Riverside

[nfitz]

I wouldn't want any restaurant in my building. The risk of pests is way too high. Delivery trucks make noise and block access. Garbage ends up being piled up at night curbside or in laneways -- and then the garbage trucks come. Food odor is also an issue, although I would rather have an Italian place than any place that specializes in meat -- whether it's burgers or souvlakis or jerk chicken. There's something about all that grease that hangs in the air.

Sure ... but there's a big difference between not wanting to live above one, and choosing to live above a likely spot for a restaurant and then having the unmitigated gall of going all Nimby when the inevitable happens.

I wouldn't choose to live next to an airport either ... and I don't those that do have a right to move in and then start making noise complaints about pre-existing conditons - which also happens.

BTW, what IS the definition of Riverside? I'm not sure I've seen it defined.

 

[Ex-Montreal Girl]

Sure ... but there's a big difference between not wanting to live above one, and choosing to live above a likely spot for a restaurant and then having the unmitigated gall of going all Nimby when the inevitable happens.

I wouldn't choose to live next to an airport either ... and I don't those that do have a right to move in and then start making noise complaints about pre-existing conditons - which also happens.

Exactly.

 

[Skeezix]

Sure ... but there's a big difference between not wanting to live above one, and choosing to live above a likely spot for a restaurant and then having the unmitigated gall of going all Nimby when the inevitable happens.

Well said.

BTW, what IS the definition of Riverside? I'm not sure I've seen it defined.

There are no official boundaries. My understanding is that common convention is that it extends from the Don Valley in the west to the rail corridor in the east (where it meets Leslieville). Any discussion of north south boundaries would likely just cause a lengthy debate.

 

[CityPainter]

BTW, what IS the definition of Riverside? I'm not sure I've seen it defined.

There's this Riverside website that has a map on the front: http://www.riverside-to.com/

From what I can tell Riverside is a subset of Riverdale, basically the southwest corner of it, though I'm sure that definition would upset someone!

 

[nfitz]

Thank's all for the definitions. I have to say, despite this thread, and my previous contribution to it, I hadn't quite realised that it was different than Riverdale! It was only the presence of both threads side-by-side that suddenly made me notice they were different!

 

[Skeezix]

Not sure that they are, in fact, different things, but again that's a matter of opinion.

 

[Ex-Montreal Girl]

Riverside, Riverdale, Leslieville, whatever. It's what real estate agents decide, really.

When I first moved into Riverdale (then loosely defined as east of Cabbagetown, south of Browning, west of Pape, north of Gerrard), everything else was either east or south Riverdale. All of a sudden there was Leslieville, Prime Riverdale, Playter Estates, Riverside, The Pocket, Old Riverdale, Greektown ...

Whatever sells, I guess.

 

[JasonParis]

There are no official boundaries. My understanding is that common convention is that it extends from the Don Valley in the west to the rail corridor in the east (where it meets Leslieville). Any discussion of north south boundaries would likely just cause a lengthy debate.

The BIA's boundaries actually extend a bit further east to Booth and include Jimmie Simpson Park. Leslieville begins at Booth (at least along Queen).

 

[Skeezix]

The BIA's boundaries actually extend a bit further east to Booth and include Jimmie Simpson Park. Leslieville begins at Booth (at least along Queen).

BIA boundaries are chosen for a lot of reasons - corresponding to perceived neighbourhood boundaries is only one factor. I referred to the rail corridor because a year or two ago on these threads there were a couple of contributors who felt quite strongly about it being the boundary. Leslieville begins wherever people say it begins - the rail corridor is no more correct or incorrect than Booth. All just opinion.

 

[Lenser]

Riverside, Riverdale, Leslieville, whatever. It's what real estate agents decide, really.

When I first moved into Riverdale (then loosely defined as east of Cabbagetown, south of Browning, west of Pape, north of Gerrard), everything else was either east or south Riverdale. All of a sudden there was Leslieville, Prime Riverdale, Playter Estates, Riverside, The Pocket, Old Riverdale, Greektown ...

Whatever sells, I guess.

Expect more naming of specific neighbourhoods as the densification of the core continues. It's as much the inhabitants as it is the real estate agents who are driving the carving out of discrete neighbourhoods from larger ones (with their broad, loose definitions of borders). Maybe it's a branding thing, maybe it's just the desire to claim you're part of some kind of limited, priveliged membership. Yeah, there's some snobbery going on, but on the flip side it's also about pride of place and signalling to the larger city that a certain neighbourhood has found its mojo.

 

[Ex-Montreal Girl]

Yeah, there's some snobbery going on, but on the flip side it's also about pride of place and signalling to the larger city that a certain neighbourhood has found its mojo.

Good point. Once all of this must have been "The East End."

 

[Lenser]

Yeah... and I guess the west end used to be less of an aggregate than it now is, too. Although being an east-ender, I still routinely refer to anywhere west of Yonge as being "the west end." I guess it's a lazy form of shorthand but it can also encourage cliched descriptions.

Also, with some places in the GTA you have areas that have long been dominated by light and medium manufacturing and as that has died out we're seeing the emplacement of town-homes and mid-rise residential.... they're emerging as primarily residential districts even though they retain the flavour of their historical uses.

 

[Ex-Montreal Girl]

Yeah... and I guess the west end used to be less of an aggregate than it now is, too. Although being an east-ender, I still routinely refer to anywhere west of Yonge as being "the west end." I guess it's a lazy form of shorthand but it can also encourage cliched descriptions.

We've been east-enders since moving here in 1985. We had a friend who had bought and renovated a house on Langley and he advised us that this was the up and coming hood and that we should invest here. Seemed as good a place as any and we lucked into a great house, larger than most, with a private drive. We thought it was ridiculously expensive at the time. Now it's worth 10 times that.

But I digress.

I have the same view of the west end as you do. In fact, I may be worse as most of my friends live in midtown or the east end (lot of Montrealers settled here for some reason). It's also laziness. I tend to not know where Ossington is in relation to Dufferin in relation to Landsdowne. I always have to look them up if I am headed out that way.

Sometimes I think of Toronto like that famous New Yorker cover by Steinberg. Looking west, there's Bathurst, Pearson, Vancouver ...

 

[Lenser]

In fact, I may be worse as most of my friends live in midtown or the east end (lot of Montrealers settled here for some reason). It's also laziness. I tend to not know where Ossington is in relation to Dufferin in relation to Landsdowne. I always have to look them up if I am headed out that way.

Ha! I know what you mean. In my case though it's different. For many years I was a west end guy. Queen and Bathurst, Maitland and Jarvis, Huron above Dundas, Roncey and Dundas West... and throughtout those years my knowledge of the east end was hazy at best; I rarely went east of Yonge. But I've been in the east end for about 15 years now. Now it's rare that I go very far west at all. It feels very built up and upscale compared to what I remember; most of my old haunts are unrecognizeable now.... or completely obliterated. So it goes. Curiously, in certain ways Queen east in Riverside and Leslieville is starting to remind me of what Queen West felt like in 1977. The street profile is changing up... I see more vivid characters in general... and a lot more youthful hipsters.

 

[JasonParis]

Philz's (729 Queen St E) is closing in Riverside and "Moving to The Junction" as it says in large letters in their window. It's been there for as long as I can remember. It's a fairly large space. Will be interesting to see what happens here.