[gei]

Those first four CityPlace buildings on Front were pretty much built in no mans land. Not much out there at the time. Now that the area is becoming a real neighbourhood there's no surprises prices are going up faster than normal.

That's actually an excellent point.

When concord came along and built those 4 buildings, people probably said the same thing they are saying now about the new cityplace buildings... that they were in a boring and isolated area.

Now that Tridel put up the element across the street, and the new "fly condos" going up, we have even ultra-pessimists like urbantor/investor saying the area is an "excellent neighbourhood".

It might actually be fun revisiting this thread 5 years down the road once the park is finished and all the other stuff that's going up over there. We can have a good laugh at the nay-sayers, like they're doing over in the trump thread now.

 

[northstar]

I still think City Place is the next St. Jamestown in the making.
There's no way that I would even consider buying a condo in that area.

Of course, time will tell.

 

[ArcticS]

I still think City Place is the next St. Jamestown in the making.
There's no way that I would even consider buying a condo in that area.

Of course, time will tell.

Are the St. Jamestown buildings rental apartments or purchased condos? What are the prices like?

 

[Apex2N1]

I still think City Place is the next St. Jamestown in the making.
There's no way that I would even consider buying a condo in that area.

Of course, time will tell.

And your purpose of repeating this prediction over and over again is? I've heard this nonsense before more than 5 years ago and guess what? Still no sign of a jamestown. Not even a hint. Nobody is listening and no one cares what the "experts" are saying. You're not considering buying a condo here? WHO CARES?

 

[northstar]

And your purpose of repeating this prediction over and over again is? I've heard this nonsense before more than 5 years ago and guess what? Still no sign of a jamestown. Not even a hint. Nobody is listening and no one cares what the "experts" are saying. You're not considering buying a condo here? WHO CARES?

Yeah, in the grand scheme of things, I agree... who cares!
It's funny how defensive people get about this all the time though.
Kind of makes one wonder if there isn't some truth to the prediction.

On the other hand, architecturally speaking, I care a lot.
It's frustrating to see this city make the same mistakes -
over and over and over and over and over and over again!

People decry the urban deadzone that St. Jamestown has become.
Yet few seem to mind the fact that scores of cheaply built highrises
are being crammed into the former railway yards west of downtown.
Lifeless canyons with low architectural quality, and lacklustre streetlife,
when compared to urban strips like College West, Queen West, Greektown
or other parts of downtown.

If things change, then great!
From where I'm sitting though, it looks like an urban ghetto in the making.

Also, I think debate about things like this is healthy.
It forces citizens to pay attention to architecture, and the quality,
functionality and livability that flows from well-designed spaces.
I think Toronto is well past the point where one should have to ooh and aah
at "penis-towers" simply because of height, irrespective of quality.

my 2¢

 

[northstar]

Are the St. Jamestown buildings rental apartments or purchased condos? What are the prices like?

They are rental apartments.
In the 1960's, St. Jamestown was supposedly a hip and trendy address.
Today the units are small and out-dated. As a result, the rent is fairly affordable.

A lot of new Canadians and immigrant families have moved into the area.
In the future, I wonder if its affordability will begin to draw artists
who are currently being forced out of places like Queen West
by yuppies who are driving rental prices through the roof.

Again, time will tell.

 

[Apex2N1]

Yeah, in the grand....

my 2¢

Oi so much nonsense! GET REAL!

 

[gei]

From where I'm sitting though, it looks like an urban ghetto in the making.

And therein lies the problem. You in fact are sitting very far away from the development, and your opinions don't really reflect any facts.

Whereas people actually LIVING in the area think it's great.... vibrant, easy access to transportation, and plenty of young friendly people around.

Would you rather take the opinion of a random distant observer, or people actually living there?

 

[ducati0000]

The point is if the area is to your expectations then that is all that counts.My views is from a "guest visitor" view.The time I was there and from my friend accounts the condo was what she expected.The only thing she didnt really like was about noise and the iffy quality of the finish product,the some what not perfectly manage maintenance of her building.A few time elevators garbage was not removed after a few days,some of the main lobby areas during the rainy days was not moped up after 24 hours,sometime strangers (not tenants on her floor) was seen wondering around the hallways,security was called and they were indeed not visitors or tenants.Over all she liked the area and from all accounts she made a good investment but she would consider another builder in the future.

 

[gei]

Well I guess people can decide which opinions they prefer - 2nd hand accounts of people's "friends", or once again, people actually living in the building.

If you prefer the latter, I'd like to point out I've never had a single issue like the ones mentioned above.

In fact I find the building maintained MUCH better than the ICON and SohoMET that I lived in before. For example, they polish the granite floor in the lobby every day (which actually seems a bit excessive), buff the gym floor every day, clean every pane of glass in the lobby every day, etc etc. Although perhaps I just live in a better managed building...

 

[movieguy]

Which building are you in Gei?

I'm tired of this endless discussion too. There are a lot of facets to the argument, from renters, owners, investors, and observers. It seems everyone is valid.

There are good and bad buildings in the cityplace project. Each one could be managed by completely different companies. Some better than others.

What could have been improved was the street level retail. Not enough is done to attract businesses and services appropriate for the "neighbourhood". I've met with the commercial leasing office of cityplace. Unlike a more pro-active company like Cadillac Fairview, cityplace is too hands off and asks too much in rent.

And it is very hard to argue against the lackluster community intergration. The projects are pretty isolated from one another.

These could be fixed. What can't be is the shoddy construction. I don't think the residences provide good value compared to other places, but it's not a craphole like all the naysayers are calling it. It's average. At least the windows are not leaking like the buildings they put up in vancouver.

 

[exstasie]

I have a few friends in the Cityplace right now and they love it!


The only complaint I've really heard was one of my friends who is on the 40+ floor. She says that when it gets really windy out, her windows tend to 'shake' and she can actually hear the wind bang against her windows...

It's not really loud from what she says, but it did startle her a few times at night!

But then again this might be a result of living in any high rise as I have no prior experience to that..

 

[Granny]

And therein lies the problem. You in fact are sitting very far away from the development, and your opinions don't really reflect any facts.

Whereas people actually LIVING in the area think it's great.... vibrant, easy access to transportation, and plenty of young friendly people around.

Would you rather take the opinion of a random distant observer, or people actually living there?

St. James town WAS a vibrant, friendly, and really cool place to live when it was brand spanking new. Within two decades it became sadly clear that the planners had failed..badly. History does not always repeat, but it sure does have a nasty way of rhyming.
Cityplace does not have to take this route. It's still not too late. Unfortunately we need a serious "U-turn" to be made down at the planning dept. Unfortunately the developer appears to have these guys and the local councilers solidly in his pocket and it's sewed up tight.
The park in front of 'Parade' is a small step in the right direction.
I've said it before. This is a neighbourhood you drive through, not walk through and if you are walking, you do it fast, because there is nothing of any real interest at street level around here,..and you don't want to miss the game.
For a new urban development in 21'st century, this is not only inexcusable, its criminal.
From all we have learned from the past, we should know better.

 

[gei]

This is a neighbourhood you drive through, not walk through and if you are walking, you do it fast, because there is nothing of any real interest at street level around here,..and you don't want to miss the game.

Considering most people living there DON'T own cars, I would have to disagree. I myself do own a car, but probably drive it once a week to visit the folks in Mississauga. I'm sure people won't be "driving" through the park either.

I'm actually very confident that this development will greatly exceed everyone's expectations. This statement is of course made easier because of all the pessimists.

But I look foward to bumping this thread in a few years to show you all how wrong you were... just like the "this thing will never get built" posts over in the Trump thread.

 

[Granny]

^thou speaketh the truth. Not of these kids are old enough to recall SJT in its hey day. A better development for it was for its time. CP doesn't have the Rosedale ravine to disguise it's flaws.

A cookie for you, Nabru.
The funny thing is that it is so hard to take Gei's comments with any seriosness. I respect his opinion, however his comments, and his defensivness, frankly, remind me a little of me in my youth.
It's hard for him to consider the possibility that the couple generations ahead of him have been here before and might actually know what we are talking about. There are too many similarities to simply dismiss. You know that, Northstar has tried to point this out, others have, and so have I. The Demographics for Citypace belongs to these kids. If I was Twenty or Thirty something today this is where I would probably go.(But I would rent) I liked a good party or two every weekend too. But then I grew up. We had St. James and Rochdale to name a couple and no boring older farts were gonna tell us we didn't know what we were doing. Thank God we at least weren't carry mortgages on these places. LOL!