Toronto King-Bathurst Transit Oriented Community: South Site | 88.9m | 25s | Infrastructure ON | SvN

Zero retail - so long to all the bars and nightlife that the buildings on these corners host. They actually need all that space for transit lobbies?
 
EFS nightclub and Regulars across the street as well. It's great a subway is on its way and obviously some of the nightclub space was going to be lost. I'm just surprised all of it is going.
 
bilked said:
Zero retail - so long to all the bars and nightlife that the buildings on these corners host. They actually need all that space for transit lobbies?
Click to expand...
I don’t think people realize how gutted the entertainment district really is nowadays. It’s all concentrated on a short little strip between Spadina and Bathurst and they’re always packed. It’s so disappointing for me to see how dead East of Spadina has become, with a little pocket of life around King and John.

I hypothesize that the UT crowd doesn’t frequent that strip and perhaps actively hates the bars and restaurants along that stretch.

But night life—how ever unsavoury it may seem to some—is a huge draw to keep younger crowds in Toronto. It keeps the city vibrant and worth visiting. I wish we can find ways to expand night life entertainment around this neighbourhood.
 
Gentrification is a bitch and while I do hate much of what King from Spadina to Bathurst has become, it does cater to a certain audience, and it does it very well. You said it yourself: "they're always packed". That said, that stretch hasn't been the centre of most nightlife fans' scene for 10+ years, at least.

But that's the nature of nightlife - it finds ways to exist. 25 years ago it was Queen Street, 15-20 years ago it was the 'Entertainment District', 10 years ago it was West Queen West (who remembers Bassmentality at 751 or Mansion's parties at 99 Sudbury?!), now it's farther flung areas entirely. Heck, many though that 500 Keele would live for a few years at least...nope. Boy those were some unreal parties though:

500_keele_warehouse_venue_toronto.jpg

nowtoronto.com

Electronic music venue 500 Keele Warehouse forced to temporarily close - NOW Magazine

Toronto's 500 Keele Warehouse venue has shut its doors. May concerts including Ben UFO and Charlotte de Witte have all been relocated from the Junction warehouse space.
nowtoronto.com nowtoronto.com

At the end of the day, places change. That sometimes sucks, yes, but to lament that 'it ain't like it used to be' is just hackney'd. If you haven't discovered it yet, Then and Now Toronto compiles an incredible history of just this kind of thing: http://thenandnowtoronto.com/

I'm sure @kotsy has much to add to this.
 
Said bars at king and bathurst aren't to my taste either, but 500 keele isn't really an apples to apples comparison - 500 keele obviously wasn't going to be long for this world. The state of nightlife on this strip of king is more an expression, not victim of gentrification, but that's not really what I'm talking about. Here we're losing four (very busy) bars (with actual liquor licenses) because IO appears to want grand transit lobbies, instead of something more modest. If all that space is actually required for the logistics of serving a subway stop, I'm happy to be educated as to why. But it seems like a ton of square footage (particularly the south building) and so seems like a needless loss.
 
ProjectEnd said:
Gentrification is a bitch and while I do hate much of what King from Spadina to Bathurst has become, it does cater to a certain audience, and it does it very well. You said it yourself: "they're always packed". That said, that stretch hasn't been the centre of most nightlife fans' scene for 10+ years, at least.

But that's the nature of nightlife - it finds ways to exist. 25 years ago it was Queen Street, 15-20 years ago it was the 'Entertainment District', 10 years ago it was West Queen West (who remembers Bassmentality at 751 or Mansion's parties at 99 Sudbury?!), now it's farther flung areas entirely. Heck, many though that 500 Keele would live for a few years at least...nope. Boy those were some unreal parties though:

500_keele_warehouse_venue_toronto.jpg

nowtoronto.com

Electronic music venue 500 Keele Warehouse forced to temporarily close - NOW Magazine

Toronto's 500 Keele Warehouse venue has shut its doors. May concerts including Ben UFO and Charlotte de Witte have all been relocated from the Junction warehouse space.
nowtoronto.com nowtoronto.com

At the end of the day, places change. That sometimes sucks, yes, but to lament that 'it ain't like it used to be' is just hackney'd. If you haven't discovered it yet, Then and Now Toronto compiles an incredible history of just this kind of thing: http://thenandnowtoronto.com/

I'm sure @kotsy has much to add to this.
Click to expand...

I wish I bought the Then & Now book when I had the chance. The publisher ended up going bankrupt so you can only find used copies (usually at ridiculous prices) now. It's a real shame what has happened to nightlife in the city, especially with the pandemic leading to even more closures. However, there definitely seems to be an uptick of secret venues being used for house/techno/rave style events due to the lack of proper ones available. Back to the 90s we go! 🥳
 
ProjectEnd said:
Gentrification is a bitch and while I do hate much of what King from Spadina to Bathurst has become, it does cater to a certain audience, and it does it very well. You said it yourself: "they're always packed". That said, that stretch hasn't been the centre of most nightlife fans' scene for 10+ years, at least.

But that's the nature of nightlife - it finds ways to exist. 25 years ago it was Queen Street, 15-20 years ago it was the 'Entertainment District', 10 years ago it was West Queen West (who remembers Bassmentality at 751 or Mansion's parties at 99 Sudbury?!), now it's farther flung areas entirely. Heck, many though that 500 Keele would live for a few years at least...nope. Boy those were some unreal parties though:

500_keele_warehouse_venue_toronto.jpg

nowtoronto.com

Electronic music venue 500 Keele Warehouse forced to temporarily close - NOW Magazine

Toronto's 500 Keele Warehouse venue has shut its doors. May concerts including Ben UFO and Charlotte de Witte have all been relocated from the Junction warehouse space.
nowtoronto.com nowtoronto.com

At the end of the day, places change. That sometimes sucks, yes, but to lament that 'it ain't like it used to be' is just hackney'd. If you haven't discovered it yet, Then and Now Toronto compiles an incredible history of just this kind of thing: http://thenandnowtoronto.com/

I'm sure @kotsy has much to add to this.
Click to expand...
Sorry if I'm taking this thread off topic – Feel free to move or delete

I don't doubt nightlife ebbs and flows but what I notice about Toronto is entertainment areas are redeveloped and the former life is never restored in that area or anywhere else. This is more than just about "a place to drink" but also about the arts. Lots of smaller music venues used by indie artists are going away too, to the point where some artists can't come to Toronto because they can't fill Rebel and can't fit in Velvet Underground.

Many cities have more or less consistent dedicated zones for nightlife. Central in Hong Kong, French Quarter in New Orleans, Red Light District in Amsterdam I don't see why Toronto can't have one too.

Edit: And to add, when I say King St W is always packed, I mean the literal street is packed because bars are turning people away even to put their name down. Definitely COVID factors into it but also shows that there is an appetite for more entertainment.

Perhaps stretching last call out later will help disperse crowds, but that's a whole other conversation
 
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