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Riverdale

I saw it very shortly after the fire broke out, I could see smoke against the dark sky and flames through the windows, and then it got worse (it's actually closer than it appears in the video below). It broke about 4:30-4:45. I know this building, I cycle out a few times each summer for big bags of dumplings from a large shop half a level down, it's a beautiful building - gone. Thankfully no one died, one firefighter has been injured from either smoke inhalation or heat exhaustion. I have photos, maybe I'll upload them later today when I get home, must run soon. I grabbed a video showing the huge trail of smoke right over to the Toronto Islands but the sun makes it hard to see, I took this at about 5:30am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK3LZFH8adk
 
My guess is that this marks the end of Chinatown II which had already contracted considerably since its heyday in the early 80s, especially after the Vietnamese influx. That building housed the last best produce store as well as a great place to pick up Chinese dishware etc. The SW is already pretty derelict and almost all boarded up. That giant archway on Gerrard opposite the jail will be all that remains, a relic of the past.

I expect a condo proposal sign any second now ...

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And now this.

I just hope we don't lose Bill's Lobsters!!! I've bought five pounders there.


While I mourn the lose of the rather handsome old brick building, I can't say I feel much sadness at, as I predict, the end of this strip. It's way past its prime. Even the Pearl Court doesn't do it for me anymore -- and I used to be a regular back in the day when it was a hole in the wall on the north side.

With the gentrification of Leslieville and Riverdale since the 80s, this area is ripe for redeveloment, as we have seen with the establishment of places like Batifole, Great Burger Kitchen etc.
 

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Ex-Montreal Girl said:
My guess is that this marks the end of Chinatown II which had already contracted considerably since its heyday in the early 80s, especially after the Vietnamese influx.
Click to expand...
I disagree. There's a couple of better produce stores further east on Gerrard, on the same block and side.

Personally, I stopped shopping at this place a while ago. So many times I went past, and the (owner?) was standing rearranging the produce with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. It was so frequent, I'm amazed anyone shopped there.

It will be interesting to see the cause of the fire.
 
One place, or the lack there of, won't cause the demise of any area.


Having said that, hasn't Chinatown east slowly been declining over the years, at least I've noticed that, more spaces to rent each year ?
 
taal said:
One place, or the lack there of, won't cause the demise of any area. Having said that, hasn't Chinatown east slowly been declining over the years, at least I've noticed that, more spaces to rent each year ?
Click to expand...

Actually, jogging through this morning, there's been a lot of storefronts re-occupied in the past year while we were away. A good/bad thing -- a lot of the new tenants are neither Chinese nor Vietnamese (e.g. Kumon, a new consultant's office of some type, etc.) so it's cleaned up the streetscape but made it less Chinese.

I think the real killer for east Chinatown was the T&T opening on Cherry. Kind of overwhelms the selection at Fu Yao.
 
Riverdale Rink Rat said:
The corner building has been cleaned out completely now. Also, the nice new TTC overhead wires look to be almost done. So, I expect they're pretty close to re-opening the intersection.
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Sure enough, it's open today.

To the 'less Chinatown' issue: the first non-Asian food shop has opened -- Angela's Gerrard St. Bakery. Sign out front offering iced lattes, but I stuck with Rose's deluxe banh mi (spicy), for about the same price I expect (she talked me up to the $3 version).
 
Riverdale Rink Rat said:
Sure enough, it's open today.

To the 'less Chinatown' issue: the first non-Asian food shop has opened -- Angela's Gerrard St. Bakery. Sign out front offering iced lattes, but I stuck with Rose's deluxe banh mi (spicy), for about the same price I expect (she talked me up to the $3 version).
Click to expand...

Actually, it's Andrea's, not Angela's. And it's been open since last year. Which emphasizes my earlier remark about the Asian character slowly contracting. Playpen in that horrid strip mall at the corner of Carlaw. Batifole which was the first brave business to venture forth. The breakfast place on the corner of Logan called Hammersmith (I think.) A cafe on the SE corner of Logan. And I am not talking about anything east of Carlaw.

When I first moved into the area in 85, it was jammed with everything, hairdressers, groceries, massage parlours, restaurants, florists, discount stores, etc. It is now at the tipping point and I maintain that the fire has pushed it over. (I'd forgotten about T&T. That was probably a contributing factor.)

It's like the Danforth. In 1985, between Jones and Broadview, you could find all sorts of Greek-owned businesses, and pitifully few non-Greek restaurants. (I can recall one Italian place, Ricky & Ricardo's, where the Auld Spot Pub now stands.) Greek gift shops everywhere. Il Fornello used to be a photography studio. There were Greek-owned produce markets where Mark's and St Louis Wings now are. I am pretty sure there was a Greek supermarket where the Fox & Fiddle is. The Greek Food Market, recently-departed, is now a gelato or frozen yogurt place. (It was the best place for buying real Greek yogurt.) And then, maybe around 92-93, the tipping point came. So many "yuppies" in Riverdale, so many older Greeks gone, taking their custom and businesses with them. Now, I think of it as a Greek theme park. A lot of restaurants don't really make it a Greek "town."
 
Ex-Montreal Girl said:
A cafe on the SE corner of Logan. And I am not talking about anything east of Carlaw.
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Unfortunate for the stretch from Logan to Broadview. But from Logan east to Carlaw it seems to have significantly improved in the last 2-3 years. It didn't seem to be so much Asian any more, but just run down.

Times change, I guess. Not sure how much is T&T - it's not really very transit accessible. Does it attract the same crowd?

There's still a large local East Asian community - unlike Little India, where the local neighbourhood seems to have more East Asians than South Asians ... so I figure it will simply contract a bit.

The Chinese restaurant I tended to frequent (SW corner - 1 south of the corner) has also recently closed. I'm going to have to find another favourite ... if I can ever convince my daughter that she'll not die of starvation in a Chinese restaurant.
 
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mjl08 said:
Canadian Tire is opening a new "mini box" store on the south side of the Danforth, one block west of Pape, where the old Marks Wearhouse was located. I will likely continue to use the Home Hardware on the other side of Pape.

Canadian Tire is trying to compete with the new guy in town:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/glob...small-to-take-on-giant-target/article9382548/
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I like that Home Hardware, even though both the owner and his assistant manager are not particularly cordial. It took years for me to get them to smile and give me more than a perfunctory grunt.

Anyway, here's the Star on the Canadian Tire location on the west side of Pape:

Canadian Tire announced in February it wanted to expand its retail operations beyond traditional stores by offering specialty or express stores, which would also serve as pickup locations for items purchased from the digital catalogue.

Canadian Tire declined to speak about the store until it officially opens.

The real driver behind the shift in store strategy is that big box stores have lost productivity, said O’Connor.

“They were watching sales-per-square-foot sliding. They see it happening very quickly, they just don’t always know how to deal with it. It takes a while.â€
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Makes sense since many residents in the area are walkers or TTC-takers. The IGA does a booming delivery business for that reason.
 
Ex-Montreal Girl said:
Actually, it's Andrea's, not Angela's. And it's been open since last year. Which emphasizes my earlier remark about the Asian character slowly contracting. Playpen in that horrid strip mall at the corner of Carlaw. Batifole which was the first brave business to venture forth. The breakfast place on the corner of Logan called Hammersmith (I think.) A cafe on the SE corner of Logan. And I am not talking about anything east of Carlaw.
Click to expand...
That plaza is awful! I was just talking to someone about it today. It could at least have a Tim Horton's in it or something. It doesn't even have that. It's been a closed down "donut shop" since I started working in the area over a year ago.
 
It still blows my mind that someone tried to open up a 'Spring Rolls' on Broadview (west side, just south of gerrard) lol. Trying to figure out if they targeted the local asian crowd or the new yuppies...

I don't think T&T would have had that much of an effect on chinatown. There was always competition from the knob hills that was there. Plust T&T is a premium supermarket, priced much higher than the local grocery stores. I think it's just that the neighbourhood residents have dramatically changed. From multi unit rental homes that housed new immigrants to those being converted to Single family for yuppies. It will be interesting to see how businesses hold and for how long as you have the demographic change in the neighbourhoods..
 
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