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CityPainter said:
The Toronto Sculpture Garden has been temporarily closed "for maintenance including remediation and pest control" until September.

I think this is good. It's been looking a bit rough, especially since the adjoining restaurant closed. The fountain has not run this year and has been spraypainted a few times. The last artwork to appear there earlier this summer was immediately destroyed/vandalized (though the artist said this was intentional -- fine, very conceptual, but it didn't do much to make the garden a welcoming stop in the neighbourhood.)

Then I cut through there at night earlier in the summer and it looked like the ground was moving, it was teeming with so many rats running back and forth in the plantings and on the grass. I got freaked out and left quickly. The most rats I've ever seen in one place and some of them were BIG.
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My guess is that's why the fountain was shut off. One of the biggest attractions for rats and mice to nest is not only food, but easy access to fresh water.
 
Jonny5 said:
My guess is that's why the fountain was shut off. One of the biggest attractions for rats and mice to nest is not only food, but easy access to fresh water.
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I think it was shut because at least some of its controls are inside the now closed Aveda store.
 
DSC said:
I think it was shut because at least some of its controls are inside the now closed Aveda store.
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Oh, really? So they actually had to go in there and can't now. That's an odd arrangement, but I guess with historic areas that's how that works.
 
Jonny5 said:
Oh, really? So they actually had to go in there and can't now. That's an odd arrangement, but I guess with historic areas that's how that works.
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That is what I have heard, the water feature does run down the outside wall of the Store. Before it closed, the Maquette restaurant used to be responsible for opening and closing the park gates as part of their lease - that building belongs to the City but I do not think the Aveda one does
 
Nice to see three new food businesses now officially open in the SLM area:

- Mofer Coffee at Church and Front. Their coffee is a slightly darker roast than most third wave shops in Toronto, but not burnt like Starbucks. They did a fantastic job on the interior, with lots of wood: warm but minimalist. The window ledge seats along the east wall with views of the Flatiron building are particularly nice. And I love that this replaces a cannabis shop, hopefully a sign that the contraction of that industry is now in full effect and we can reclaim some of our blank street front businesses again.

- 3 Mariachis on Esplanade east of Jarvis. Also looks like a nice space, they have a few other locations already and seem to have hit the ground running. Haven't tried it yet but the menu looks good, a bit expensive but you seem to get a lot for your money.

- Kinton Ramen in the Globe & Mail building at King and Berkeley. Had a nice bowl of ramen for $15 last weekend. Should do well during the day for office and George Brown student lunches, and in the evenings and weekends with locals. Definitely brings some much-needed variety to the food scene around there.

I also noticed that Balzac's Coffee on Market street has shrunk back to their original footprint, giving up the unit at 12 Market Street that sits between them and Market Street Catch. The unit seems to be for lease now, will be interesting to see what goes into that space, I assume it will be food-related.
 
DSC said:
Though this Plan has been finished for some time, I do not think it has ever been linked to from here and that it was only recently added to City website/ https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/u...ted-Photos-Version-3-compre...-FINAL-AODA.pdf

Frankly, it uses lots of buzz words and phrases but, in my opinion, says very little!
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Agree 100%, that document contains a lot of words that can mean whatever you want them to mean. It's difficult to get excited or upset about anything in there until those ideals are executed. (But I do agree with the feedback that the word "precinct" is weird, what is this, a US cable TV police procedural?)
 
IMG_1481.jpeg

That explains why they never painted the lines for the newly installed stop signs. Incoming new pavement at Princess and Scadding.
 
slicecom said:
View attachment 601101
That explains why they never painted the lines for the newly installed stop signs. Incoming new pavement at Princess and Scadding.
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Yes, now that the water/sewer project in the area is coming to a conclusion, they are grinding and paving many roads. The did Wilton St too and I understand George South is on the list once its sewer is finished. Princess (Front to Esplanade) is getting a sewer next year so I assume it will be resurfaced then and, of course, The Esplanade is getting a raised bike track between Lower Jarvis and Parliament/Hahn (in 2025) so will presumably only be fully resurfaced then. Not sure how much will be done on it this fall but they are making final repairs to concrete base now. I think the intersection of Lower Sherbourne & The Esplanade (which was dug up) will also get a grind & pave.
 
St. James park is filling up with tents again. A few more every day. My wife walked through today and saw a partially clothed man "bathing" himself in the central area. Now she won't walk through the park alone again. The other day a man pulled out his penis and casually urinated against a wall at King and Princess, at midday, in front of us.

Please remind me why we pay tax dollars to refurbish and maintain parks we cannot use? Why we vote repeatedly for politicians who promise to solve these problems but nothing changes? Why we pay taxes that go to police officers who I never see leave the station?

Sorry to rant but it makes me angry to see this cycle happen again and again and to know nobody cares, because we live downtown and this is what we are supposed to expect now.
 
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