The Junction

[rh-7]

Would you want the Jane LRT to go through The Junction? Instead of terminating the Jane LRT at Jane Station, why not terminate it at Dundas West Station, and in the process pass through The Junction. I would want the Jane LRT to turn at Dundas and follow the railway right-of-way to Dundas West Station. Others want the Jane LRT to follow the railway right-of-way from Weston Road and Jane down to the Dundas West Station. What are your preferences?

The Open Houses for the Jane LRT are at:

• Tuesday, August 26, 2008
  6:30pm to 9:00pm
  Jane Finch Mall
  1911 Finch Avenue West (SE corner of Finch Ave and Jane St)
  
• Thursday, August 28, 2008
  6:30pm to 9:00pm
  Syme Woolner Community School - Gymnasium
  69 Pritchard Ave (north of Jane and St. Clair intersection, east of Jane)

I really like this idea too. Perhaps one of the biggest residents' concerns though will be that it will not work for people who take the jane LRT to get to the subway line going West. Their routes would be significantly lengthened compared to the existing Jane Bus. If you work out by Kipling and you're used to taking the Jane bus to Jane station, your proposed LRT design change would involve some major backtracking. It works well for fans of the junction though...

 

[Jitterbugg]

I've found in my experience the traffic going west on the subway really tapers down after Jane anyway - I would guess that 90% of people would be heading eastbound/downtown.

I'm sure that they've studied the hell out these proposed routes and modeled everything out with computers, so if it made sense they probably would have already thought of it. That said, no harm in bringing it up.

Perhaps a subway up Keele St. to the LCBO aswell?

 

[Martin in the Junction]

Getting a slice of the Jane LRT would certainly change the Junction. Most Dundas West proposals however would only have a stop at the Annette/Dupont/Dundas intersection.

Interesting thought to run down Jane to St.Clair/Dundas Street and turn left, follow the tracks through the Junction rail yards and onto Dundas West Station. This approach would certainly connect the Junction to the rest of the city but would bring a lot of development with it. I’m sure we would see a development rush similar to what Queen West is going through now.

The Junction is a boom or bust kind of place though.

 

[Martin in the Junction]

Does anyone know what is going in the old Hasty Market?

They have building permits for a restaurant and somebody is spending allot of money fixing it up.

 

[urbandreamer]

A new nail salon is opening here:





And question for the locals: Is Margret's a good brunch spot? I was at the Beet this past weekend for brunch, and was appalled at how much they charge for crap! The food was very bland; it may be organic, but it tasted like cardboard! No flavour at all, no spices, etc. Yuck! Hopefully the Foundation eats them for brunch! (Okay, so the Beet's coffee is good. I told the owners to spice up their menu.)

 

[Hooked]

The Juntion in the news

http://www.yourhome.ca/homes/article/489393

 

[sungs]

here's a description of the junction in Toronto Life's 2008/2009 Guide to Real Estate "where to buy now" magazine that i just picked up. the neighborhood's really starting to sound interesting!

 

[tamlin]

here's a description of the junction in Toronto Life's 2008/2009 Guide to Real Estate "where to buy now" magazine that i just picked up. the neighborhood's really starting to sound interesting!

The article is also available online.

 

[urbandreamer]

Saturday, 6 September 2008 photos from the Junction Arts Festival

Actually, 95% of the art was crap. The best art is to be found in the basement gallery of Margret's bar. The best food at either Bronto Burger or Pascal's (Bagel's are the best in Toronto imho!) The best coffee at the Beet (although today it was crap--watered down and not as fresh thanks to all the herds of people, perhaps?) and the best band, Monster Beach at the Troubadour patio (old guys that know how to rock!)

Some highlights....more photos to come later.

Margret's is a really cool bar, I discovered!

And the basement gallery/vintage shop was the highlight of the afternoon!

Did I manage to photograph any Urban Toronto Junctionites today? Overall, the problem with the Junction festival is it attempts to please too broad an audience. If it truly focused on "art" rather than "crafts" or "food" it would be that much better. Of course, with all the organic eateries opening along the Dundas strip, perhaps it's time the BIA thought about an "Organic Food Festival"....?

 

[junctionist]

here's a description of the junction in Toronto Life's 2008/2009 Guide to Real Estate "where to buy now" magazine that i just picked up. the neighborhood's really starting to sound interesting!

Yes, it's also interesting that when I checked their real estate guide last year, the Junction scored "high" in one of their two crime categories, though I forget which one. That's quite the improvement in one year, unless they were using much older data last year.

By the way, I missed the arts festival this year, but I did stroll through quickly on Saturday, and I noticed the ad cars for GM, which I don't believe were there last year (correct me if I'm wrong). The large corporations creep in.

 

[sungs]

By the way, I missed the arts festival this year, but I did stroll through quickly on Saturday, and I noticed the ad cars for GM, which I don't believe were there last year (correct me if I'm wrong). The large corporations creep in.

I passed by and noticed that too, and they were also offering free test drives right there!?

I'm just wondering when and where the first Starbucks is going to be. The good thing is that there's better alternatives already.

i think we discussed this earlier somewhere in this thread, but it would be nice if they revamped that square area on the south west corner of keele and dundas....maybe once the condos are done?

 

[junctionist]

I passed by and noticed that too, and they were also offering free test drives right there!?

I'm just wondering when and where the first Starbucks is going to be. The good thing is that there's better alternatives already.

i think we discussed this earlier somewhere in this thread, but it would be nice if they revamped that square area on the south west corner of keele and dundas....maybe once the condos are done?

It'll happen if the Bank of Montreal is willing to give up their precious parking. If it's really that valuable to them, they could put it underground, and build the square on top.

On another note, it's surprising that there is no proposal to build anything on the McBride's site.

 

[Moonmoth]

Actually, 95% of the art was crap. The best art is to be found in the basement gallery of Margret's bar. The best food at either Bronto Burger or Pascal's (Bagel's are the best in Toronto imho!) The best coffee at the Beet (although today it was crap--watered down and not as fresh thanks to all the herds of people, perhaps?) and the best band, Monster Beach at the Troubadour patio (old guys that know how to rock!)

Did I manage to photograph any Urban Toronto Junctionites today? Overall, the problem with the Junction festival is it attempts to please too broad an audience. If it truly focused on "art" rather than "crafts" or "food" it would be that much better. Of course, with all the organic eateries opening along the Dundas strip, perhaps it's time the BIA thought about an "Organic Food Festival"....?

Yo urbandreamer....the Junction Arts Festival incorporates all types of art, if you're considering just 'visual art" I agree with you, as the visual art is made mostly only by community artists as opposed to professional artists. Funny that you mentioned the art in the basement of Margret's as some of it was done by Chris Gardiner, a professional artist, who did his MFA in the States somewhere. But my point is that the "Arts" in the Junction Arts Festival consists of more than just the visual arts. Dance, Theatre, music, poetry, new media, all considered art forms - are what is presented (in addition to visual art) at the Junction Arts Festival.

Since it is a street festival, you can expect a number of food vendors and local businesses which sell food to come out onto the street. It's inevitable. If you want people to spend time around there, there has to be food available to them. As for the crafts vendors, well, an attempt over the past few years has been made to mostly allow only handmade items and fair trade items as vendors. Vendors bring in quite a bit of revenue to street festivals, so, again, it's kind of unavoidable to have these present at a street festival. In a perfect world where everything was fully funded, craft vendors wouldn't be necessary. But that's not the case.

The Junction Arts Festival is not focussed on contemporary art, like the TIAF for instance. Too bad TAAFI went belly -up.....I heard Up-Art is going to be interesting at the Gladstone during TIAF this year.

 

[Moonmoth]

I passed by and noticed that too, and they were also offering free test drives right there!?

I'm just wondering when and where the first Starbucks is going to be. The good thing is that there's better alternatives already.

i think we discussed this earlier somewhere in this thread, but it would be nice if they revamped that square area on the south west corner of keele and dundas....maybe once the condos are done?

GM wasn't there last year, but if you look on the back page of the Junction Arts Festival program, GM was a sponsor. They must've given the festival some funds in order to have their cars there. Another necessary evil. Anyone remember the Saab-sponsored ferris wheel at the Power Plant a couple years ago? Same deal, maybe even worse.

 

[sungs]

GM wasn't there last year, but if you look on the back page of the Junction Arts Festival program, GM was a sponsor. They must've given the festival some funds in order to have their cars there. Another necessary evil. Anyone remember the Saab-sponsored ferris wheel at the Power Plant a couple years ago? Same deal, maybe even worse.

I hear you on the necessary evils...i just thought the test drive thing was rather extreme. however, its good to see the festival getting bigger. i enjoyed it more last year, but that was only because the weather was better so hanging out in the patio was nice.