York

[King of Kensington]

I'm not one of those "the burbs are so unhip they're cool" people but I thought this article about Toronto's classic, working class pre-war suburb is interesting.

http://www.eyeweekly.com/city/features/article/22001

 

[junctionist]

York has its bungalow subdivisions and car use is high, but it has its historic urban areas and a population density of over 6000 people per square kilometre. The Eglinton subway would have brought some needed attention to the area. That Solara condo mentioned in the article brought some fresh style to the district, but it was sadly built atop a parking garage.



I enjoyed that article.

 

[adma]

Last time I saw Solara, I thought to myself: "those balcony paint jobs are gonna look tatty and rusty and dated in 10 or 20 years, and they'll be tempted to repaint it all in monochrome".

Hope they don't.

 

[Tuscani01]

I love that we still get the York Guardian delivered. Hate the hills in the winter. York is.... interesting I guess. Can't really say I have become attached to it. Id rather be anywhere but York. (Except Etobicoke)

(Im at Dufferin Eglinton)

 

[JasonParis]

Interesting thing about York is that even when it was still a city, rarely would you hear anyone refer to it as such. People who lived in York would just name their actual neighbourhood (i.e. Weston) or their closest intersection. Saying that "I live in York, Ontario" doesn't even sound right.

I think York also had the distinction of being Ontario's poorest city for many years prior to amalgamation. Despite that, it's never seemed that bad to me, just more of a place that's seen better days (and may see them again). Wasn't it also Metro's only jurisdiction without community centres?

The hills are great though. I particularly like biking along Rogers Road (east of Old Weston Rd) as the side-streets seems to fall away from its summit on both sides. York also some surprisingly urban street-scapes (as mentioned in the article). One completely hidden one that I stubled upon one day would be Rogers & Oakwood.

 

[CDL.TO]

Yeah, York isn't that bad. Really, really solidly working class. But the thing about York to me is that it doesn't have any nicer neighbourhoods and their associated retail strips to balance out the poor ones and working class ones.

It may be urban, but when it comes to "Shabby Toronto", York is the king of the shabbiness.

 

[adma]

Well, York does have nicer or niceresque neighbourhoods--Old Weston E of the tracks, the Baby Point panhandle, the Cedarvale Ravine zone--in Weston's case, it doesn't go deeper than a residential pocket; while Baby Point answers more to Bloor West and Cedarvale more to Forest Hill...

 

[King of Kensington]

York has its bungalow subdivisions and car use is high, but it has its historic urban areas and a population density of over 6000 people per square kilometre. The Eglinton subway would have brought some needed attention to the area.

Yeah, the Eglinton subway would have made wayyy more sense than the mistake along Sheppard.

York may be a suburb, but it is a pre-war industrial suburb, so it wasn't as developed for the car in the same way. I guess it's kind of the Yonkers of the north, perhaps?

 

[Tuscani01]

The hills are great though. I particularly like biking along Rogers Road (east of Old Weston Rd) as the side-streets seems to fall away from its summit on both sides. York also some surprisingly urban street-scapes (as mentioned in the article). One completely hidden one that I stubled upon one day would be Rogers & Oakwood.

The hills are amazing. I used to live on McRoberts when I was little, pretty much in the middle of a slope and remember cars getting stuck in the winter. My aunt lived on Lauder and it was the same story there. Its actually fun going for a walk and seeing all of the cars stuck.

 

[Earlscourt_Lad]

We live near the south end of Ennerdale, and this winter it quite a few got stuck trying to get onto Hatherley. My father and his friends, from the neighbourhood, refer to the depression past Rogers as the "Harvie Dip", I wonder if anyone else has heard that term?

The best part of living around here is the history of self-building, so very few houses are from any pattern book. In fact walking around can really be entertaining from an architecture point of view, as you'll see houses that really are like nothing else.

 

[Tuscani01]

We live near the south end of Ennerdale, and this winter it quite a few got stuck trying to get onto Hatherley. My father and his friends, from the neighbourhood, refer to the depression past Rogers as the "Harvie Dip", I wonder if anyone else has heard that term?

The best part of living around here is the history of self-building, so very few houses are from any pattern book. In fact walking around can really be entertaining from an architecture point of view, as you'll see houses that really are like nothing else.

Hey youre pretty close. Im on Branstone. My aunt just sold a house on the south end of Ennerdale!

I dont know how long you lived here, but there used to be a blue house on Ennerdale. It has been painted a creamy colour since though. That was always interesting. On my street there are some tiny bungalows that look like they can be doll houses.

 

[junctionist]

The best part of living around here is the history of self-building, so very few houses are from any pattern book. In fact walking around can really be entertaining from an architecture point of view, as you'll see houses that really are like nothing else.

I've noticed this with various areas where a lot of postwar immigrants bought houses. A lot of them had family and friends who were contractors, or were contractors themselves. It's often quality work that's questionable in style though, because it clashes with surrounding homes. For example, there's the odd house in various neighbourhoods where the front facade was redone with Italianate concrete elements.

 

[Jitterbugg]

^^^ Yeah, It's sad when immigrants from Mediterranean countries cover Victorian brick buildings with stucco and cut down all the trees.

What is attractive in Italy or Portugal seems out of context in old Toronto to me.

I guess there isn't much you can do - beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[Earlscourt_Lad]

^^^ Yeah, It's sad when immigrants from Mediterranean countries cover Victorian brick buildings with stucco and cut down all the trees.

There was an article in Spacing a while back about that, and the trend towards putting this EIFS (I think that's what it's called) over brick. Bloody horrible stuff, I mean screwing styrofoam to brick and then throwing a cheap coat of thinset over it?? It never looks good, and neither do the stryfoam mouldings that they apply to give "detail".

That really, really, really irritates me. Especially in light of the fact that it will not look good in 5 years, as it will need to be repainted, but I can guarantee you most people won't be doing that.

Tuscani: I'm on Hatherley, so not very far at all.

 

[T.O.Fanatic]

Parts of York may be a bit shabby, especially around Marlee and Eglinton where I live, but at least you are close to the subway, and a frequent bus route on Eglinton. The area defenately has potential.