Is gentrification really a good thing?

[ItsTehBean]

The best government is, to have a less government.
Why should the government dictate us what should we eat, wear, live or whatsoever? Morals should be first in the thinking, and that is life. None can have freedom unless they understand the meaning of life. The responsibility of exercising freedom is, you must not kill, defame or hurt anyone around you.

That said, government increase the debt, inflate the currency, stimulate artificial economy upon intervention and of course, promote sprawl. The best way to curb sprawl, is have government NOT to subsidize developer of any kind. Anyone developer responsible for failed sprawl is accountable upon themselves.

 

[Electrify]

dWhen I say suburban, I mean those who live north of Eglington to have bigger houses, not just north of Steeles Ave.

Eglinton? That's pure yuppie suburban right there! Eating up precious farmland to build a fancy commuter town north of the city to get away from the hustle and bustle! I'd say anyone living north of Dundas is a sinner!

 

[Admiral Beez]

Gentrification is 90% a good thing.

I see it more like 99.99% a good thing. As I sit on my front porch on Cabbagetown and reflect on the changes in my area since I arrived in 1998, I can't think of the downside of gentrification. We've got zero street prostitution within CT (not the case in 1998), far fewer slumlords running rooming houses filled with ex-cons and troublemakers. The housing stock is improving in appearance, with aforementioned rooming houses now returned to their original single family home status. Parliament St. now has many quality shops, and places to go. Since 1998 we've got a new TD Bank, Starbucks, Tim Hortons and a multitude of good spots. Regent Park's redevelopment is a fantastic change to the area, with an entire demographic shift in the works. As someone living within the gentrification area, I say it's all good.

 

[EnviroTO]

Poverty is usually mostly due to someone's own fault, not excluding some external factors. Canada's umployment rate is less than 8%, so stop exaggerating.

Spoken like someone who only understands how their own life has gone and is completely insulated from those whose lives haven't gone the same way. Canada's unemployment rate doesn't tell you the percentage of people who have ever been unemployed nor tells you whether or not the income level of the employed is enough to cover a bachelor apartment. The 8% unemployed today aren't the same 8% that were unemployed five years ago. If you have a family and your company closes up shop you are then supporting your family off savings (the same savings that is the seniors fault for not saving as you say) and then credit until a new job is found. Was it their fault for working at a company downsizing or going bankrupt? Throw in sickness, disabilities, and level of intelligence which each person has absolutely no control over and I'm sorry to say that the issue is much larger than you seem to be capable of comprehending. People who look at their own lives and say "I did it so everyone else should be able to" have no clue how fortunate they are and how fragile those things taken for granted are. You need to wake up lest you find yourself in bad circumstance due to no fault of your own.

 

[Admiral Beez]

It's definitely true that good luck, or bad luck can have a huge influence on your life. I'm very lucky to have been born a white guy in 1970s England to middle class parents, as opposed to a brown guy in 1970s Uganda.

 

[Admiral Beez]

‘We are fighting a big machine.’ Gentrification is pulling apart Toronto’s communities. How do we prevent it?

From Little Jamaica to Parkdale, development has disrupted cultural enclaves within the city, morphing them into unrecognizable and gentrified areas. ...

www.thestar.com

I have to say that gentrification has been a blessing to my neighbourhood of Cabbagetown. When we moved here in 1998 there were prostitutes and junkies in the alleys, vandalism and break-ins were common and Parliament St. was a no go zone of drunks, addicts and insane. It’s been almost 22 years now and far from pushing out all these negative elements gentrification has brought balance to the area. Parliament St. Still has its grittier side, but we’ve now got better shopping. Addicts and mentally disturbed folks can still be found, but I haven’t seen any prostitution in years. Auto and property theft still occurs, but nothing like it used to. The influx of wealthy lawyers, financial and IT professionals, etc. may be driving up the MPAC assessments, but I welcome their positive influence on the area.

 

[Johnny Au]

Gentrification is a mixed bag. It is great for Five Points, but just a few blocks to the north on Oakwood, it's hurting Little Jamaica.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Gentrification is a mixed bag. It is great for Five Points, but just a few blocks to the north on Oakwood, it's hurting Little Jamaica.

I was surprised that Toronto star article made gentrification a bad thing in Regent Park.The same number of subsidized units are returning, it’s just bringing in more middle-class people. Where is the downside?

 

[jje1000]

I was surprised that Toronto star article made gentrification a bad thing in Regent Park.The same number of subsidized units are returning, it’s just bringing in more middle-class people. Where is the downside?

Why would you be surprised? The Star has always had a boilerplate list of good vs bad narratives that it tries to stick to.

Heck, they're the same newspaper that ran the same article about the Davenport nuclear fuel facility twice, and its slant on certain issues has gotten more pronounced in recent years.

 

[yin_yang]

it is good if it comes with increases in salaries but if not then it is useless. everyone wants a nice new townhouse or condo but they need to be able to afford it.

 

[Oswald H]

Corporate Predatory Gentrification is a cancer in big cities

HULLMARK/EASTROOM. MONEY, LIES AND EVICTIONS IN THE TIME OF A PANDEMIC

MONEY:

Jeff Hull of HULLMARK PROPERTIES went into a partnership with Derek and Sam Martin of The EastRoom to “develop” 507 KING ST EAST in order to exponentially increase the buildings financial yield by the forcible evictions of long term residential tenants to convert the building to a commercial only format. Diminishing the residential housing stocks in the downtown east district of Toronto.

LIES:

In order to manipulate Toronto City Council and the City of Toronto Planning division Hullmark claims to have been “lied to by the previous owners of the Building”. In reality 507 KING ST EAST is still owned by the “previous owners”. The Martin Family, (Derek and Sam Martin of The East Room) have owned the building for three generations and still own the building with Hullmark as new partners. Before going forward with the deal Hullmark did their due diligence photographing every unit of the building, digitally scanning the complete interior and exterior of the building and interviewing the tenants, as any legitimate investor would. There is no question that Jeff Hull knew that the building was residential, it was no secret. Through a wave of intimidation and bully tactics Hullmark/Eastroom evicted several tenants. The Landlord and Tenant board has agreed that the tenants are and have been residential for many years. The Martins (Eastroom) and Hullmark still enjoy a good relationship working together daily on this project. It is obvious that there was no deception between the Martins and Hullmark. When the tenants attempted to respond or question Hallmarks’ tactics the response was condescending treatment and indifference. The deception lies between Hullmark/Eastroom and The City of Toronto, the people of Toronto and the longstanding tenants of 507 King st e. They even manipulated a city councillor into telling lies on record, on their behalf.

EVICTIONS:

Hullark/Eastroom have been attempting to evict the remaining residential tenants using every available tool unsuccessfully. Now in the middle the Covid 19 crisis they have served the residential tenants with 3 eviction notices. Rescinding the first saying “its morally wrong to evict now” then weeks later delivering the same eviction notices twice. Hullmark/East room seem to think they are above law, common sense and the “morality” that they mentioned weeks before. It’s this kind of predatory gentrification that is undermining the ability of normal people to live in big cities. The tenants of 507 King east are working people living off their vocations in the arts and creative fields. Among the tenants are senior citizens with health issues being ordered to leave their homes and workplaces in the middle of this pandemic. In their advertising and promotional content Hullmark/Eastroom portray themselves as forward thinking arts friendly, people friendly, city friendly stewards of neighbourhoods and communities. The reality is that they have no regard for any of those things. The bottom line is the end that justifies the means: Money, Lies, and Evictions.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Corporate Predatory Gentrification is a cancer in big cities

HULLMARK/EASTROOM. MONEY, LIES AND EVICTIONS IN THE TIME OF A PANDEMIC

MONEY:

Jeff Hull of HULLMARK PROPERTIES went into a partnership with Derek and Sam Martin of The EastRoom to “develop” 507 KING ST EAST in order to exponentially increase the buildings financial yield by the forcible evictions of long term residential tenants to convert the building to a commercial only format. Diminishing the residential housing stocks in the downtown east district of Toronto.

LIES:

In order to manipulate Toronto City Council and the City of Toronto Planning division Hullmark claims to have been “lied to by the previous owners of the Building”. In reality 507 KING ST EAST is still owned by the “previous owners”. The Martin Family, (Derek and Sam Martin of The East Room) have owned the building for three generations and still own the building with Hullmark as new partners. Before going forward with the deal Hullmark did their due diligence photographing every unit of the building, digitally scanning the complete interior and exterior of the building and interviewing the tenants, as any legitimate investor would. There is no question that Jeff Hull knew that the building was residential, it was no secret. Through a wave of intimidation and bully tactics Hullmark/Eastroom evicted several tenants. The Landlord and Tenant board has agreed that the tenants are and have been residential for many years. The Martins (Eastroom) and Hullmark still enjoy a good relationship working together daily on this project. It is obvious that there was no deception between the Martins and Hullmark. When the tenants attempted to respond or question Hallmarks’ tactics the response was condescending treatment and indifference. The deception lies between Hullmark/Eastroom and The City of Toronto, the people of Toronto and the longstanding tenants of 507 King st e. They even manipulated a city councillor into telling lies on record, on their behalf.

EVICTIONS:

Hullark/Eastroom have been attempting to evict the remaining residential tenants using every available tool unsuccessfully. Now in the middle the Covid 19 crisis they have served the residential tenants with 3 eviction notices. Rescinding the first saying “its morally wrong to evict now” then weeks later delivering the same eviction notices twice. Hullmark/East room seem to think they are above law, common sense and the “morality” that they mentioned weeks before. It’s this kind of predatory gentrification that is undermining the ability of normal people to live in big cities. The tenants of 507 King east are working people living off their vocations in the arts and creative fields. Among the tenants are senior citizens with health issues being ordered to leave their homes and workplaces in the middle of this pandemic. In their advertising and promotional content Hullmark/Eastroom portray themselves as forward thinking arts friendly, people friendly, city friendly stewards of neighbourhoods and communities. The reality is that they have no regard for any of those things. The bottom line is the end that justifies the means: Money, Lies, and Evictions.

What‘s this? Is this a statement of claim, fact, etc?

 

[DSC]

What‘s this? Is this a statement of claim, fact, etc?

Yes, and why has it been posted in multiple threads (507 King, Corktown, here and ????

 

[Oswald H]

Its all facts. Hullmark has issued 3 N13's since the covid 19 epidemic started. They have been harassing the tenants of 507 King e with every type of underhanded trick. Including demolition while tenants are still living in the building causing flooding of occupied units, dust and debris issues making the air unbreathable, Ignoring stop work requests from the city, In an attempt to "clean windows" they sprayed the interior of occupied units with power washers. Several times they operated gasoline powered equipment in the building causing dangerous levels of carbon monoxide to fill the occupied units. They have been starting demolition work as early as 5am. When 311 was called Hullmark claimed to be "just taking out some garbage". The demolition was done without permits, by the time the city came to inspect, the demolition work was mostly done. The inspector told them to stop. The demo crew waited for the inspector to leave then completed the work. They attempted to replace all of the windows in the building with non opening sealed windows even though the building has no Hvac system. There has been no proper tenant notification of work in the building. The list goes on... Hallmark claims that they didn't know that there where residential tenants in the building when they partnered with The Eastroom. They surveyed the building, toured every unit, scanned and photographed every unit before all of this started. They knew that the building was residential. . For further information contact Councillor Krystyn Wong-Tam at 416-696-4300, councillor_wongtam@toronto.ca. Hullmark info@hullmark.ca 416-510-1700 The Eastroom (416) 628-5333 info@eastroom.com