Star: Nightlife at Harbourfront could fall victim to whining locals

[James]

I also highly doubt the younger residents at the Harbourfront are the ones spearheading this complaint. In fact, most of the people I know who live in this area do so because city events are so close at hand. One particular festival a year at your doorstep does not warrant a major noise complaint.

[Thanos]

And as for your insinuation that people should have known better, many of them don't go condo shopping at 2:00 AM (with respect to the ED).

Generally speaking, people study the neighborhood they buy in. When your forking over 300K and don't bother to do your homework (how the neighborhood sounds and looks at 2 am is just as important as how it is at 3pm) then you have no one to blame but yourself.

[gristle]

In the instances where nightclubs project noise beyond the property line, they violate city bylaws. In the instances where cabbies use their horns for extended periods of time, they violate city bylaws. Drunk idiots who walk down streets and scream with the express intent of making themselves noticed is an issue of their idiocy and inebriation, and not the fault of any homeowner in the area. People who dislike excessive late-night noise are not to blame for it. That's just a failure to think properly on your part.

Hard to believe for you I'm sure, but lot's of young people are not automatically attracted to the club scene. As for the part of town I live in, there is a huge multi-billion dollar concentration of media businesses located in the area, and condos here allow for a very short walk to the financial district. That's why people have bought here.

[Towered]

When I first saw the thread title, my first thought was: "What nightlife??". I've never heard of there being any down there.

[Palma]

When I first saw the thread title, my first thought was: "What nightlife??". I've never heard of there being any down there.

And the summer months means May(perhaps)-Aug. And what about the other 8 months?

[taal]

But even then the night life usually stops at 7 / 9ish pm. At least the Harbourfront center driven events !

[dt_toronto_geek]

Generally speaking, people study the neighborhood they buy in. When your forking over 300K and don't bother to do your homework (how the neighborhood sounds and looks at 2 am is just as important as how it is at 3pm) then you have no one to blame but yourself.

I've lived in the downtown core for 27 years in various apartments & condos & never had noise problems until we bought our first place at Bay & Grosvenor (a S/W, 6th floor corner unit) and mistakenly didn't study the noise impacts. It was a nightmare when we moved in. Most every time the light turned green on Bay Street we could hear the rumbling/vibration of trucks and buses inside the unit. Across the street was Addison Used Cars (now Murano) and car alarms would go off all night plus there was a firehall about 100 metres east on Grosvenor Street - 'nuff said there. We sold the place after 10 months, investigated rush hour and late night noise at Alexander & Church and determined it to be fine. We moved into a 40 Alexander rental until our new place was built and never had any noise problems again. If you buy a condo (or when choosing a rental), do the best noise investigation possible if your sensitive to late night noise. We made a big mistake by not doing so with our first place. If you have a large enough bedroom in a noisy area and are having sleepless nights a solution can be to have glass sliding doors installed 3-4 feet away from the window. That small space can become a den or solarium by day, at bedtime slide the doors closed for double protection from outside noise. Some downtown 80's condos were designed like this for that very purpose.

[drum118]

I've lived in the downtown core for 27 years in various apartments & condos & never had noise problems until we bought our first place at Bay & Grosvenor (a S/W, 6th floor corner unit) and mistakenly didn't study the noise impacts. It was a nightmare when we moved in. Most every time the light turned green on Bay Street we could hear the rumbling/vibration of trucks and buses inside the unit. Across the street was Addison Used Cars (now Murano) and car alarms would go off all night plus there was a firehall about 100 metres east on Grosvenor Street - 'nuff said there. We sold the place after 10 months, investigated rush hour and late night noise at Alexander & Church and determined it to be fine. We moved into a 40 Alexander rental until our new place was built and never had any noise problems again. If you buy a condo (or when choosing a rental), do the best noise investigation possible if your sensitive to late night noise. We made a big mistake by not doing so with our first place. If you have a large enough bedroom in a noisy area and are having sleepless nights a solution can be to have glass sliding doors installed 3-4 feet away from the window. That small space can become a den or solarium by day, at bedtime slide the doors closed for double protection from outside noise. Some downtown 80's condos were designed like this for that very purpose.

I hope ppl will learn something from your posting as it is something I keep saying all the time. It is also not just noise.

Before one buy a place, they need to drive and walk around the area both at peak times, as well on the weekends. By doing so, you will see and hear 2 different thing that will determine if you are buying in the right place. Also, you will see somethings developers are unwilling to show or tell you that are outside their selling area.

Even though I live a block and a haft from a major road, I can hear the fire trucks at all time of the day since the main station is 3 blocks south of me. I can hear CP trains all hours of the day even though I am a mile from the tracks. Sound carries a fair distance and I live on the 7th floor.

I have heard story's of people who bought on a Sunday and were totally amassed how much problems they had trying getting out of their building on the first weekday after they moved in. Them there that smelly industries down the road and so on.

Buyer/renter be aware, is what I tell people when they talk about moving to a certain area.

If you are moving into a tall building with a nice view, enjoy it, as that view can be gone in 5-20 years at the rate thing are getting built these days.