Death of Clubland (aka: Is Adam Vaughan trying to kill the Club District?)

[taal]

Exactly.

I fear that what Vaughan is going to end up with is a just a unremarkably boring neighborhood once all the clubs move out. Whatever energy this area had is quickly disappearing. Not against residential but there is a good reason so many moved into this area to begin with. I doubt they all moved into the area to shop. Small business is essential and I support it but this entire attack on clubs smacks of shortsightedness.

They managed to take a exciting part of the city in my opinion and just kill it.

hmm, not sure I follow ... this area is relativly dead outside of normal clubing hours i.e. most of the time ... those old folks will probably add more activity overall if you add it up
Anyyway ... I agree, that there should be some compermise - i.e. there were too many clubs but by no means should we get rid of them all - and more coverage thoughout downtown, around Yonge! Would work great I think.

 

[tkip]

Nothing lasts forever but who are we kidding here. The clubs attracted a huge amount of people down to this area and helped created the entire entertainment "vibe". With them nearly gone, what replaces them?

 

[Rowe]

I hope Toronto doesn't become like Vancouver... the place is no fun.

Pretty city though.

 

[unimaginative2]

Considering the Star article, could we please restore my original thread title? Vaughan not only admits to trying to kill the club district, he boasts about it.

 

[tkip]

Then Vaughan just comes across as a grumpy old man who wants people to casually stroll the streets in his ward all rapturous with joy that the evil clubs have been driven out.

 

[unimaginative2]

It's almost surreal looking at Toronto from a city with a mature approach to nightlife.

 

[Torontovibe]

Wasn't there a moratorium put on dance/night clubs throughout this city, a few years ago? I thought they were only allowed to open in the Entertainment District? (well, until they passed a motion to put a moratorium on that too) I thought you couldn't open a new club or bar anywhere in Toronto, unless you served food and called it a restaurant bar. Has that changed? How can you ban all traditional bars (no food) throughout the city? The whole nature of the bar scene is old bars closing and hot new clubs opening, you need change, to have active nightlife. A restaurant bar is not my kind of bar, I find them dull. (in the gay village, anyway) For the people that I know, an active, happening night life is important, especially for travel plans. I'm the same way, when I travel, I want to go to bars and have fun. If a city has a dead bar scene, I ain't going back. It seems like Toronto is losing it's straight and gay dance clubs, which totally sucks. It can't be good for tourism. No more dancing in Toronto? What is this, Footloose 2?

 

[tkip]

I think this moratorium really only applied to the entertainment district. Though come to think of it, I think the Ossington area has one in effect too since more pubs and lounges have set up. It would certainly be a shame if there was a city wide effort to shut down big clubs anywhere. Young people love dances clubs. I'm sorry but if you want to join the "world class" category, you need a thriving nightlife and this includes those dreaded dance clubs.

 

[taal]

You're blowing this out of proportion ... there are still many clubs in the entertainment district proper and even more opening in other areas downtown, further west and north ...

 

[tkip]

Which is interesing when the media itself is declaring the era of clubland is almost over with the ovious agenda of Vaughan and others having a direct hand in this. We all know that Vaughan wanted these clubs gone. He's going to get his wish. If other parts of the city become new destinations for club goers then it's all good. I just think that Vaughan's singular vision was borderline bullying.

 

[js97]

THe more I think about it, the more I think Vaughan want's the entertainment district to be like Bay and Wellesley/college area.
Sanitized!

Toronto = city of no fun!

 

[unimaginative2]

Grey, I'm not so sure. In a way I'm not sure about Vaughan for the same reason you are criticizing those lamenting the death of the club district. Why? Because Vaughan rightly or wrongly is pushing for a kind of grey normalcy for the whole city. Perhaps this grey normalcy is a better vision of Toronto than what we have today but it is clearly rooted in the bias of his personal place in life. To me a mature understanding of a community and humanity is an understanding of the whole. That means recognizing the legitimacy of human activities and stages of development in the life-cycle. In the end the death or rather transformation of the club district may be a good thing for this city, but ironically heaping distain on the activities and ackwardness and sexually charged activities of young people is itself an immature act.

I completely agree. Well said.

THe more I think about it, the more I think Vaughan want's the entertainment district to be like Bay and Wellesley/college area.

Regardless of whether that`s what he wants, that`s what`s happening.

 

[JayBee]

Which is interesing when the media itself is declaring the era of clubland is almost over with the ovious agenda of Vaughan and others having a direct hand in this. We all know that Vaughan wanted these clubs gone. He's going to get his wish. If other parts of the city become new destinations for club goers then it's all good. I just think that Vaughan's singular vision was borderline bullying.

The guy's completely out of touch. Disbanding the Entertainment District in a city as boring as Toronto seems completely stupid to me. This has FAIL written all over it.

 

[BobBob]

Nobody's disbanding any entertainment district, nor would Vaughan have the power to do so even if he wanted. Which he doesn't.

The clubs you are referring to had filled a dead zone of the city and put it to good use 15-20 years ago. Their gradual passing has more to do with changing tastes and the growing interest in this area as a potentially major cultural, as well as residental zone, than with any actions by the local councillor. Major new cultural/entertainment/tourism institutions are entering this area (Lightbox, Ritz Carlton, Shangri-La) together with increasingly sophisticated residential development. Of course some of this would have to displace the "club" uses, which typically left their spaces shuttered for the vast majority of time, opening only on late weekend nights. The latter mode could only continue if this area continued to be neglected by everyone else. This change is positive, in my opinion, and is a side-effect of the city's overall growth and ascendancy in general. Large clubs will naturally, as they have in the past in this particular area and as they do everywhere in the world, gravitate toward large cheap spaces where nobody will mind a bit of noise at night. There are plenty such areas throughout the GTA.

 

[tkip]

As someone already posted, Vaughan is trying to sanatize the area. That's basically what he's attempted and won. If this was a seedy, drug infested area with hookers, dealers and violence, I could understand. At most it was just a bunch of drunk, overly loud young people parading around after last call. His vision of a acceptable night life doesn't include dance clubs and crowds of young people who were probably too obnoxious for their own good.