Yonge Street Revitalization (Downtown Yonge BIA/City of Toronto)

[Long Island Mike]

Good Yonge Street Pics in Part 3...

DTG: Good Yonge Street pics in the part 3 section S of Gerrard to Dundas and then Queen Streets posted!

I noticed the lightpoles along Yonge-when were they installed? I remember that the Yonge Street "canyon" was lit by lights placed on the surrounding buildings-visible in some pics. The lightpoles are a definite recent change!
LI MIKE

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

DTG: Good Yonge Street pics in the part 3 section S of Gerrard to Dundas and then Queen Streets posted!

I noticed the lightpoles along Yonge-when were they installed? I remember that the Yonge Street "canyon" was lit by lights placed on the surrounding buildings-visible in some pics. The lightpoles are a definite recent change!
LI MIKE

Thank you!

Light standards have been installed in the past few years, those canyon lamps were around as long as I can remember, going back to at least the 70's. Light standards have been installed in sections to about Wellesley Street so far, presumably they are continuing to move north however some can still be found from Wellesley to Bloor.

 

[torontoguy]

I'm with you on streetscaping however there's simply no room for a median and the sidewalks along much of the street are not wide enough for any landscaping or benches. At least utility poles were removed decades ago.

I asked the BIA at the time of the streetlight installation if they had made any provisions for hanging flowers/greenery, and they suggested it was a good idea but that no, no such planning had been done. And College Park? Perhaps now set for revitalization, but a central park along Yonge St and so uninviting for so long. Portrait artists and vendors have gathered for years at the corner of Gerrard and Yonge but a couple of benches? Trees? Not possible. I am ignored when when I suggest that the raised concrete parking entrance to the Delta Chelsea be adorned with a Toronto themed mural or moasic or other such art. I have a number of other possibly fantastical suggestions - for Toronto at least - for Yonge, but my point is simply that I think that a lot of the lack of streetscaping is due to apathy and not any inherent limitation.

 

[androiduk]

That building was previously falling apart so what's their now is definitely an improvement. I think the same people are fixing up the building pictured below at Yonge & Irwin. They're adding about 10 apts. to the second floor.

The completed version.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

I was waiting outside of Pizzaiolo at Hayden & Yonge this afternoon waiting for a friend who was picking up a few slices (great pizza here by the way) and spotted a building right across the street on the west side that has two pieces of ornamental brickwork, or plaster that looks about to collapse. There's some great buildings along here (as documented) but a few are in dire need of some attention.

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge, then click again on the image for full size.

 

[Jonny5]

A story I thought I would share. This happened to me on Saturday night.

I was walking down Yonge Street near Wellesley. I noticed something was up across the street, in front of the McDonalds, when I could hear people yelling. There was a group of 10 or so and some of them were obviously in a confrontation. From the distace I was at, directly across the street, they looked to be all 18-25. At least two of the guys were fighting and I could tell it was escalating fast. I stopped to watch and noticed how the group quickly split in two, with one side facing the other and the yelling girl in between telling them to stop. Then the guys started threatening each other and one of them reached behind his back and motioned like he was grabbing something. Then the girl, who was in front and facing him, so couldn't see what he was actually grabbing, started screaming "Get out of here. He's got a gun!". At that moment, some of the people bolted as fast as they could. Some seemed to stand still like they either knew he didn't have a gun or knew if he did, they weren't the one's going to get shot.

On my side of the street, the reactions ranged from panic to bewilderment to dismissal. A man and a woman talking on the sidewalk didn't even skip a beat and completely ignored what was happening. A tourist family looked stunned and bewildered and had no idea what to do. Some people ran. Others, including myself, didn't run, but still went into "get-the-hell-out-of-here" mode and started walking away as fast as possible.

Now I don't think he actually had a gun, like most wannabe thugs. I looked back a few times and didn't see anything else happen after everyone dispersed.

So how often does this type of incident still happen on Yonge? It only takes one guy to actually have a gun and then we'll have another Jane Creeba inident. If I had been on the west side of the street instead of the east, I would have been right in the middle of their group when this went down. But what can actually be done about it?

In the mean time, that tourist family will surely be telling everyone they know about what happened to them in Toronto.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Bad things can happen anywhere, I wouldn't blame Yonge Street for that. I've seen a few street fights between a few guys and groups of guys over the years but never anything involving weapons (that I know of).
If you want to affect change with regards to gun laws write your Member of Parliament and encourage your like-minded friends and family to do the same. Create an anti-gun Facebook page, I'll join! For the most part (there are some exceptions), I don't see why guns are needed in Canada and certainly not hand guns or worse, automatic weapons.

 

[Urban Shocker]

In the mean time, that tourist family will surely be telling everyone they know about what happened to them in Toronto.

Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high
There's a land that I've heard of once in a lullaby.
Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare dream,
Really do come true.

Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me.
Where troubles melt like lemon drops,
Away above the chimney tops,
That's where you'll find me.

Somewhere over the rainbow, blue birds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow
Why then, oh why can't I?
If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow
Why, oh why can't I?

 

[Jonny5]

Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high
There's a land that I've heard of once in a lullaby.
Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare dream,
Really do come true.

Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me.
Where troubles melt like lemon drops,
Away above the chimney tops,
That's where you'll find me.

Somewhere over the rainbow, blue birds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow
Why then, oh why can't I?
If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow
Why, oh why can't I?

The CBC aired that yesterday, as they do every two weeks or so.

 

[confusion]

So how often does this type of incident still happen on Yonge? It only takes one guy to actually have a gun and then we'll have another Jane Creeba inident. If I had been on the west side of the street instead of the east, I would have been right in the middle of their group when this went down. But what can actually be done about it?

This happens on Yonge a lot more than people think. Once you move to the area and you frequent the shops on Yonge (for convenience or whatever) this type of behaviour becomes the norm. I'm not talking about guns usually, but fights breaking out between two groups or two indivuduals.

Solution... I don't have a solution. More police? I see them walking up and down Bay Street, but I guess that is just to keep 'thugs' over at Yonge?

 

[androiduk]

I was waiting outside of Pizzaiolo at Hayden & Yonge this afternoon waiting for a friend who was picking up a few slices (great pizza here by the way) and spotted a building right across the street on the west side that has two pieces of ornamental brickwork, or plaster that looks about to collapse. There's some great buildings along here (as documented) but a few are in dire need of some attention.

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge, then click again on the image for full size.

I think it was about 3 weeks ago I saw those pieces of that building lying on the sidewalk. It's amazing no one got hit.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

This happens on Yonge a lot more than people think. Once you move to the area and you frequent the shops on Yonge (for convenience or whatever) this type of behaviour becomes the norm. I'm not talking about guns usually, but fights breaking out between two groups or two indivuduals.

Solution... I don't have a solution. More police? I see them walking up and down Bay Street, but I guess that is just to keep 'thugs' over at Yonge?

These types of things can and do happen everywhere. Don't be dumping on Yonge Street. I lived on Bay Street, I saw a few problems there too walking home from work late at night. I worked on Cumberland Ave. in Yorkville for many years, same problems there too.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

I think it was about 3 weeks ago I saw those pieces of that building lying on the sidewalk. It's amazing no one got hit.

That's 754 Yonge, I wonder if that should be reported to the City. I wonder if there is anyone working to report it to?!

Below is a full shot of the building, and a shot from below the crumbling area. What a shame, it's a nice building save for the butcher job that the Koren Grill House did to the bottom third of the building. Some money spent now to restore the front would likely save that building for decades to come.

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge, then click again on the image for full size.

 

[Eug]

This happens on Yonge a lot more than people think. Once you move to the area and you frequent the shops on Yonge (for convenience or whatever) this type of behaviour becomes the norm. I'm not talking about guns usually, but fights breaking out between two groups or two indivuduals.

Yup. My GF used to walk up Yonge all the time to get to work, and would see stuff like this happen from time to time, and yes she did see a gun pulled once in front of the Eaton Centre.

What pissed us off though is when she went to report it, the mall cops basically just shrugged it off, and there wasn't a policeman to be seen anywhere.

Solution... I don't have a solution. More police? I see them walking up and down Bay Street, but I guess that is just to keep 'thugs' over at Yonge?

I've always thought that there should be visible police more often at Yonge/Dundas.

These types of things can and do happen everywhere. Don't be dumping on Yonge Street. I lived on Bay Street, I saw a few problems there too walking home from work late at night. I worked on Cumberland Ave. in Yorkville for many years, same problems there too.

Yorkville is nowhere near as bad IMO. I used to live right near there (Bloor/Yonge).

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

I lived at Y+B for over ten years too (Plaza II apartments above the Bay store) plus I worked at cinemas on Yonge Street and in Yorkville. The Yonge Street cinema did have a few problems over the years but so did the Yorkville cinema which was in a presumably better area and brought in a more mature (and sober) clientele. Walking home late at night I saw a few crazy things in Yorkville, on Bloor Street and Yonge Street. I could go on but my point is (again):
Bad things can happen anywhere.