Starbucks

[AndreaPalladio]

I walk there at night all the time - what's wrong with it at night?

 

[Ahab]

I was walking down Parliament at 10:30 pm this past Saturday. There was hardly anyone else around. It's a little sad for a commercial street, but it also made me a little uncomfortable.

You would expect more people to be out hitting the bars or milling about outside the restaurants after a meal, but it was really quiet. I think the problem is that the businesses on Parliament attract mostly local people from the area. You hear about people going out of their way to eat on Roncesvalles, but these same people would never even think about going over to Parliament.

I think Parliament really needs a couple of high end restaurants to get things going. Unfortunately, Tim Horton's isn't doing it although it's perhaps the nicest Tim Horton's I've ever been too. That tin ceiling is fantastic!

 

[Urban Shocker]

Some places that I once thought would be gentrified by now haven't been, and Parliament Street remains one of those baffling examples. Dundas and Sherbourne, for example, is more depressed and rundown than it was thirty years ago - when several gay men I knew bought houses near there and renovated in the first phase of a familiar cycle ... that didn't repeat itself.

I don't find anything wrong with Parliament at night either. Sometimes I stroll through there on my way home on a nice summer evening. But it is quiet.

Is it just my imagination, or are east-west streets more lively than north-south streets, in our town?

 

[Hydrogen]

If anything, Parliament has fewer navigationally challenged people on the sidewalks these days. It's always been quiet as far as I can recall.

 

[Admiral Beez]

I walk there at night all the time - what's wrong with it at night?

Me too. I've never felt unsafe walking Cabbagetown, even when using the bank machine at Carlton and Parliament late at night. There's so many people around, it's nice to be part of the mix.

 

[JasonParis]

Is it just my imagination, or are east-west streets more lively than north-south streets, in our town?

I've always thought that too! I guess Yonge would be the one major exception.

 

[Urban Shocker]

... and Spadina.

But so many are d-e-d compared to the Danny, College, Queen, Eglinton ...

 

[Roy G Biv]

4 story stucco building going in at Aberdeen & Parliament. Starbucks at bottom, apartments on top. Building is nothing special, but looks appropriate for the location.

Javaville & Sushi Today being demoed. No clue what's going in.

 

[BUGEYEDBRIT]

4 story stucco building going in at Aberdeen & Parliament. Starbucks at bottom, apartments on top. Building is nothing special, but looks appropriate for the location.

Javaville & Sushi Today being demoed. No clue what's going in.

any rendering at all??

 

[turdrockfromthesun]

Starbucks never accepted my 'Bad coffee for bad people' slogan. But, then again, it is somewhat predictable as so did Tim Hortons, the Second Cup, Coffee Time, Java Joe's and all other vendors of over-boiled, over -roasted (burnt), acidic coffee.

 

[JasonParis]

The new Starbucks at Queen & Bathurst is apparently (and secretly) a new concept store. I've heard from an inside source that Starbucks is slowly moving towards a McDonald's-type "in and out" preference for their stores. Basically, they no longer want people lounging around for a few hours while sipping a java. Instead, they want faster and shorter line-ups, shorter stays and less comfort in their stores.

Therefore, the chairs at Queen & Bathurst are less comfortable, the lighting is more harsh and they've generally put less money into the location than they normally would have. Some would argue it is because it's "Queen & Bathurst," but apparently it's the start of a shift in thinking by Starbucks.

 

[Urban Shocker]

Once they start offering coffee enemas we'll know the end is near.

 

[adma]

The new Starbucks at Queen & Bathurst is apparently (and secretly) a new concept store. I've heard from an inside source that Starbucks is slowly moving towards a McDonald's-type "in and out" preference for their stores. Basically, they no longer want people lounging around for a few hours while sipping a java. Instead, they want faster and shorter line-ups, shorter stays and less comfort in their stores.

Therefore, the chairs at Queen & Bathurst are less comfortable, the lighting is more harsh and they've generally put less money into the location than they normally would have. Some would argue it is because it's "Queen & Bathurst," but apparently it's the start of a shift in thinking by Starbucks.

It seems that renos to the concourse-level Tim's at College Park indicate similar thinking--likewise with the new Tim's where the Coffee Time was at Wellington + University. (That's a weird one. There's at least 3 other Tim's within 5 minutes walking distance.)

 

[wonderboy416]

This just in... Starbucks NO LONGER grinds the beans in store before brewing.

This puts them light years behind the other big boutique wannabe chains and no where near the truly great coffee spots (moonbean, balzac's, aroma, manic to name a few).

 

[Skeezix]

This just in... Starbucks NO LONGER grinds the beans in store before brewing.

This puts them light years behind the other big boutique wannabe chains and no where near the truly great coffee spots (moonbean, balzac's, aroma, manic to name a few).

You're serious? It would be hard to take them seriously if they don't grind their beans before brewing.