Church-Wellesley Village

[whatever]

I didn't know they were ever anywhere other than the back of Pusateris. Great sandwiches and chili.

 

[to_l]

Anyone remember Garage Sandwiche Co.? I haven't been once since they moved into the lil grocery market

They seem to be closed for a bit right now; there's a sign saying you can sign up to get notified for when they re-open.

On another note, the south half of ex-Zelda's seems to be moving along; inside seems to be pretty far along.

 

[DTowner]

Straight is now Smith

The former 'Straight' (which I never liked so no big loss for me there) now has 'Smith' in its window (still under construction, though). Does anyone know anything about it?

 

[TwoDogs_39]

I noticed that "Smith" sign too. It's been there awhile. Not sure what the hell is going on there.

Also, maybe this is late news, but are they seriously opening up another burger joint in the former Zelda's site? That seems like a waste, when Hero burger is across the street, and when every pub in the village is basically a "burger" place. Ugh.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

The former 'Straight' (which I never liked so no big loss for me there) now has 'Smith' in its window (still under construction, though). Does anyone know anything about it?

Didn't someone post here that there's a restaurant going in there? In the past few days I see placeholders near the front door, for menus perhaps? They also built what appears to be a small patio space out front, for about two tables...

 

[to_l]

I noticed that "Smith" sign too. It's been there awhile. Not sure what the hell is going on there.

Also, maybe this is late news, but are they seriously opening up another burger joint in the former Zelda's site? That seems like a waste, when Hero burger is across the street, and when every pub in the village is basically a "burger" place. Ugh.

I don't know if it's a burger place but I think I saw a picture of what looks like a sub or sandwich on one of the pillars inside. They have a help wanted sign up but no actual store signage.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

On another note, the south half of ex-Zelda's seems to be moving along; inside seems to be pretty far along.

I opened the gate and went up and looked inside tonight. The burger place on the south side looks like it'll be ready to go in the next week or so but nothing has changed on the north half. I don't even see how it can be configured into a Tim Horton's, it's a small space with a raised area at the north end where the washrooms used to be when it was Toby's/Zelda's. I think it's too small for baking area and serving space.

 

[CanadianNational]

Fun render of basic Church Street Improvements.

-Wide sidewalks with traffic reduced to one lane in each direction, paved with cobblestones.
-Mature trees
-Postering kiosks
-New street furniture and lighting. Voila!

North from Maitland:

South from Maitland:

Church Street, looking north, 1902.

 

[mgl]

I love those renders. Church street would be a lot better with wider sidewalks and a narrower street without parking.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

It's nice but the problem is that most of these older shops don't have rear loading areas. Delivery trucks park on the street while they unload goods so one lane of traffic in each direction is pretty much impossible as a lane would be blocked somewhere, pretty much all of the time.

 

[CanadianNational]

Well, there could be a 'delivery pocket' in the middle of each block, or a couple, where the sidewalk temporarily narrows. A lot of the street is often taken up with one lane of parking on each side, so making some indents where deliveries could skedaddle in and out wouldn't change a lot.
If the street was done with woonerfs and pole markings, that would change things too. Some of the back alleys have varying degrees of access. Some places restrict delivery hours for traffic's sake, though I don't know what the local businesses would think of this.

I'd like to see something like this applied to Yonge, as well. If it were applied there, the single lane each way could be made taxi and delivery only.

 

[to_l]

On an aside, there's a new hair salon where Adam & Eve's used to be.

 

[TwoDogs_39]

Haha, cool renderings! I gotta say though that I think I prefer it the way it is. I feel like the narrow streets would give it too much of a residential feel rather than an important street. Almost like Kensington -- very cramped.

Having said that, I'd love to see the city close of Church Street to cars for the summer like they do on St Catherines Street in Montreal, so the restos can extend their patios! That'd be amazing.

 

[OttoSchloss]

I think adding more bars and clubs would give Church St. the improvements it craves. The condo explosion has actually taken away from the street life there and rather having people walking around for a good time at all hours you have quiet streets and homeless or shady people (and it feels 10x more dangerous than it did even 10 years ago). More restos and supermarkets and coffee shops are great for daytime use but I find the life has been sucked out of the street at night because of bad planning. Prostitution has taken care of itself (because of the internet) but every time I'm on Church I get the feeling I'm just on Yonge St. East.

 

[DC83]

@CanadianNational: Great mock-ups! One can only dream.

Just tear down that 'Zeldas' shack and rebuild somethin proper! Ughh.