[Torontovibe]

I took a little walk down Yonge Street looking at how the street is today, just to be able to contrast it in 5 years, to see the changes. It was fimed on a typical Tuesday evening and it was pretty crowded. I can only imagine it will only get more crowded, as more and more condos go up. Notice how "Zanta" appears from just out of nowhere, doing the craziest things.

 

[ssiguy2]

Thanks for the vid but my god Yonge looks like shit. Small wonder the city has a hard time getting businesses on Yonge to invest in their buildings. If the city lets the sidewalks and road rot an isn't willing to spend real money to make Yonge a showcase street the why should the businesses?

 

[westernontario]

Thanks for the vid but my god Yonge looks like shit. Small wonder the city has a hard time getting businesses on Yonge to invest in their buildings. If the city lets the sidewalks and road rot an isn't willing to spend real money to make Yonge a showcase street the why should the businesses?

I'm from New Jersey and yes, Yonge does look like shit.

 

[Torontovibe]

Thanks for the vid but my god Yonge looks like shit. Small wonder the city has a hard time getting businesses on Yonge to invest in their buildings. If the city lets the sidewalks and road rot an isn't willing to spend real money to make Yonge a showcase street the why should the businesses?

Might that have to do with the possibility of widening the sidewalks on Yonge Street? Everybody knows Yonge Street will soon have to be made into a 2 lane street, with wider sidewalks, so maybe the city is just waiting for that to come to fruition. Yonge Street is kinda scruffy but it wouldn't take much to bring it up to a decent standard. I figure it's just a matter of time, with all the new development now underway.

 

[Miscreant]

I almost never walk down Yonge anymore. Not only does it look like shit, I'm sick of being accosted by scumbags, looking around for whether a knife fight is about to erupt, all the while stepping over people passed out on the curb. It's miserable.

 

[taal]

I almost never walk down Yonge anymore. Not only does it look like shit, I'm sick of being accosted by scumbags, looking around for whether a knife fight is about to erupt, all the while stepping over people passed out on the curb. It's miserable.

Given I walk down Yonge all the time this seems like a huge exaggerating if I've ever heard one, yes there are some elements of truth to it, but I've never felt threatened, and many occasions done the walk without encountering anyone that fits your description.

 

[stjames2queenwest]

It can be a little skeazy but non threatening.

 

[ksun]

Given I walk down Yonge all the time this seems like a huge exaggerating if I've ever heard one, yes there are some elements of truth to it, but I've never felt threatened, and many occasions done the walk without encountering anyone that fits your description.

I walk on Yonge a lot too and was never bothered by anyone, not to mention feel threatened.
But it does look like shit, particularly between Dundas and Wellesley. I used to walk from Isabella to Dundas on Yonge to work every day, and that's depressing! Now I walk north toward Dundas and it felt much better.

Compared to St Catherine in Montreal, Yonge feels so crappy and poor (so does Queen West). Retail streets in Istanbul or Buenos Aires look 10 times better.

 

[stjames2queenwest]

Queen west is a gem, and wouldn't be half as interesting if it was manicured. Yonge on the other hand doesn't have the same vibe, and will benefit from a little love.

 

[Edward Skira]

They should redo the street just like they did in Yorkville. Like this.

Photo by @someMidTowner

 

[Miscreant]

Given I walk down Yonge all the time this seems like a huge exaggerating if I've ever heard one, yes there are some elements of truth to it, but I've never felt threatened, and many occasions done the walk without encountering anyone that fits your description.

Okay, okay, I admit to allowing myself some poetic license.

 

[Lenser]

Good to hear! I've walked down Yonge several times in the past several years and never felt threatened, or witnessed anything beyond your average street characters doing their thing. To be honest, it felt way sketchier in the late 70s/early 80s.

 

[Benito]

I have to admit that sometimes it feels a bit sketchy. I'm often walking to work in the dark down Yonge St. and there are areas with very little lighting, in particular near Wellesley. In some areas the sidewalks would be dark if it wasn't from the little light from the shops. There is very very little lighting in places and that makes it feel sketchier than it really is. I wish the city would get the street and sidewalk lit properly.

 

[ssiguy2]

I keep hearing about this Yonge rejuvenation plan but like the DRL it's always something to do "soon". Bloor/Yorkville looks absolutely spectacular but even there those sidewalks are too thin for Yonge. Yonge should be, at the very maximum 2 lanes of traffic with absolutely no bike lanes. I still think Yonge could be a real showcase it the city actually put it's money where it's mouth is and turned the street into a complete pedestrian zone from Bloor to Union. The city has tens of thousands of roads so surely closing down a meager 2 km of them wouldn't be too traumatizing. If supposedly " car loving" Calgary can close down 6 blocks and the entire road next to it for transit only then why can't Toronto?

Any way, where is this mythical plan and is it ever going to start or is this yet another brightly coloured line on a map that requires endless "further studies"?

 

[Torontovibe]

I walk Yonge Street all the time and I never see anything too crazy or violent, even late at night. What I do see, is that there are a lot of people who look physically and mentally ill on the street and the numbers seem to be rising. I have seen some very scary looking people who appear to be close to death and I find it disturbing. I just can't walk by and have it not effect me, like so many others seem to do. I saw one young Indian girl who looked like she just walked out of a concentration camp. I'm sure she is mentally ill and very close to death and yet, the city seems to do nothing to help these people. That's the issue I have with Yonge Street and the city.

How can you walk by someone who is seriously Ill, physically close to death and just ignore what is happening on our streets? I can't, it always effects me and makes me lose faith in the city. I get that feeling a lot lately walking down Yonge Street. I hope as the street becomes more upscale, people will demand that the city do something about all the homeless and destitute. Not just move them but actually do something to help solve the problem. I wonder what tourists think when they see all the beggars, homeless, mentally ill and physically sick, laying on Yonge Street.

I saw a disabled, old man, sleeping beside Dundas Square at around midnight recently, with his wheelchair beside his sleeping body. How much worse can it get than that? It was a completely pathetic sight that I filmed but I'm not sure what to do with the footage. I don't want to exploit the man but at the same time, an old, sick man in a wheelchair, sleeping on our sidewalks, is just a compelling sight and I think it needs to be exposed for the inhumanity that it is. I still can't get it out of my head.