Streetcar News
We received a public notice from the Toronto Transit Commission the other day, detailing the construction beginning on St. Clair to create the St. Clair right of way. For those not from Toronto, who don't know what I'm talking about, St. Clair Ave., the major artery in our area, has a trolly car line - we call them street cars in this neck of the woods. Currently, through much of the route, the street cars share the road with cars. That is what is changing. They are building a dedicated right-of-way for street cars, to improve transit service. It isn't clear to me just what this is going to mean for our community. For sure it will mean less street parking, and for sure, the character of the hood will be different. The city will sink some money into improvements they believe will enhance the area. Currently, the street features a mixed bag of businesses, and a remarkable ethnic and economic diversity, from Yonge St. west to Gunns Loop in the area we call the Stockyards. The Stockyards are mostly gone now, replaced by townhouses and box stores.
St. Clair has a unique character, and a complex one - hard to pin down. We have some great restaurants - our favourite sushi place, and just below St. Clair, there is The Big Ragu, and plenty more. There is Corso Italia (which, it seems to me is more Portuguese than Italian these days), loads of sports bars, each geared to support a particular football team, a huge cemetery, discount joints, some kind of Hungarian centre, at least one bridal-ware place. There are Portuguese butcher shops, at least one old-style hardware store. There is the Figaro barber shop, with the most remarkable window displays (which include tomato seedlings in the spring). There is the steak on a bun joint, at least one flower shop. I could go on. What will it be like in a year? Two years? I don't want St. Clair to become another College St, where remarkable numbers of restaurants opening seriously changed the character of the area....
I'd like to hear your views.
2 comments:
I rarely get up to that part of town, so maybe I shouldn't comment. I have mixed views on this. I like the idea that more trees will be planted. I like the idea that transit will be faster, maybe encouraging more people to leave the car at home. I have read that some businesses worry about income during the construction and they are concerned that less parking will mean fewer shoppers after it's all done. I guess I am hopeful that this change will be a good one. I think that Spadina is improved with the streetcar line, although I do miss that odd angle parking that was there in years past.
I used to love the fact that I could drive down to Spadina, angle park on the street, drop in to get art supplies at Gwartzman's, take a walk into the market for a patty and ginger beer, and take off back to the studio, with no problem. Now, parking has become so difficult, not just there, but all over the downtown west. I used to know good places to park all over the place...now those spots are so-called lofts...
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