The reality south of Gerrard:
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Outside of what's been removed for development, what are you endeavouring to show here? (sincere question, not snark)
In general, Yonge from Bloor to Front is in decay. The storefronts from Bloor to Dundas specifically are in various states of decay, the sidewalks have not been maintained and what stores are there consist of low end bargain stores selling vapes and mobile accessories.
There's a wee bit of hyperbole here.
As a starting point one has to ask, as compared to what?
Yonge street was rough in the 80s, a bit more visually interesting as well as less corporatist....
But as opposed to the 2 peeler bars that remain, there were at least 4 and 2 major porn cinemas to boot.
There was no Sunday shopping, the sidewalks were not decorative, there were few if any street trees....
I'm not sure where we get the idea things are headed in some in inexorably terrible direction vs last year or 10 years ago.
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Yonge Street: Sept 2021:
Busy, sidewalks in good condition, if bland, pedestrian lighting in order, each retail unit filled or about to be (with Scotia taking over the old Pizza Pizza.)
Now Same Block 5 years earlier:
Further South (2021)
2016:
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To be clear, Yonge, as Toronto's main shopping street downtown certainly doesn't look as polished or pretty as one might hope, and we're all looking forward to the streetscape overhaul in that regard.
But this description of Yonge as it is today as some post-apocalyptic war zone where families fear to tread is rather a bit much.