Riverdale

[Floribunda]

Kawartha Dairy at Danforth and Dewhurst has opened. It’s their first location in Toronto.

View attachment 593198

Pretty popular, especially in the current balmy weather.

Many in Toronto know the Kawartha brand from cottage country where it began in the 1930s as a dairy gathering & processing milk from local farms. They have something like 50 flavours, including exclusives such as Sugar Shack Maple. Besides ice cream they're selling milk and road-trip favourites: cheese curds, cookies, fudge, maple products.

So far, steady lineups on the weekend.
It’s a spacious interior (former Starbucks), fully accessible, with seating for 12-15 inside and more on the Dewhurst side patio. Great for taking the kids after a romp at the Langford Parkette playground.

 

[Towered]

Pretty popular, especially in the current balmy weather.

Many in Toronto know the Kawartha brand from cottage country where it began in the 1930s as a dairy gathering & processing milk from local farms. They have something like 50 flavours, including exclusives such as Sugar Shack Maple. Besides ice cream they're selling milk and road-trip favourites: cheese curds, cookies, fudge, maple products.

So far, steady lineups on the weekend.
It’s a spacious interior (former Starbucks), fully accessible, with seating for 12-15 inside and more on the Dewhurst side patio. Great for taking the kids after a romp at the Langford Parkette playground.

Is that a decent playground? If so, maybe I'll take my son there. As a west ender, my knowledge of anything east of Yonge is pitiful, apart from a few choice neighbourhoods.

 

[Northern Light]

Is that a decent playground?

From Streetview:

And a review from "Danforth Dad"

Langford Parkette

More photos.City of Toronto site. Equipment by Landscape Structures.Surfaces: rubber, sand. When the Bloor-Danforth subway line was built in the 1960s, they decided to minimize the disturbance to traffic by digging the tunnel parallel to the Danforth, just a half-block north. The result is that...

www.danforthdad.com

Danforth Dad has reviewed playgrounds across the City, these are his top ranked:

Top Ranked | danforthdad

www.danforthdad.com

This is another nearby playground he ranks well:

Withrow Park

More photos.City of Toronto site. Surfaces: concrete, wood chips, sand, rubber.Equipment by Kompan. Withrow Park is a go-to for my family, and pretty much every family within stroller distance. Weekends are busy, but if you get there early you can set up camp between the junior and senior play...

www.danforthdad.com

 

[Towered]

From Streetview:

View attachment 597585

And a review from "Danforth Dad"

Langford Parkette

More photos.City of Toronto site. Equipment by Landscape Structures.Surfaces: rubber, sand. When the Bloor-Danforth subway line was built in the 1960s, they decided to minimize the disturbance to traffic by digging the tunnel parallel to the Danforth, just a half-block north. The result is that...

www.danforthdad.com

Danforth Dad has reviewed playgrounds across the City, these are his top ranked:

Top Ranked | danforthdad

www.danforthdad.com

This is another nearby playground he ranks well:

Withrow Park

More photos.City of Toronto site. Surfaces: concrete, wood chips, sand, rubber.Equipment by Kompan. Withrow Park is a go-to for my family, and pretty much every family within stroller distance. Weekends are busy, but if you get there early you can set up camp between the junior and senior play...

www.danforthdad.com

Wow, what a great resource. Lots of parks I've never been to or even heard of...

 

[Floribunda]

What I like about the Langford playground is the trees and the shade they afford. Too often parks made on open space are left open, Maybe this reflects concern for visibility — no dark corners — but on hot days a park with shade trees brings relief.

There’s a row of tall conifers on the south border of the parkette, shading part of the area year-round. The other trees are a variety of deciduous species that are old enough to have been planted as soon as the land was available. There’s no shrubbery or underbrush. You could share a little botany knowledge here with kids so inclined.

Play furniture is the familiar plastic climbing and sliding stuff, moderately challenging. Young sculptors and builders can draw water at the sand pit tap, then form and mould as they like. It’s not a destination playground but it’s worth knowing about if you’re in the area. Clean, pleasant and relaxing.

The playground fronts on Langford Ave. A lane separates it from the west half of the parkette, fronting on Woodycrest Ave. That part is also well treed, with a flower garden at the entrance. You often see people reading, chilling or dozing on the benches.

Being only half a block from Danforth, it’s not the quietest spot in town — especially right now with Metrolinx making such a racket over at Pape. But quiet enough.

 

[marcus_a_j]

I used to live right beside Langford Parkette, and was living there when the new playground was constructed. I am glad they were able to preserve most of the trees. Some of the trees along the south side by the playground actually keep the 12' fence from falling down, along with the hydro pole within the lane (the fence would sway on windy days). The park was very convenient, especially for my daughter who was learning to walk and discovering new things to play with. She had her first swing, went down her first slide, and ate her first fistful of sand here. The two separate components on either side of the lane are great - one for play, the other for relaxing, mostly. The playground is not big and mostly suited for smaller kids, but there are some climbing apparatus for bigger kids.

There were always people there as it's also used heavily by people walking to/from the subway rather than along Danforth. With the opening of the second entrance to Donlands Station at Dewhurst and Sunday School Lofts POPS/walkway, I think more people will be walking through Langford Parkette.

 

[christiesplits]

I'm definitely a fan of Langford Parkette, for many of the reasons already mentioned. Great tree canopy, good attention to detail, and lots of seating.