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Perhaps its time to restart or newly start a dedicated thread for the John Innes Recreation Centre rebuild.

Muddling through @DSC 's link to the City's new Ontario Line sub-committee meeting report, I found this:


City staff are expecting to begin construction of the Community
Recreation Centre in summer 2024 and construction of the revitalized park itself in
2027. During construction the field areas in the park will be impacted, however,
Metrolinx will maintain access to the tennis and basketball courts and will implement
temporary parking for the arena on-site for the duration of construction.
 
Bring it on I say!

www.thestar.com

Rosie DiManno: My hardscrabble Toronto neighbourhood has caught developers’ interest. But where does that leave its most vulnerable residents?

This is the past and the present of Moss Park, the last area of Toronto to be eyed covetously by developers, rapidly running out of space for their monstrous projects, Rosie DiManno writes.
www.thestar.com www.thestar.com

Crime and violence are rampant: break-ins, robberies, assaults, shootings, open drug-dealing, street sex workers. The proprietor of the convenience store at the corner of Dundas murdered, a homeless fellow sleeping on a park bench punched and kicked to death by a trio of army reservists, a pair of fatal fentanyl overdoses discovered underneath my back stairs, a man stabbed to death by four assailants at the corner last month following an “altercation,’’ as per the police blotter. This is the past and the present of Moss Park, the city’s most down-at-the-heels neighbourhood

Dilution rather than displacement of downtown east’s rougher residents through the mass introduction of regular, sane and sober homeowners and renters and their families is the best hope for the Moss Park area.
 
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It's great that she loves its hardscrabble nature. But I would say most women wouldn't ever go there, especially in the evening. For the reasons she mentioned in the article. My wife won't even use the bike lane on Sherbourne between Dundas and Queen unless we're together. And I don't think she's a particularly fearful person.
 
Admiral Beez said:
Bring it on I say!

www.thestar.com

Rosie DiManno: My hardscrabble Toronto neighbourhood has caught developers’ interest. But where does that leave its most vulnerable residents?

This is the past and the present of Moss Park, the last area of Toronto to be eyed covetously by developers, rapidly running out of space for their monstrous projects, Rosie DiManno writes.
www.thestar.com www.thestar.com

Crime and violence are rampant: break-ins, robberies, assaults, shootings, open drug-dealing, street sex workers. The proprietor of the convenience store at the corner of Dundas murdered, a homeless fellow sleeping on a park bench punched and kicked to death by a trio of army reservists, a pair of fatal fentanyl overdoses discovered underneath my back stairs, a man stabbed to death by four assailants at the corner last month following an “altercation,’’ as per the police blotter. This is the past and the present of Moss Park, the city’s most down-at-the-heels neighbourhood

Dilution rather than displacement of downtown east’s rougher residents through the mass introduction of regular, sane and sober homeowners and renters and their families is the best hope for the Moss Park area.
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I doubt Queen and Sherbourne would make the top 50 most "crime and violence rampant street corners" in Canada. Go out to the cities in the Praries and you find some real doozies that don't have any equivalent in Toronto; where people commit crimes, assaults, murders, and die from drug overdoses weekly, if not daily in the same exact spot despite constant police presence. It's shocking to see when you go somewhere like Saskatoon or Regina, or Vancouver for that matter, and see there's a Queen & Sherbourne equivalent but it's ten blocks long, and it's now totally normalised to everyone who lives there to have that. I think that's an advantage we have is that we've resisted normalising there needs to be a drug addict crime district.

Queen and Sherbourne makes some people uncomfortable, but it's mostly harmless, and when it's not, it's quite visible to steer clear from. I think the perimeters of the area are more dangerous. Two or three blocks out from it, especially on the north-east sides is where the real nasty stuff happens, out of sight of the media lens and often totally unreported to even the police. Quieter roads like Shuter Street or the northern side of Ontario Street creep me out more at night than well-travelled Queen or Sherbourne.
 
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toonderly said:
Just noticed that Fusaro's at Richmond and Sherbourne has closed.
Click to expand...
Shame. We used to go there regularly 5 or 6 years ago, but it became somewhat inconsistent and we fell out of the habit.

I think they did a lot of weekday lunch business that might have dropped post-pandemic with work-from-home persisting for many people. Competition from Motorino Citta around the corner, with a similar menu and more capacity, might not have helped either.

I hope something interesting takes that beautiful space and gives it a go.
 
toonderly said:
Motorino Citta appears to be gone now as well. It was dark when I went past the other day and when I look at https://www.motorinoenoteca.com/discover only Vaughan and King City are listed.
Click to expand...

Yes, it seems I might have cursed them. They were always quite busy so this came as something of a surprise. Funny, a year or two back we had three Italian restaurants -- Fusaro's, Motorino and Mangi Bevi -- all within a few blocks, now they are all closed, for varying reasons. It's tough out there.
 
CityPainter said:
They were always quite busy so this came as something of a surprise. Funny, a year or two back we had three Italian restaurants -- Fusaro's, Motorino and Mangi Bevi -- all within a few blocks, now they are all closed, for varying reasons. It's tough out there.
Click to expand...

It is, and always was a tough business.....

That said.........

I think it bears some discussion why, beyond the quite true tale that 'getting known' can be tough, and margins can be tight.

**

Ongoing issues specific to the Toronto/Ontario market.

The inflated price of alcohol, wholesale, which is generally pretty close to retail to restaurants. That generates what seem to many to be hugely inflated prices on booze. This is both a wholesale/retail thing and a function of alcohol specific taxes, including excise taxes that are inordinate to European/American norms.

Equally, of course, we have excessive costs for dairy, eggs, and chicken; these are somewhat less impactful in that they also apply to the grocery market; but they do serve to make eating out more expensive than it otherwise would be.

Second, excess regulatory burden; this includes liquor licenses, patio permissions, last call, the legal drinking age and on and on......this is not all all alcohol related, but having worked briefly in the insurance industry, many eons ago, I can tell you even there selling too many drinks results in higher insurance costs....... it makes life complicated.

Third, tipping culture, much of the developed world has done away w/this, we have not, and the choice to give staff low guaranteed wages, and reliance on tips makes for higher/less predictable bills for customers, but also unpredictable earnings and higher turnover for staff.

****

Add to those usual issues, Covid/pandemic restrictions impacts (residual effect); and the need to repay federal loans during this period, along w/labour shortages.......

You have one very tough industry right now.
 
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Just my humble observation but those cafés and restaurants that have a built-in resident population seem to do better. The places along Adelaide and Richmond East don’t have the necessary residential density yet (but soon will) to survive long term. This contrasts with businesses in The West Don Lands which have seen less turnover.
 
Pile driving for the OL station staring soon:

Screenshot_2024-03-09_113602.jpg



20240309_113631.jpg



20240309_113633.jpg
 
deerparker said:
It’s clearer in the graphic on the Metrolinx site

View attachment 547013
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I am struggling to understand where the pedestrian tunnel leads. The little man just appears to be on the sidewalk. Is the tunnel supposed to cross the intersection to the streetcar stops?

ETA: or is the so-called pedestrian tunnel just the temporary area on the sidewalk, not anything to do with the final build at all? I have seen the covered walkway there.
 
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