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News Roundup for May 14, 2024
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The Beach(es)

cdr108 said:
i believe those have been around for about ~10 years now.

i've heard from several sources, including realtors, that those houses are plagued with construction issues resulting in leaks, rust (apparently they used metal studs for construction), electrical problems, etc
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That would suck. Mind you my home's addition is framed with metal studs and the times we've opened the drywall (for other reasons) there was no rust at all. However, we have no leaks, and I think the metal is supposed to be galvanized anyway although I'm not sure.

I wonder what the electrical problems are too. It sounds like the work wasn't up to par if there are significant electrical problems and leaks as well.
 
Thanks. Not that I am planning to buy there or anything, just interested to know whether people feel this is a successful emulation of the old, high density Victorian neighbourhoods.
 
golodhendil said:
Thanks. Not that I am planning to buy there or anything, just interested to know whether people feel this is a successful emulation of the old, high density Victorian neighbourhoods.
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Well, like I said, they remind me of Intrawest fake chalets...

les-condos-du-club-intrawest.jpg


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Koi Pond 1868 Queen St. E (Beaches)

For the past few years I have enjoyed walking past this Koi Pond in the Beaches. It was always fun to stop and visit/feed the fish. Last year the area was sold to become a condo. This article details it.

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/871200--beach-resident-goes-fishing-for-someone-to-take-his-pondhttp://

I was talking to my cousin in the area about what happened to them a while back and she said a sign had gone up that someone had adopted the fish and that they would be relocated. Yesterday, I saw my cousin and asked her about the pond again and she told me no one ever moved them. She went past in the winter and they were frozen upside down in the ice dead.

I know redevelopments happen, but when did it become acceptable to table/neglect the existing area (and life) of a community.
 
Woodbine Beach construction

I took advantage of the weather today to Rollerblade from Riverdale to the end of the bike path at Balmy Beach. Amazing amount of construction going on!

The new car barn for the LRT at Leslie proceeds apace. The crane at Ashbridge's bay treatment plant has now erected a huge steel structure. The greasy spoon resto at Woodbine is getting a full second floor/patio expansion. A bunch of Caterpillars are building another 'cove'/breakwater off Kew... and the Kew Beach snack shack has a new roof.

Looks like summer is just around the corner!
 
Beach(es) without Fouldis

Had Fouldis not got his monopoly on food, volley ball events, etc. in the Beach(es) how do you think the area would have developed differently?

When I grew up in the beaches from the mid-1980s onwards it was much less commercialized. No jazz festival, no volley ball events, and no Fouldis. Though we did have Jackobeck.
 
I'd say that the residents of the Beach don't really pay attention to the happenings in Ashbridges Bay. That's where the tourists flock.

Jazz Fest is great and has been around since '88!

The next big change is the condo boom... Bellefair, Kew, Lakehouse, One Rainsford, Two Hundred, etc. It will be interesting to see how they change the face of the retail.
 
What would help is if they got some restaurants into the new condos on the south side of Queen between Kingston and Woodbine. Seems an excellent place for restaurants, with all that parking behind. That might help anchor some of those empty blocks.

But I understand that there's some bizarre restriction on their being restaurants in the only place along Queen with decent parking ...
 
delta888 said:
Can any longtime residents comment on what living in this neighbourhood is like in the winter?
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26 years and counting!

It's a great spot in the winter. Much more of a small town feel, as tourism grinds to a hault. Nothing like a huge dump of snow to bring neighbours out shovelling and catching up. The narrow streets can be tricky to navigate after big snowfalls, if you are not used to it. But those snowfalls seemed to be a 1-2 time per winter occurrence nowadays.

What aspect of living in the Beach during winter did you want to know more of?
 
GraceCondos said:
What aspect of living in the Beach during winter did you want to know more of?
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Actually, you touched on one of them -- snow removal :)

Mr. delta and I are thinking about moving to the neighbourhood, which is new for both of us.

Another thing I was wondering about is how much more time the current Queen streetcar detour adds to the trip. We came out by TTC just to get a feel for how long it would be to commute to work (we're both downtown) if, as is happening now, the car were in the shop. But it's pretty clear that the repair work on Queen will be done by the time we would be moving, so I'm trying to get a sense of about how many minutes to shave off (maybe 7-10 minutes?)
 
There will be 2-3 times a year that the snow dumps and if you're leaving early in the morning, you are making fresh tracks. And it is a pain sometimes when you shovel your walk and a path for your car to get onto the street, only to have the city snowplow come buy and push all the snow back!!! But I imagine that's the same for any similar downtown neighbourhood. Winters seem to be getting milder and I know a lot of people who thought they didn't even need to switch to winter tires last season.

Using the TTC's site, it says that if you leave Queen/Lee at 8:30am, you end up at Queen/Bay in 22min using the 143 Downtown Express Bus (extra fare required) or in 37min using the 501 Streetcar.

Hope that helps! What area would you be coming from?
 
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GraceCondos said:
There will be 2-3 times a year that the snow dumps and if you're leaving early in the morning, you are making fresh tracks. And it is a pain sometimes when you shovel your walk and a path for your car to get onto the street, only to have the city snowplow come buy and push all the snow back!!! But I imagine that's the same for any similar downtown neighbourhood.
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Fair enough.

Using the TTC's site, it says that if you leave Queen/Lee at 8:30am, you end up at Queen/Bay in 22min using the 143 Downtown Express Bus (extra fare required) or in 37min using the 501 Streetcar.
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Didn't know about the Express. When we tested this out, the ride from Queen subway was 42min (including the wait for the streetcar). But the ride back was much slower because the wait for the streetcar was extremely long (>20 minutes). And of course, the detour to Gerrard doesn't help. Of course, I wouldn't expect those type of waits on a weekday.

Hope that helps! What area would you be coming from?
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Yes, thanks. We'd be coming from Mt Pleasant and Eglinton. Different place and pace. :)
 
Drop Geoffrey an email and he can give you the inside scoop. There are many sub-areas of the Beach that all come with pros and cons. geoffrey (@) gracehomes.com
 
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