South African War (Boer) Memorial

[ceaz40]

I went to the Tina Turner Mirvish musical today. I decided to walk from my home on Parklawn to the theatre at Yonge and Dundas. I was appalled when I got to Queen and University. The monument and fountains are gone. It was a dug up construction site. I searched it on here and googled…I couldn’t find out what’s going on. I hope I hear from all of you who are far knowledgeable than I about what that’s about. Also….I haven’t been downtown much in years….theatre, doctor appts on University…few annd far between. I found even on University that the boulevard islands up the middle are strewn with trash. I decided to do a lot of walking after theatre. Gross!!! I remember flowers all down Wellesley. Street sweepers out walking. All I saw was garbage everywhere. Minimal flowers. I walked through Metropolitan University campus…used to be one of my favourite walks downtown….absolutely gross! Filth everywhere and groups of very unsavoury characters. It seemed like everywhere I walked on a street near Yonge….all I could see was garbage and smell urine. I’m born here and love my city and would never leave, but I’m thanking God I’m not downtown anymore. Downtown is the heart of what is supposed to make us a great city? We need to do so much better! Anytime I’ve tried to contact any level of government with any issue, I’m met with the formulaic fabricated response where no one actually cares and gets back. I’m going to contact my Etobicoke/Lakeshore rep and demand a face to face meeting to discuss this….though it’s not even her responsibility. At least, if she meets and listens, she’ll get more of an ear on my concern than I can get. I hope all of you will do the same. Sorry, I went on at length, but it truly should be all of our concern and I hope you do the same.

 

[Jonny5]

I went to the Tina Turner Mirvish musical today. I decided to walk from my home on Parklawn to the theatre at Yonge and Dundas. I was appalled when I got to Queen and University. The monument and fountains are gone. It was a dug up construction site. I searched it on here and googled…I couldn’t find out what’s going on.

The monument was put into storage as this became a construction site for the Queen/University station on the new Ontario Line which will require a large scale excavation to go under the existing subway station plus a construction staging area.
It is mentioned here at the end of the blurb that it will return when the work is done in several years:

South African War Memorial - National Inventory of Canadian Military Memorials (NICMM) - Memorials - Remembrance - Veterans Affairs Canada

Remember Canada’s Veterans

www.veterans.gc.ca

 

[Towered]

I went to the Tina Turner Mirvish musical today. I decided to walk from my home on Parklawn to the theatre at Yonge and Dundas. I was appalled when I got to Queen and University. The monument and fountains are gone. It was a dug up construction site. I searched it on here and googled…I couldn’t find out what’s going on. I hope I hear from all of you who are far knowledgeable than I about what that’s about. Also….I haven’t been downtown much in years….theatre, doctor appts on University…few annd far between. I found even on University that the boulevard islands up the middle are strewn with trash. I decided to do a lot of walking after theatre. Gross!!! I remember flowers all down Wellesley. Street sweepers out walking. All I saw was garbage everywhere. Minimal flowers. I walked through Metropolitan University campus…used to be one of my favourite walks downtown….absolutely gross! Filth everywhere and groups of very unsavoury characters. It seemed like everywhere I walked on a street near Yonge….all I could see was garbage and smell urine. I’m born here and love my city and would never leave, but I’m thanking God I’m not downtown anymore. Downtown is the heart of what is supposed to make us a great city? We need to do so much better! Anytime I’ve tried to contact any level of government with any issue, I’m met with the formulaic fabricated response where no one actually cares and gets back. I’m going to contact my Etobicoke/Lakeshore rep and demand a face to face meeting to discuss this….though it’s not even her responsibility. At least, if she meets and listens, she’ll get more of an ear on my concern than I can get. I hope all of you will do the same. Sorry, I went on at length, but it truly should be all of our concern and I hope you do the same.

How long have you lived here? Sure, there's plenty of shabbiness to be found in Toronto (we even have a dedicated thread about it on this forum!), but there always has been. I can remember 80's Toronto, and I can tell you without hesitation that it was far shabbier back then, which is why I never understood the old "New York run by the Swiss" BS that used to get trotted about in those days. There are many areas of downtown that are WAY nicer today than they used to be, even if yes, there are still many improvements that need to be done.

 

[Admiral Beez]

I walked through Metropolitan University campus…used to be one of my favourite walks downtown….absolutely gross! Filth everywhere and groups of very unsavoury characters.

The area around TeeMu often falls victim to vagrants and junkies, especially around the Timmies on Victoria St. It's not TeeMu's fault to be fair, as the zombie magnet of Dundas (Sankofa-Moise) Square is adjacent.

How long have you lived here? Sure, there's plenty of shabbiness to be found in Toronto (we even have a dedicated thread about it on this forum!), but there always has been. I can remember 80's Toronto, and I can tell you without hesitation that it was far shabbier back then

I've lived in Toronto since the late 1970s and I can say that downtown was shabby, but it was a lot of fun. As a teen, Yonge St was a blast with the head shops, arcades and some of the best music and electronics stores. What was different in the 1980s and early 1990s Toronto compared to today was the sense of public safety, both because of the huge number of pedestrians overwhelming the ratio of EDPs and vagrants, and I recall a large TPS presence on foot, rather than in cars or on bicycles (honestly, why do we issue TPS today with boots at all?). It's not the shabbiness that bugs me, but how downtown has been surrendered to the underclass and through sh#te planning's removal of the pedestrian scene, also abandoned by the city's young people. As a 16 year old I would be out until past midnight at the arcades and then just sitting around with my mates. Downtown felt safe due to numbers of people, strong police presence and fewer insane junkies. Just look here below 1980s and 90s Yonge St, just normal folks out enjoying themselves on Yonge Street, no EDPs or junkies in sight.

@ceaz40 is right to suggest the place has gone to hell.

 

[junctionist]

The area around TeeMu often falls victim to vagrants and junkies, especially around the Timmies on Victoria St. It's not TeeMu's fault to be fair, as the zombie magnet of Dundas (Sankofa-Moise) Square is adjacent.

I've lived in Toronto since the late 1970s and I can say that downtown was shabby, but it was a lot of fun. As a teen, Yonge St was a blast with the head shops, arcades and some of the best music and electronics stores. What was different in the 1980s and early 1990s Toronto compared to today was the sense of public safety, both because of the huge number of pedestrians overwhelming the ratio of EDPs and vagrants, and I recall a large TPS presence on foot, rather than in cars or on bicycles (honestly, why do we issue TPS today with boots at all?). It's not the shabbiness that bugs me, but how downtown has been surrendered to the underclass and through sh#te planning's removal of the pedestrian scene abandoned by the city's young people. As a 16 year old I would be out until past midnight at the arcades and then just sitting around with my mates. Downtown felt safe due to numbers of people, strong police presence and fewer insane junkies. Just look here below 1980s and 90s Yonge St, just normal folks out enjoying themselves on Yonge Street, no EDPs or junkies in sight.

@ceaz40 is right to suggest the place has gone to hell.

TMU should have their own campus police like U of T and perhaps even assume responsibility for maintaining the streets around their campus to deal with the issue.

Also, I agree with @ceaz40 that downtown Yonge Street needs to be cleaned up, especially from Dundas to Bloor. Its fate shouldn't be left to its many absentee landlords who seem only interested in the value of the land as their beautiful Victorians rot and crumble.

I think it's fantastic that @ceaz40 reached out to their councillor in Etobicoke about the issue. Downtown, including Yonge Street, is the cultural heart of the city and its economic engine. The quality of the public spaces downtown affects residents city wide from a quality-of-life and economic perspective and should be on every councillor's radar.

 

[ceaz40]

How long have you lived here? Sure, there's plenty of shabbiness to be found in Toronto (we even have a dedicated thread about it on this forum!), but there always has been. I can remember 80's Toronto, and I can tell you without hesitation that it was far shabbier back then, which is why I never understood the old "New York run by the Swiss" BS that used to get trotted about in those days. There are many areas of downtown that are WAY nicer today than they used to be, even if yes, there are still many improvements that need to be done.

 

[ceaz40]

I’ve lived here all my life….since 1961.

 

[ceaz40]

Just an update….I do volunteer work in Etobicoke for a few organizations. I mentioned previously I contacted my Etobicoke councillor, but never heard back. Even though the shabbiness of University Avenue is not her direct issue, it affects us all as a city…..e.g. tourism. I had emailed her and heard nothing back though she has been a deputy mayor. She was at the Arts Etobicoke event I volunteered with today. I approached her after her speech and voiced my concerns. Her assistant asked for my email and searched it to no avail. Could have been something I did.sending…not sure. Nevertheless, Ms Morley was attentive, concerned and interested. Her assistant gave me a direct email to contact them again. Ms Morley agreed with what I had to say and when I brought up she would have a voice that would be listened to, she agreed. She was actually appalled. Here’s hoping she can get some action.

 

[lenaitch]

It's really difficult to compare things with past times. While there has probably always been homeless/differently domiciled, likely not to the extent now which has been seriously impacted by the opioid drug epidemic and financial issues.

There is a recent article from Peterborough, which I assume has similar issues relative to its size, where they opened a temporary shelter but nobody used it.

All the cops in the world - public or private - won't solve these issues alone. They simply can't sweep them up and cart them off to jail, force them into a shelter or mental health facility, etc. and, even if grounds to arrest did exist, they would most likely be immediately released since grounds probably wouldn't exist to keep them in custody.