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East Danforth

Word on the Street...

I was chatting with someone on Danforth East a few days ago.

He mentioned a 4 storey medical building was being planned for the corner of Danforth and Aldridge. This seemed news to me, as I haven't heard anything about it, nor is there any sort of signage to indicate such.

Same person also mentioned that someone is petitioning City Hall to change zoning on Danforth to allow for an 11 storey condo on the south side of Danforth just west of Woodbine. I can only assume that he was talking about the site of the former hardware store that burnt down (arson). Same person also mentioned current zoning on Danforth only allows for a maximum 4 storey building - which is somewhat counterintuitive along a major arterial road and subway corridor.

Asked this same person how he could explain 4 bland brown brick buildings at the southeast corner of Main & Danforth (i.e. in regards to the maximum height allowance of 4 storeys). He couldn't explain, but thought because the architecture was so bad at Main & Danforth, that it caused a grassroots group to lobby for no more similar highrises along the Danforth. Talk about one bad apple spoiling the barrel. :mad::rolleyes:

As mentioned, all this came from talk on the street... so I'm not sure if there's any truth to these comments. I couldn't find anything online myself - so wanted to ask in this forum whether anyone had heard anything similar with respect to any of what I've mentioned.
 
I read something about a new medical building in the area in the local paper (the Mirror I think).

There is a rezoning and site plan applciation for the property you mentioned. See below for the informaiton. I got it from the Development Application Status webpage.

Rezoning application to permti the development of the vacant parcel of lands municpally known as 2055 and 2057 Danforth Ave for a new mixed use building 12 storeis in height containing 141 residential dwelling units and ground floor related commercial units (11528m2 of GFA). The project includes a parking area located below grade.
 
northstar said:
Asked this same person how he could explain 4 bland brown brick buildings at the southeast corner of Main & Danforth (i.e. in regards to the maximum height allowance of 4 storeys). He couldn't explain, but thought because the architecture was so bad at Main & Danforth, that it caused a grassroots group to lobby for no more similar highrises along the Danforth.
Click to expand...
I've heard there was a huge debate/battle about those high-rises in the day ... but I don't know details; before I lived in Toronto.

Four stories does seem a pretty low limit for a major artery along a subway line. Surely we should be seeing densification in this area, surely.

And as for Aldridge ... can't look worse than the Midas. Hopefully the new development has some retail!
 
nfitz said:
I've heard there was a huge debate/battle about those high-rises in the day ... but I don't know details; before I lived in Toronto.

Four stories does seem a pretty low limit for a major artery along a subway line. Surely we should be seeing densification in this area, surely.

And as for Aldridge ... can't look worse than the Midas. Hopefully the new development has some retail!
Click to expand...

Sometime ago (the early 1980s, I believe - anyone know for sure?), there was a huge fight over the former car dealership lands at Danforth and Jackman. I think Cadillac Fairview (when they still did residential) wanted to construct a fairly tall apartment slab. There was a lot of neighbourhood resistance, and the site is now occupied by the two-storey Carrot Common.

I have heard it said that the fight over that site created a subsequent chill towards potential high-rise development along that portion of the Danforth (certainly along the Riverdale/Playter Estates/Chester portion), and those attitudes may have extended all the way to the East Danforth as well.
 
Danforth's decline: Drugs, prostitutes now in the open

The kitsch of Greektown dries up at Jones Ave. Pass Donlands. An auto shop. A fried chicken joint. A funeral parlour. Coxwell is the dividing line.

By Main Street, bars on shop windows, payday loan stores and dingy pubs are the norm. Drifters who have been turned away from the local shelter sleep in long alleyways. Dealers work out of side-street crack houses. Prostitutes walk the Victoria Park strip.

It's only getting worse. In the last three years, the drugs and street workers moved into the open. Deals that used to go down in the back of grimy Internet cafes now happen in broad daylight. Prostitutes moved out of rub-and-tugs and onto street corners.
 
Intrestingly, the article blames the subway taking pedestrians off the surface ... and also says that people think it's getting better not worse ... article doesn't seem to know if it's coming or going.
 
Only when the young "progressive" families and their kin arrive to the East Lynne-Monarch Park communities does a drug and prostitution problem seem apparent. I mean, gosh, the thought of a newly gentrifying neighbourhood with small traces of drugs and solicitation still apparent. Who would have thunk it?

As far as the entire city is concerned, East Danforth is ABOVE AVERAGE in terms of safety among major corridors. There is always heavy pedestrian and car traffic, even at the break of dawn when the yoga moms are walking their labradoodles. Sure there are a few sketchy locals, the Coffee Time at Coxwell comes to mind, but what strip doesn't have a few seedy joints? Think about some of the dives along Kingston Rd, just steps away from Beach mansions. Or the local haunts along Queen East, a stone's throw from Leslieville HGTV reno'd homes.

These newbies who come into the neighbourhood thinking that a few fair trade coffee shops and farmer markets will turn the neighbourhood around overnight are in Pleasantville. By living in a dense urban environment, there is the expectation that you will occasionally interact with individuals who will test you comfort level. If you feel threatened, then please move to some conformist pseudo-urbane petri dish like Cornell.
 
Quite frankly, living around the area, the sketchiest thing I've ever seen were some teenagers smoking pot hidden behind a school ...

... which I'm sure happens everywhere ...
 
While I'm in that area not infrequently and generally feel safe, I will admit it feels more sketchy than I prefer at times.

Let's just say it's at the early end of gentification, and IMHO more seedy-feeling in areas than Queen West (of Spadina) was in the 90s.
 
Empty Danforth plot undergoes redevelopment plans

SPACING TORONTO

November 12th, 2009

Nicole Bruun-Meyer

I recently attended a community meeting regarding the redevelopment proposal for 2055-2057 Danforth Avenue, at the intersection of Danforth and Woodbine. This site, empty since 2001, is slated for a 12-storey condominium with retail space at the ground level. The reason for the community meeting, held by Councillor Sandra Bussin, was because of a rezoning application for the site, which would allow the developer the extra building height.

Prish Jain, of TACT Design, presented the concept for the new building, showing its footprint on the overall site, with its affect on sun and privacy for the local residents. This was followed up with remarks by Leontine Major, Senior Planner, City of Toronto Planning Department and then a question and answer period. The gathering, which attracted about 50 attendees, was a chance for the local residents to raise concerns on specifically the height of the proposed building. The current bylaw allows for five-storeys, while Toronto’s Official Plan suggests a density of nine-storeys for this area.

The site is quite unique, with no real precedent for its development. It fronts onto Danforth Avenue, while also having access from Woodbine Avenue. The back part of the plot is directly adjacent to residential backyards, providing a high impact on the direct community. It also covers two different planning designations, the front, along Danforth, is considered Mixed Use Area, while the rear is under Neighbourhoods. These two designations have different planning criteria, height restrictions, density allowances and objectives. This creates its own challenges for the site and the surrounding areas. Within the ‘mixed use’ portion of the site, the height limit allowed is 14 and 12 metres, whereas the ‘neighbourhood’ areas have a limit of 10 metres. In Section 4.2 of the Official Plan, it distinguishes between Apartment Neighbourhoods and low-rise Neighbourhoods, since, for the former, “a greater scale of buildings is permitted and different scale-related criteria are needed to guide development.†The predominent height in this area of the Danforth is three to four storeys high, so whether this proposal is the City’s suggested 9-storeys or the designed 12-storeys, it will be the tallest structure in the vicinity.

The site also falls into the Avenues category of the Official Plan, which according to Section 2.2.3, states Avenues are “important corridors along major streets where reurbanization is anticipated and encouraged to create new housing and job opportunities, while improving the pedestrian environment, the look of the street, shopping opportunities and transit service for community residents.â€

The predominant concern of the community was the height issue, but they were also concerned with losing the character of their neighbourhood, as one attendee said, “ruining the uniqueness of this area,†while others are worried about the big box commercial retailers pushing the local business owners out. However, as a local business owner pointed out, “from the commercial side, if we do not have more people, we won’t survive.†From the residents to the back of the site, they are obviously concerned about over-looking and privacy.

The proposed building steps back from Danforth, starting at 4-storeys to 9-storeys, 12-storeys and back down to 4-storeys. The Architects have also pushed the bulk of the building into the mixed-use zone, keeping the underground parking entrance and drop-off point in the neighbourhood zone, using the access from Woodbine Avenue. It has incorporated the garbage and recycling bins within the building to keep them out of view of the residential neighbours.

I will be writing about the future of this development and the implementation of city-wide planning guidelines within smaller communities. There is a concern about losing our ‘neighbourhoods’ and their uniqueness, however Toronto is a growing and changing city, which presents its own challenges to intensification and reurbanization.
 
There was a DECA meeting a few days ago, with discussion and input around this new proposal at Woodbine & Danforth.
A summary of the meeting, and some blog comments can be found at the link below.

Big Hole Summary

Basically, comments are split.
Those in favour mention the increase in pedestrian traffic which will support local retailers.
Those opposed mention communities like Greektown, Bloor West - which seem to have vibrancy without taller buildings.

Personally I'm in favour of this proposal, provided they can design an attractive building - perhaps similar in design to the Fallingbrook Lofts which are mentioned in this thread... see link
 
The Fallingbrook Lofts building at Kingston and Fallingbrook is quite nice, and the first floor is now populated by higher end shops.

fallingbrook_lofts_lrg.jpg


However, it should be noted that it is... well... on the corner of Fallingbrook, which arguably is the nicest neighbourhood of The Beach (although it technically is in Scarborough), with multimillion dollar homes near the water. In other words the immediate neighbourhood is populated by people with money to spend, and more so than most of East Danforth.

I think it can be successful, but one should be careful to use Fallingbrook Lofts as a example, since the demographics are different. It's a fairly short building too. I think only 6 stories.
 
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