frandroid | (no subject)

New Condo owners are killing College Street.

While I've lived on Clinton, really close to the heart of it, and not really enjoying the scene (or should I say, the "be-seen"), I didn't call the cops trying to shut the bars down. I moved elsewhere.

Last year, I think it was

gordonzola that was posting an article about new condo owners moving into the Castro district in SF and complaining about some sex shop... like hello, gay district, if you don't like the gay, don't move in the gay. Same with College.

I also understand that there are a lot of people from outside the area that come there to have fun, but so what? These people knew the deal when they bought their units.

I was going to talk about gentrification, but I'm not even sure this is what this is... Maybe it's regentrification? I mean it's long been gentrified, but this is different. I guess eventually all this will be pushed to Queen West, unless the "Bohemian Embassadors" manage to close down the Drake and the Gladstone, or something.

Anyway, did I mention that even though I've live all but 2 weeks out of my 7 years in Toronto within walking distance of it, that I've loved the Cloak and Dagger when I went to it? It's on College but not in the aforementioned area, it's closer to Kensington market... Nice tiny Irish bar. Tons of good beers on tap, like 24 or something. I'm open to go there with anyone.

I need a Toronto icon. Does anyone have ideas?

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Ugh I was walking home from Siue's last night and I realized what a party zone College and fucking CRAWFORD has turned into! When we lived there it was this boring little neighborhood with the library and the Polish Army Weterans hall, now it's all mmm-chi-mmm-chi-mmm-chi and patios.

What's freaking me out is that it doesn't seem to be a neighborhood thing. EVERY part of Toronto that I ever go to is undergoing this same transformation. Are we being New Yawked? Is the whole city becoming unlivable? Is the sky falling?

It's called unprecedented economic prosperity for a select few... Wait for the TSX to drop another 1000 points and you'll see the partying slow down as people scramble to pay for their mortgages, or sell their houses. :]

I didn't really notice Crawford... But there was already a fair amount of partying.

I don't mind it. I prefer many party places, even those that I don't like, rather than less, like Vancouver, which has a cap of liquor licenses and basically shuts down at 9pm except for Granville Street. I want little of that life.

Well no argument about that! But I think I'm getting a different party on than these venues are offering.

I hope the drop occurs, on one level. On another level, it won't be any kind of utopia, just a lot of boarded up chichi bars where the communities used to be. That's part of what scares me, the lack of continuity and the hanging of everything off of this exclusive little upsurge. Am I being an old fart?

Not really. The Annex is totally being invaded by (chain) pubs as well. Via Olivetto, an oldschool Italian restaurant, has been by some pub which name I forget. A pub named the "Beer Station", all painted in Royal Blue, has opened across from the Bloor. The Pump, at Brunswick, has been opened for more than a year; it has only commercial beers on tap and serves overpriced food. (They're meat-centric, too.)

Brian Fawcett at Dooney's Cafe has a good analysis about what's happening up (!) here in the Annex, as well as to College street, now that I re-read it. He talks about this loss of community businesses.

The only good news in the Annex recently are the opening of Mt. Everest, which I brought you to (although their buffet sucks, we should have gone during the evening) and of Cobs, which Fawcett decries. There was no decent bakery on Bloor, now there's a half-decent one, pre-mixed breads or not. I don't think Future Bakery sells their bread at their Brunswick location anymore, but anyway, if you're not into rye, you're not into their bread.

Oh yeah, another good news: Fresh's expansion ;]

Cobs, lest we forget, has also put one in Kensington immediately opposite My Market Bakery who has been there for years. Of course ten years ago I was pissed that My Market drove out what was then my favourite bakery, which was where My Market is now whereas My Market was where Cobs is now. Confusing! Anyway Cobs makes good bread, but who needs a whole-grain Blockbuster?

I need a whole-grain blockbuster because there's nowhere else in the neighbourhood where I can buy decent wholegrain bread. Even Dominion's, were I inclined to pay their prices, has shitty wholegrain loaves. I *could* go further than near walking distance, like go to My Market Bakery, but in my case, it wouldn't be a neighbourhood bakery anymore, would it? :]

I was pretty appalled when I saw Cobs right by My Market, though.

haha. That was a clip from the Daily Show with an interview of a straight person complaining about The Gay Sex on display in the windows of Gay Sex Stores. But the interviewee was serious.

These people would have no idea they're close to culture even if it fucked them in the ass.

Cloak and Dagger is good? Really? I don't know that I've been.

It's gentrification of a sort, in that the club-goers are of a lower class than the condo-owners, even while they're above, say, working class people. But it's mostly NIMBYism. I live off of College, and while the club people are annoying—you live in a hip downtown neighbourhood, you take your chances. It pisses me off less than the yuppie fucks on Queen W. who want to be near the artists so they kick the artists and poor people out of the neighbourhood.

This is my Toronto icon.

Cloak and Dagger is rather unassuming, which is one of the reasons I like it. It's not really ornate, so it's not like That Place You Go To (which name's I obviously forgot), it's more like a dark corridor with seats and booths, and there's often a "band" upfront (quoted because you can't fit more than 2 people there) singing folk music.

I just realized that I need to find more icons that are not from your set :]