you ever actually *been* to any of these places?

 

[Towered]

What exactly does that last sentence mean?

"Stanley, see this? This is this. This ain't something else. This is this. From now on, you're on your own."

 

[Mystic Point]

Park Grounds Reflect City's Overall Neglect.

Check out Murray Campbell's piece in today's GM.

PARK GROUNDS REFLECT CITY'S OVERALL NEGLECT.

Page A10 in the Toronto section.

I would reprint it here, but loser that I am, I have a paper subscription to the GM and not an online subscription.

How many fucking subscriptions is a person suppose to have anyway?

 

[Mystic Point]

Have you ever actually *been* to any of these places?

Yes I've been to these places. As much as one can consider them " places " and as much as one can take actually being there. It's all pretty generic.

I grew up in tony South Hill. Ugh. You were rarely encouraged to leave the nabe. Of course there were no stores, no kids, a lot of traffic, no one ever walks the streets, and there was no public transportation. Even though South Hill is nestled on the lower west side of Avenue Road and St. Clair.

A bus came down Avenue Road every once in a blue moon. And the street car up on St. Clair, basically went from nowhere to another nowhere and eventually you ended up in some unbelievably awful slum. That was a cultural highlight of living in South Hill. Riding the rails to see how the other 90% of world lived.

But I digress. Yes I've been to Etobicoke, Rosedale, Bennington Heights, Scarberia, the Beach, Hogs Hollow, Algonquin Island, Ward's Island, Hanlan's Point and Yorkdale Mall.

I've never been to North York, East York, The Bridal Path, Don Mills. And I've only been to the China Town on Spadina Ave. I may have driven through the one at Broadview and Gerrard. But if I did, it didn't leave much of an impression.

 

[poppajojo]

Yes I've been to these places. As much as one can consider them " places " and as much as one can take actually being there. It's all pretty generic.

I grew up in tony South Hill. Ugh. You were rarely encouraged to leave the nabe. Of course there were no stores, no kids, a lot of traffic, no one ever walks the streets, and there was no public transportation. Even though South Hill is nestled on the lower west side of Avenue Road and St. Clair.

A bus came down Avenue Road every once in a blue moon. And the street car up on St. Clair, basically went from nowhere to another nowhere and eventually you ended up in some unbelievably awful slum. That was a cultural highlight of living in South Hill. Riding the rails to see how the other 90% of world lived.

But I digress. Yes I've been to Etobicoke, Rosedale, Bennington Heights, Scarberia, the Beach, Hogs Hollow, Algonquin Island, Ward's Island, Hanlan's Point and Yorkdale Mall.

I've never been to North York, East York, The Bridal Path, Don Mills. And I've only been to the China Town on Spadina Ave. I may have driven through the one at Broadview and Gerrard. But if I did, it didn't leave much of an impression.

^^^Wowww, you may have lived in Toronto, but it sounds like you've been completely sheltered from actually exploring the city at all. If you actually put any effort and went for a few walks from where you grew up there would be decent nabes all around, nice parks. I mean the Annex and Yorkville are only a couple blocks down. Dupont Station, Summerhill station are a short walk away or that street car on St. Clair you believe leads to nowhere actually leads to St. Clair Station and St. Clair West station. The fact that you've never been to North York, East York, Sunnybrook Park (The Bridal Path) or Don Mills just tells us your lack of credibility on Toronto.

 

[adma]

A bus came down Avenue Road every once in a blue moon. And the street car up on St. Clair, basically went from nowhere to another nowhere and eventually you ended up in some unbelievably awful slum. That was a cultural highlight of living in South Hill. Riding the rails to see how the other 90% of world lived.

By that "awful slum" judgment, you epitomize the worst aspects of the neighbourhood you grew up in. Sorry.

But I digress. Yes I've been to Etobicoke, Rosedale, Bennington Heights, Scarberia, the Beach, Hogs Hollow, Algonquin Island, Ward's Island, Hanlan's Point and Yorkdale Mall.

I've never been to North York, East York, The Bridal Path, Don Mills. And I've only been to the China Town on Spadina Ave. I may have driven through the one at Broadview and Gerrard. But if I did, it didn't leave much of an impression.

Unless you're pubescent or younger, your scope of having seen Toronto sounds awfully stunted and underdeveloped...

 

[Earlscourt_Lad]

I grew up in tony South Hill. Ugh. You were rarely encouraged to leave the nabe. Of course there were no stores, no kids, a lot of traffic, no one ever walks the streets, and there was no public transportation. Even though South Hill is nestled on the lower west side of Avenue Road and St. Clair.

On behalf of the residents of Earlscourt/Corso Italia, please never come again. Normally we're a very welcoming and diverse neighbourhood, however we feel that you would be a detractor to it, even on a brief visit.

Kindly stay in your souless ghetto.