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Toronto-Age |OT2|

A

added_time

Member
Toronto photo of the day:

IMGP1033i222JarvisSearsbuilding1971Brutalist.jpg
 
K

Kinitari

Black Canada Mafia
I am going to switch over to wind super soon - I hit the 2 year mark on my 3 year contract in a month, it will cost me 200 and a bit to buy out.

I'll save money, TONS of money, especially considering the fact that 2 out of my last 4 phone bills were 100+ bucks.

Switching to 50 with unlimited will be awesome.
 
Z

zorbsie

Member
added_time said:
Toronto photo of the day:

IMGP1033i222JarvisSearsbuilding1971Brutalist.jpg
Click to expand...

When I worked at an agency years ago, our client was in that building. I want to say it was Sears but can't remember.. We used to call it the upside down pyramid. Not sure if this is true or not but apparently it has no elevators, only escalators.
 
D

Divvy

Canadians burned my passport
Kinitari said:
I am going to switch over to wind super soon - I hit the 2 year mark on my 3 year contract in a month, it will cost me 200 and a bit to buy out.

I'll save money, TONS of money, especially considering the fact that 2 out of my last 4 phone bills were 100+ bucks.

Switching to 50 with unlimited will be awesome.
Click to expand...

Yeeesh, what the hell?
 
P

PalaceBrother

Member
zorbsie said:
When I worked at an agency years ago, our client was in that building. I want to say it was Sears but can't remember.. We used to call it the upside down pyramid. Not sure if this is true or not but apparently it has no elevators, only escalators.
Click to expand...

Are you sure? I thought the Sears building was on Jarvis, and much taller.
 
D

Divvy

Canadians burned my passport
EvilMario said:
Pretty interesting building.. at least it's better than this..

New condo planned at Adelaide and Brant. Eww. Not sure we need to give a nod to this sort of throw back design.

AkKWQ.jpg
Click to expand...

That condo is going to look so shitty after ten years.
 
Oppo

Oppo

Member
Hey guys. Our asshat deputy mayor thinks the downtown area isnt suitable for raising children.

Cause the Fords clearly did such a good job out in suburbia.
 
E

EvilMario

Will QA for food.
StevieP said:
Now that One City is dead..... what the heck? lol
Click to expand...

It was dead on arrival. The idea itself was cool and we could use that sort of long term planning, but there was no way it was going to receive funding.. and even if it do somehow get approved, it would be changed / cancelled two hundred times by 2030.

Nerfgun said:
Hey guys. Our asshat deputy mayor thinks the downtown area isnt suitable for raising children.

Cause the Fords clearly did such a good job out in suburbia.
Click to expand...

Notable quotes from Holyday in the article. lol, we elect these people.

Councillor Adam Vaughan has always required developers looking to build in his Trinity-Spadina ward to set aside 10 per cent of their buildings for three-bedroom units.

“Where will these children play — on King St.?” Holyday asked skeptically.

The city’s acting chief planner, Gregg Lintern, told Holyday that the area in question is “a neighbourhood, an emerging neighbourhood.” Lintern added that “it just makes for a healthier city” to have families living downtown.

Holyday, dubious, said, “It makes for a healthier city to have children out on a street like King St. where it’s bumper-to-bumper traffic and people galore at all times of night and day? I just think of raising my own family there. That’s not the place I’d choose.”

Holyday then tabled a motion to eliminate the 10 per cent requirement. “As far as raising your children downtown, maybe some people wish to do that. I think most people wouldn’t,” he said to jeers from other councillors. “I mean, I could just see now: ‘Where’s little Ginny?’ ‘Well, she’s downstairs playing in the traffic on her way to the park!’”
Click to expand...
 
S

StevieP

Banned
EvilMario said:
It was dead on arrival. The idea itself was cool and we could use that sort of long term planning, but there was no way it was going to receive funding.. and even if it do somehow get approved, it would be changed / cancelled two hundred times by 2030.
Click to expand...

Sure, but

Rob Ford "we need subways"
Stintz "here are subways. here's how you would pay for them"
Rob Ford "lol what plan"

should've raised SOME flags somewhere.
 
F

Fugu

Member
As if it's any safer with your kids on the streets in the suburbs with cars going 70 kilometers an hour. I was raised in Mississauga and just the idea of that is ridiculous.
 
E

EvilMario

Will QA for food.
StevieP said:
Sure, but

Rob Ford "we need subways"
Stintz "here are subways. here's how you would pay for them"
Rob Ford "lol what plan"

should've raised SOME flags somewhere.
Click to expand...

I think a lot of things Ford said before he was elected should have raised flags.. but we still voted him in. :(
 
Oppo

Oppo

Member
Doug seems to not understand that the suburbs are a very new phenomenon. Children have been raised in cities for centuries.

of course, he was actually pushing a condo developer's demand, not an actual considered point, because he is a lickspittle lackey, so I don't know why I'm bothering.

fuck I hate those two. so much. I thought I hated Lastman but the Ford brothers are in their own category.
 
S

Spl1nter

Member
There is a street piano right outside the ACC. There were 3 people around it playing it in the afternoon. Pretty cool. Only question is what do they do if it rains?
 
B

BladeWorker

Member
Nerfgun said:
Doug seems to not understand that the suburbs are a very new phenomenon. Children have been raised in cities for centuries.

of course, he was actually pushing a condo developer's demand, not an actual considered point, because he is a lickspittle lackey, so I don't know why I'm bothering.
Click to expand...

More units sold = greater tax base = greater tax revenues for the city. Not just a developer lackey.

Also, Holyday was mayor of Etobicoke prior to amalgamation. Naturally, he'd be more suburb-centric.
 
E

ElNino

Member
Nerfgun said:
Hey guys. Our asshat deputy mayor thinks the downtown area isnt suitable for raising children.

Cause the Fords clearly did such a good job out in suburbia.
Click to expand...
Well, I do agree with him that raising a family downtown isn't ideal. That's why we moved to the suburbs.
 
A

added_time

Member
ElNino said:
Well, I do agree with him that raising a family downtown isn't ideal. That's why we moved to the suburbs.
Click to expand...

The only reason it isn't ideal is because of the cost of the housing downtown. I don't see any other drawbacks.
The city absolutely should be forcing condo developers to have family-sized units.


Toronto photo of the day:

7547589366_e12fae9830_b.jpg
 
E

ElNino

Member
added_time said:
The only reason it isn't ideal is because of the cost of the housing downtown. I don't see any other drawbacks.
The city absolutely should be forcing condo developers to have family-sized units.
Click to expand...
I agree that condo developers should have family-sized units as well, but I still don't believe it is an ideal living situation for families with younger children.

How many city parks are there downtown which are close walking distances away from the condos? Would you want your 5-10 year old child riding their bike downtown?

For school, I'm assuming most downtown children would need to take the bus (TTC or school funded). I took the TTC to school from kindergarten through grade 8, but I don't want my son(s) to need to do the same. Does the Toronto School Board offer before/after school programs at the schools? If not, are there local day cares which will do drop-off/pick-up?

These are the kinds of drawbacks I see to downtown living as a family. All of these can be handled, but they still drawbacks which are easier to deal with outside of the downtown core.
 
E

EvilMario

Will QA for food.
ElNino said:
I agree that condo developers should have family-sized units as well, but I still don't believe it is an ideal living situation for families with younger children.

How many city parks are there downtown which are close walking distances away from the condos? Would you want your 5-10 year old child riding their bike downtown?
Click to expand...

Depends what you consider downtown I guess. If you're only looking at the core (Bathurst west, DVP east, Bloor to the north), then you might not enjoy the very concrete city feeling of it all. But if you expand your field of vision out more in the Old City of Toronto, you'll find a lot of good neighborhoods with quality schools, parks everywhere, decent transit, and a safe feeling in general. I personally choose to live just a bit outside of the core for the parks and the dog, but I'm still 'the city'. One could question someone letting their five year old ride their bike down some very busy suburban streets too. Even in 'quiet Mississauga side streets', I see people speeding, running curbs, not stopping for stop signs.

For school, I'm assuming most downtown children would need to take the bus (TTC or school funded). I took the TTC to school from kindergarten through grade 8, but I don't want my son(s) to need to do the same. Does the Toronto School Board offer before/after school programs at the schools? If not, are there local day cares which will do drop-off/pick-up?

These are the kinds of drawbacks I see to downtown living as a family. All of these can be handled, but they still drawbacks which are easier to deal with outside of the downtown core.
Click to expand...

Of course, I'm not adverse to public transit for myself, or family. My wife and I will never own a car (even though I love driving); It's a sink hole of cash for us and as much as people complain about the TTC, it's a decent transit system. Kids having to take a bus to school bus doesn't bother me, and if they had to eventually take the TTC themselves, it doesn't bother me. I grew up in barren northern California and took the bus for a long time, and then started walking the three mile trek home. It could be considered a lot more dangerous that my friends, or myself would have been picked up by a strange back then, but thankfully my parents were not scared to death of everything that moves like some.

There's no shortage of day-cares with pickup / drop off programs downtown either, or parents that take turns / form groups for walking children to school. I don't know how this is different than living in a suburb of a large city, or any city for that matter, given that it all still requires research for schools, programs and setting them up. So lack of park space, or too much noise being one thing, but amenities, not so much.
 
P

PalaceBrother

Member
ElNino said:
I agree that condo developers should have family-sized units as well, but I still don't believe it is an ideal living situation for families with younger children.

How many city parks are there downtown which are close walking distances away from the condos? Would you want your 5-10 year old child riding their bike downtown?

For school, I'm assuming most downtown children would need to take the bus (TTC or school funded). I took the TTC to school from kindergarten through grade 8, but I don't want my son(s) to need to do the same. Does the Toronto School Board offer before/after school programs at the schools? If not, are there local day cares which will do drop-off/pick-up?

These are the kinds of drawbacks I see to downtown living as a family. All of these can be handled, but they still drawbacks which are easier to deal with outside of the downtown core.
Click to expand...

I agree with everything you've said. We have two young kids and live outside of Toronto, while several of our friends have kids living in the city.

They live in nice neighborhoods in houses ranging from 500k - 2+ mil. I would not be nearly as comfortable letting my kids play in their front yards given the proximity to incredibly busy streets and sketchy neighborhoods.

For what it's worth, there are plenty of early-years centers and child care options in the city just like there are in the 'burbs.
 
E

ElNino

Member
EvilMario said:
Depends what you consider downtown I guess. If you're only looking at the core (Bathurst west, DVP east, Bloor to the north), then you might not enjoy the very concrete city feeling of it all. But if you expand your field of vision out more in the Old City of Toronto, you'll find a lot of good neighborhoods with quality schools, parks everywhere, decent transit, and a safe feeling in general. I personally choose to live just a bit outside of the core for the parks and the dog, but I'm still 'the city'.
Click to expand...
In this context, I am only speaking of those living in a condo in the downtown core, which I believe is what the Deputy Mayor was speaking of as well.

I lived at High Park for a few years and I would have no issues raising my family in that area (along with several others).

EvilMario said:
Of course, I'm not adverse to public transit for myself, or family. My wife and I will never own a car (even though I love driving); It's a sink hole of cash for us and as much as people complain about the TTC, it's a decent transit system. Kids having to take a bus to school bus doesn't bother me, and if they had to eventually take the TTC themselves, it doesn't bother me. I grew up in barren northern California and took the bus for a long time, and then started walking the three mile trek home. It could be considered a lot more dangerous that my friends, or myself would have been picked up by a strange back then, but thankfully my parents were not scared to death of everything that moves like some.
Click to expand...
It's not that I'm scared to death of the public transit system, I take the train and bus almost everyday myself, but I also wouldn't want my kids to need to take a 45 minute TTC bus ride to and from school everyday like I did. I have few issues with the TTC itself in this regard, it's more of my trust (or lack there of) of it's riders. I don't know, maybe I'm getting soft in my old age. ;-)

EvilMario said:
There's no shortage of day-cares with pickup / drop off programs downtown either, or parents that take turns / form groups for walking children to school. I don't know how this is different than living in a suburb of a large city, given that it all still requires research for schools, programs and setting them up. So lack of park space, or too much noise being one thing, but amenities, not so much.
Click to expand...
You are right on this actually, we did a lot of research on day cares downtown and they didn't seem any worse than what we have found in the suburbs (just more expensive). The waiting list to get in is far more annoying however.
 
E

EvilMario

Will QA for food.
ElNino said:
In this context, I am only speaking of those living in a condo in the downtown core, which I believe is what the Deputy Mayor was speaking of as well.

I lived at High Park for a few years and I would have no issues raising my family in that area (along with several others).


It's not that I'm scared to death of the public transit system, I take the train and bus almost everyday myself, but I also wouldn't want my kids to need to take a 45 minute TTC bus ride to and from school everyday like I did. I have few issues with the TTC itself in this regard, it's more of my trust (or lack there of) of it's riders. I don't know, maybe I'm getting soft in my old age. ;-)


You are right on this actually, we did a lot of research on day cares downtown and they didn't seem any worse than what we have found in the suburbs (just more expensive). The waiting list to get in is far more annoying however.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I don't disagree with you on whole about living in 'the core', but I just wanted to defend the city as a whole a bit. There's lots of livable neighborhoods, with highly rated schools that can be reached by far less than a half hour bus trip, and for the most part.. this city is pretty safe. I wouldn't want to raise kids across from Moss Park, or the Club District either, but a lot of people like to throw the entire city into some stereotype of unlivable hell. It's especially irritating when it's a city councillor from Etobicoke.
 
E

EvilMario

Will QA for food.
Ford news of the day.

Mayor Rob Ford has continued his annual tradition of voting against every one of the city’s community development grants programs.

The six programs would have sailed through council unanimously on Friday, without a vote, had Ford not placed a “hold” on the items in order to vote against them. He lost the votes 34-1, 34-1, 33-1, 34-1, 35-1, and 35-1.

Ford did not offer an explanation. He was also silent when he voted in June against accepting federal money for a gang prevention project that would not have cost the city anything. He lost that vote 33-1.

Ford, ever the lone wolf, is an ardent advocate of small government. As a councillor, he railed against grants on the council floor and on talk radio, characterizing them as “free money” given by taxpayers to community groups running ineffective or odd programs that don’t deserve city support.

The grants approved on Friday, totaling about $16 million, will go to 306 projects. Nineteen of the funded projects are explicitly intended to make communities safer; 25 provide recreation programming; 24 are intended to improve race relations and promote community participation among minority groups, 13 are local festivals or events.

The biggest chunk of funding, $13.5 million, goes to 214 groups running programs “that advance council’s strategic goals and priorities by working to improve social outcomes for vulnerable, marginalized and high-risk communities.”

Extend-A-Family, for example, will get $21,230 for its Safe and Secure Futures program, which aims to help families better support relatives with disabilities. Newcomer Women’s Services Toronto, which provides counselling, employment training, anti-violence workshops and other services for immigrant and refugee women, will get $38,210.

The 19 community safety projects include a Jane-Finch program to improve relations between young people and the police, a Scarborough program to help female Caribbean immigrants age 16 to 18 develop better conflict resolution skills, and a Scarborough project to reduce violence and substance abuse among Tamil young people.

Ford voted the same way on the grants programs last July, also in silence. He lost 43-1 in votes on four programs, 42-2 on the fifth, and 41-3 on the sixth. He also lost 37-1 last July in a vote on anti-HIV/AIDS grants. He supported an HIV prevention grant this week.
Click to expand...
 
E

ElNino

Member
EvilMario said:
Yeah, I don't disagree with you on whole about living in 'the core', but I just wanted to defend the city as a whole a bit. There's lots of livable neighborhoods, with highly rated schools that can be reached by far less than a half hour bus trip, and for the most part.. this city is pretty safe. I wouldn't want to raise kids across from Moss Park, or the Club District either, but a lot of people like to throw the entire city into some stereotype of unlivable hell. It's especially irritating when it's a city councillor from Etobicoke.
Click to expand...
I would agree with that, I did live in the city until I was 15 and then again for 5 years after I got married. If not for the cost of housing and travel distance to family, we would probably be living in the city still.
 
E

EvilMario

Will QA for food.
“golf ball-size hail” and a potential “torrential rainfall.” warnings around Hamilton and Burlington. Oh God, it's coming for us next!
 
L

lunarworks

Member
Spl1nter said:
The libertarians in the US should be looking to recruit him. His voting recored speaks for itself. He's a hero for every person aiming to achieve liberty and freedom in the world. Standing up against social liberalism isnt easy in this day and age, take real character, determination and beliefs in one's values.
Click to expand...

I don't know who's more out of touch with reality: Rob Ford or Ron Paul.

At least Ron Paul can be charming.
 
Z

Zombie James

Banned
Microsoft Store coming to Yorkdale this year:

TORONTO — Microsoft Corp. plans to open its first international standalone store in Toronto as part of a large-scale retail ramp-up as the software giant becomes the latest hi-tech gadget maker to take its wares straight to consumers.

The stores are intended to create a more direct relationship with buyers, borrowing a page from the playbooks of other technology giants that have been successful with their own branded retail locations — most notably the slick and ultra-cool outlets of Sony Corp. and Apple Inc.

Microsoft chief operating officer Kevin Turner confirmed Wednesday at the company’s annual Worldwide Partners Conference here that its first standalone retail outlet outside the United States is slated to open in Toronto’s upscale Yorkdale Shopping Centre before year end.
Click to expand...

http://business.financialpost.com/2012/07/11/microsoft-store-to-open-in-toronto-later-this-year/
 
D

dantehemi

Member
Took some pics with my iPhone during my lunch break at work, I was working on the 34th floor of the market wharf condos today. Really good view.

a>




Aghhhhh!!! I never understand how to post pics on GAF. FFS!!!!!!
 
Q

Quick

Banned
dantehemi said:
Took some pics with my iPhone during my lunch break at work, I was working on the 34th floor of the market wharf condos today. Really good view.

jb06Pjh8BUyjGN.jpg




Aghhhhh!!! I never understand how to post pics on GAF. FFS!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Fixed that for you. :)

Market Wharf looks awesome, I should add. Location's pretty good, too. Union and St. Lawrence Market in walking distance and all.

marketwharf.jpg
 
K

Kuro Madoushi

Unconfirmed Member
Maybe some fellow TO Gaffers can answer this...

Who is and why is this group/person putting up images of the Smokes's Poutinerie guy around the goddamn city?

http://smokespoutinerie.com/Default.aspx <- the dude with the glasses.

there's also this weird...fix thingy? around the city as well. I recall I was around UofT and I saw this relatively young Asian guy just nonchalantly wet the image and put it on the back of a non parking sign...

the fuck!?
 
Q

Quick

Banned
Yeah, I've seen the face around the city. Viral marketing?

And is it just me, or are there more panhandlers popping up downtown, specifically with dogs? This may sound odd, but I've always been more worried about the dog's well being than the actual human beings.

There was a woman outside the Eaton Centre (Queen Street entrance) on Sunday just sitting beside a hotdog vendor with a bunch of dogs. She was dressed in black, and a guy came to her dressed similarly and acknowledged her and walked away. Still along Queen on the Osgoode Hall sidewalk, I usually see a guy, more disheveled with dogs. On Sunday, it was another girl dressed like the one outside Eaton Centre, and her sign said something along the lines of, "not going to lie, I need money for weed." STILL along Queen between John and Peter, more panhandlers with dogs.

Whenever I see them, I feel like calling animal services since, again, I'm more worried about the dogs than the humans. :(
 
J

jokkir

Member
Anyone know the best coffee shop in Toronto that's cheap, has good atmosphere and has good coffee? I checked the OP and wonder wondering if Ideal Coffee is the best.
 
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