Urban Shocker
Doyenne
Is Flipper moving into Rivertowne? I'm suspicious of this first-name-only Solomon dude, a wary prospective buyer who has to "think about my investment" ...
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Riverdale Rink Rat
Senior Member
Rivertowne Phase 1 occupied?
While construction proceeds apace on the northern half of the site (concrete has been poured), it looks like curtains have gone up in some of the units off Carroll. The little 'court' for parking looks pretty good, actually -- it'll be a good place for little kids to bike. The amount of landscaping looks pretty small, though -- not a lot of green until the park comes into play, and I believe that won't happen until all the construction is finished and all the remaining Don Mounters can move into their new apartments.
While construction proceeds apace on the northern half of the site (concrete has been poured), it looks like curtains have gone up in some of the units off Carroll. The little 'court' for parking looks pretty good, actually -- it'll be a good place for little kids to bike. The amount of landscaping looks pretty small, though -- not a lot of green until the park comes into play, and I believe that won't happen until all the construction is finished and all the remaining Don Mounters can move into their new apartments.
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
From the Star:
Don Mount rebounds from ruin
Jul 07, 2008 04:30 AM
Donovan Vincent
City Hall Bureau
Residents moving into rebuilt units in Don Mount Court in Toronto's east end are doing something few, if any, in this country have ever done – returning to public housing reborn.
Their neighbourhood, in the Don Valley Parkway and Dundas St. E. area, was once isolated from the surrounding community, with no streets cutting through the centre.
It was dilapidated, and prone to crime.
But like nearby Regent Park, Don Mount is transforming into a mixed-income community.
It's part of a new direction the city is taking in public housing. Rather than cramming low-income people together in homogenous housing, which breeds crime, low expectations and poverty, better to have mixed income neighbourhoods, the thinking goes.
Today, there will be an opening ceremony for the Don Mount Project. Scheduled guests include Mayor David Miller, the area councillor, Toronto Community Housing officials, and the developers involved.
Aside from the 232 rent-geared-to-income units at Don Mount – the same number that existed before – when the $60 million project is completed two years from now, there'll also be 187 new market condo units.
Those condos, 99 per cent sold out, are under construction.
All of the Don Mount housing will be contained in four blocks of stacked townhouses and one apartment building.
Because it's a much smaller scale undertaking and started earlier than Regent Park, some Don Mount residents — uprooted when construction began in October 2004 — have recently returned to dozens of finished public housing units in the renamed "Don Mount/Rivertowne" development, operated by TCH.
Those residents are returning from subsidized housing they'd found elsewhere in the city, or from the section of Don Mount slated for the second phase of construction.
Reviews from them are mixed.
While most were happy to be back, some expressed disappointment with the changes.
A woman who would only give her name as Joan complained that due to design and construction issues a wading pool in the complex has been closed, and play areas are gone. Some of the units are smaller, there are no backyards, and some storage space has been lost, she adds.
"People have had to downsize," says Nichole Morgan, who is staying with her parents, who returned to the community about three weeks ago.
Her parents were forced to rent a storage unit off-site for belongings.
Linda Chapman, a long-time resident who sits on the redevelopment committee that is helping to steer the project, says residents had a choice of lower or upper-level units, the lower ones equipped with storage.
"It's beautiful inside these places," said Chapman, who lives in a three-bedroom with her daughter and son.
Danielle Fauvelle, another recent returnee, says she "loves" the brand new unit she shares with her two young children, a welcome change from the one she lived in on the Danforth where hydro bills were too expensive.
She says she's looking forward to the new neighbours she'll get when the market condo units are occupied.
"It'll be good to mix with both (low and middle income) communities together.
"Kids can see both sides and strive for a better life," Fauvelle says.
The condo units are key to the redevelopment, where money from that side of the project was used to finance the rebuilt social housing. Regent Park is using a similar model, and though the redevelopment of Lawrence Heights, another TCH project, hasn't begun, the same approach is being eyed.
Paula Fletcher, the city councillor whose ward takes in Don Mount, says there will be some growing pains in the new community.
For instance, residents will have to wait for a new two-acre park that will be built after Phase 2 construction begins next year.
But there are many positives, Fletcher insists.
A new thoroughfare gives the community a "normal streetscape" she says. And residents have received upgraded housing.
Before the work got under way, reports showed damage from water penetration alone would have cost in the range of $35 million to fix.
"The thought initially was tear the whole thing down because it's too expensive to repair," Fletcher says.
But that thought wasn't carried through with, and now Don Mount is no longer on the "critical condition list," she says.
http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/455438
AoD
Don Mount rebounds from ruin
Jul 07, 2008 04:30 AM
Donovan Vincent
City Hall Bureau
Residents moving into rebuilt units in Don Mount Court in Toronto's east end are doing something few, if any, in this country have ever done – returning to public housing reborn.
Their neighbourhood, in the Don Valley Parkway and Dundas St. E. area, was once isolated from the surrounding community, with no streets cutting through the centre.
It was dilapidated, and prone to crime.
But like nearby Regent Park, Don Mount is transforming into a mixed-income community.
It's part of a new direction the city is taking in public housing. Rather than cramming low-income people together in homogenous housing, which breeds crime, low expectations and poverty, better to have mixed income neighbourhoods, the thinking goes.
Today, there will be an opening ceremony for the Don Mount Project. Scheduled guests include Mayor David Miller, the area councillor, Toronto Community Housing officials, and the developers involved.
Aside from the 232 rent-geared-to-income units at Don Mount – the same number that existed before – when the $60 million project is completed two years from now, there'll also be 187 new market condo units.
Those condos, 99 per cent sold out, are under construction.
All of the Don Mount housing will be contained in four blocks of stacked townhouses and one apartment building.
Because it's a much smaller scale undertaking and started earlier than Regent Park, some Don Mount residents — uprooted when construction began in October 2004 — have recently returned to dozens of finished public housing units in the renamed "Don Mount/Rivertowne" development, operated by TCH.
Those residents are returning from subsidized housing they'd found elsewhere in the city, or from the section of Don Mount slated for the second phase of construction.
Reviews from them are mixed.
While most were happy to be back, some expressed disappointment with the changes.
A woman who would only give her name as Joan complained that due to design and construction issues a wading pool in the complex has been closed, and play areas are gone. Some of the units are smaller, there are no backyards, and some storage space has been lost, she adds.
"People have had to downsize," says Nichole Morgan, who is staying with her parents, who returned to the community about three weeks ago.
Her parents were forced to rent a storage unit off-site for belongings.
Linda Chapman, a long-time resident who sits on the redevelopment committee that is helping to steer the project, says residents had a choice of lower or upper-level units, the lower ones equipped with storage.
"It's beautiful inside these places," said Chapman, who lives in a three-bedroom with her daughter and son.
Danielle Fauvelle, another recent returnee, says she "loves" the brand new unit she shares with her two young children, a welcome change from the one she lived in on the Danforth where hydro bills were too expensive.
She says she's looking forward to the new neighbours she'll get when the market condo units are occupied.
"It'll be good to mix with both (low and middle income) communities together.
"Kids can see both sides and strive for a better life," Fauvelle says.
The condo units are key to the redevelopment, where money from that side of the project was used to finance the rebuilt social housing. Regent Park is using a similar model, and though the redevelopment of Lawrence Heights, another TCH project, hasn't begun, the same approach is being eyed.
Paula Fletcher, the city councillor whose ward takes in Don Mount, says there will be some growing pains in the new community.
For instance, residents will have to wait for a new two-acre park that will be built after Phase 2 construction begins next year.
But there are many positives, Fletcher insists.
A new thoroughfare gives the community a "normal streetscape" she says. And residents have received upgraded housing.
Before the work got under way, reports showed damage from water penetration alone would have cost in the range of $35 million to fix.
"The thought initially was tear the whole thing down because it's too expensive to repair," Fletcher says.
But that thought wasn't carried through with, and now Don Mount is no longer on the "critical condition list," she says.
http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/455438
AoD
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
From the Globe:
A NEW HOUSING APPROACH
East-end neighbourhood casts off the old model of public housing
JENNIFER LEWINGTON
CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF
July 8, 2008
An east-end Toronto neighbourhood is taking on new life - some residents moved in yesterday - by rejecting the ideas that once defined it as a model of public housing 40 years ago.
It is a sign of what's to come at Regent Park and Lawrence Heights - other aging projects undergoing their own transformations to end the stigma of life in low-income housing.
"Affordable housing was built in a style that enclosed on itself in the misguided belief that having green space and cutting off the community from its neighbourhoods was the right thing to do," said Mayor David Miller, at an event yesterday to mark the return of former residents to Don Mount Court - renamed Rivertowne for marketing purposes. "That approach didn't work."
Initially built solely for low-income tenants, the new version of Don Mount Court has been redefined as a mixed-income community - a first for a public housing project in Canada.
Tenants, including those temporarily relocated during construction over the past two years, are starting to move back into 232 brand-new, rent-geared-to-income units.
In a break from the past, when public housing was built to look different from market-rate accommodation, the new rental units will look the same as 187 red-brick low-rise condominiums a stone's throw away on the same street.
Unlike early housing projects built with federal funds, the public sector (local and provincial and nothing from Ottawa) put up $40-million of the $90-million project led by Toronto Community Housing Corp.
The remaining $50-million came from private-sector financial partners, Intracorp Development Inc. and Marion Hill Development Corp., which purchased land from TCHC for the condominium side of the project. Unit prices are between $189,000 and $385,000, and all but one sold in advance of a scheduled move-in date of 2010.
"The market component delivers value back to us and allows us to build rent-geared-to-income housing," says Derek Ballantyne, chief executive of TCHC.
But the blend of public and private investment meant that TCHC had only enough funds to replace, not add to, the existing units of low-income housing.
Meanwhile, other features aim to stitch Don Mount Court back into the fabric of the city. Former cul-de-sacs that once cut off the neighbourhood from its surroundings will become streets that connect to Dundas Street and Queen Street. A new three-acre park will further blur the dividing line between low and higher-income neighbours.
For long-time resident Victoria Mascall, one of several residents who played a major role in the design of the project, it marks an opportunity to wipe out the stigma of living in low-income housing.
"[The public] labelled you because you lived in a project," she said, with the assumption that all residents were dealing drugs and in trouble with the law. The new design, she said, will make it impossible to identify the income of residents based on where they live.
Amid the praise for the renewal of Don Mount Court, some say something is still missing.
The notion that a new, mixed-income community will raise the economic and social prospects of low-income tenants is a "dubious proposition," says Michael Shapcott, director of community engagement for the Wellesley Institute, a social policy think-tank.
"Is their health going to be improved by virtue of the fact they have higher-income people living closer to them?" he asked. "There needs to be a whole series of social and economic strategies to deal with income supports and jobs."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080708.HOUSING08/TPStory/TPNational/Ontario/
AoD
A NEW HOUSING APPROACH
East-end neighbourhood casts off the old model of public housing
JENNIFER LEWINGTON
CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF
July 8, 2008
An east-end Toronto neighbourhood is taking on new life - some residents moved in yesterday - by rejecting the ideas that once defined it as a model of public housing 40 years ago.
It is a sign of what's to come at Regent Park and Lawrence Heights - other aging projects undergoing their own transformations to end the stigma of life in low-income housing.
"Affordable housing was built in a style that enclosed on itself in the misguided belief that having green space and cutting off the community from its neighbourhoods was the right thing to do," said Mayor David Miller, at an event yesterday to mark the return of former residents to Don Mount Court - renamed Rivertowne for marketing purposes. "That approach didn't work."
Initially built solely for low-income tenants, the new version of Don Mount Court has been redefined as a mixed-income community - a first for a public housing project in Canada.
Tenants, including those temporarily relocated during construction over the past two years, are starting to move back into 232 brand-new, rent-geared-to-income units.
In a break from the past, when public housing was built to look different from market-rate accommodation, the new rental units will look the same as 187 red-brick low-rise condominiums a stone's throw away on the same street.
Unlike early housing projects built with federal funds, the public sector (local and provincial and nothing from Ottawa) put up $40-million of the $90-million project led by Toronto Community Housing Corp.
The remaining $50-million came from private-sector financial partners, Intracorp Development Inc. and Marion Hill Development Corp., which purchased land from TCHC for the condominium side of the project. Unit prices are between $189,000 and $385,000, and all but one sold in advance of a scheduled move-in date of 2010.
"The market component delivers value back to us and allows us to build rent-geared-to-income housing," says Derek Ballantyne, chief executive of TCHC.
But the blend of public and private investment meant that TCHC had only enough funds to replace, not add to, the existing units of low-income housing.
Meanwhile, other features aim to stitch Don Mount Court back into the fabric of the city. Former cul-de-sacs that once cut off the neighbourhood from its surroundings will become streets that connect to Dundas Street and Queen Street. A new three-acre park will further blur the dividing line between low and higher-income neighbours.
For long-time resident Victoria Mascall, one of several residents who played a major role in the design of the project, it marks an opportunity to wipe out the stigma of living in low-income housing.
"[The public] labelled you because you lived in a project," she said, with the assumption that all residents were dealing drugs and in trouble with the law. The new design, she said, will make it impossible to identify the income of residents based on where they live.
Amid the praise for the renewal of Don Mount Court, some say something is still missing.
The notion that a new, mixed-income community will raise the economic and social prospects of low-income tenants is a "dubious proposition," says Michael Shapcott, director of community engagement for the Wellesley Institute, a social policy think-tank.
"Is their health going to be improved by virtue of the fact they have higher-income people living closer to them?" he asked. "There needs to be a whole series of social and economic strategies to deal with income supports and jobs."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080708.HOUSING08/TPStory/TPNational/Ontario/
AoD
Riverdale Rink Rat
Senior Member
Why does the Star have to find the negative?
The wading pool has been closed for years. It was part of the crumbling structure which was Don Mount Court. Trust the Star to find something to complain about, even in what should be a feel-good 'social justice' story right up their alley.
This is an interesting re-imagining of that neighbourhood. I'll be interested to see how it all works out, although I'm glad to hear that some of the stacked towns are RGI -- I thought all the low-income units were in the south side apartment building. That'll make it easier to blend the two constituencies.
The wading pool has been closed for years. It was part of the crumbling structure which was Don Mount Court. Trust the Star to find something to complain about, even in what should be a feel-good 'social justice' story right up their alley.
This is an interesting re-imagining of that neighbourhood. I'll be interested to see how it all works out, although I'm glad to hear that some of the stacked towns are RGI -- I thought all the low-income units were in the south side apartment building. That'll make it easier to blend the two constituencies.
junctionist
Senior Member
The wading pool comment came from someone who was interviewed. Their section of negatives was based on the opinions of those who live there, and the article was hardly negative.
urbandreamer
recession proof
But where, in this important remake of a ghetto, are the photos?
I'm mostly into covering the west end, but can some UT-er in the east end grab a few shots of this new development?
Is it beautiful architecture? Or fake Victoriana?
I'm mostly into covering the west end, but can some UT-er in the east end grab a few shots of this new development?
Is it beautiful architecture? Or fake Victoriana?
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
They've avoided fake Victoriana, thank God.
drum118
Superstar
Aug 14
maestro
Senior Member
Awful
catcher_of_cats
Active Member
Functional but not pretty. Much better then what was there previously.
urbandreamer
recession proof
Hmm, I rather like it. Feels very modern yet fits in with red brick Toronto. London-ish, perhaps?
yyzer
Senior Member
thumbs down from me....they are pretty ugly.......
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
A nice example of fitting in, and expanding on existing forms. It reminds me of Wallman Clewes Bergman's Upper East Side townhomes at Pape and Mortimer.
http://www.toronto.ca/auda/images/uppereast_01.jpg
They've adopted the red brick vernacular of older homes in the neighbourhood without resorting to faux. Also, the buildings on the south west corner of the development adopt the form of the adjacent former factory and warehouse buildings.
The top floor decks, tucked in behind the red brick fronts and hidden from the street, are a nice touch - you can see them in drum18's photos.
The white-painted wood sections look a bit rough up close, though.
http://www.toronto.ca/auda/images/uppereast_01.jpg
They've adopted the red brick vernacular of older homes in the neighbourhood without resorting to faux. Also, the buildings on the south west corner of the development adopt the form of the adjacent former factory and warehouse buildings.
The top floor decks, tucked in behind the red brick fronts and hidden from the street, are a nice touch - you can see them in drum18's photos.
The white-painted wood sections look a bit rough up close, though.
alklay
Senior Member
These are not the easiest on the eye. And who would have thought that 'post-modernism' (the roof element), in all its 1980's glory, still existed?