Community triangle

When I first embarked on my AGO feature, I had a rough idea of what I was getting into. A Toronto establishment was trying to establish itself as a landmark. A community opposed an expansion. Municipal officials tried to get some sort of result and keep everyone happy.

What I ended up getting into was a triangle of opinion, with the residents and the gallery forming the bottom two corners, and the city councillor forming the top point, bringing the two together.

Along the way, my sources were all very willing to speak. They all had something valid and intelligent to say about the gallery, and they each had a different opinion.

The gallery, naturally, thought they've done great. The building looks great, they've stayed on budget (so far) and they communicated with the residents closely to avoid any unhappiness. The resident I spoke to, on the other hand, feels misled because the gallery had previously promised not to expand after their last renovation. Meanwhile the councillor took the middle road. Yes, the building isn't the prettiest (the back especially) and the residents were upset, but he thinks there was a compromise. And the interior architecture should be stunning.

It will be interesting to see what everyone says once everything's all said and done. Will the gallery be completly content, and not want to expand again? Will residents demand revitalization for the park? Will bridges still need to be mended between the concerned parties?

Let's wait and see...

Use a photo filer

I like using my D-SLR. It give me more control over the pictures I take, and it lets me use a wide array of lenses for different uses. These lenses can be quite expensive, and dropping one can result in a pricey repair bill.

The key to protecting your lens is to use a filter. Some people will say that it reduces image quality, that it's a whole lot of money to spend on something you may never use. But it saved my backside.

The other day, I was swinging my camera bag onto my shoulder when it slipped, and fell three feet to the ground. This is the end result:

Thanks to my $60 UV filter, my $550 lens was saved. I took some test shots to see if there had ever been a difference in image quality with the (unbroken) filter on, and I couldn't detect anything.

So, let this be a lesson. If you ever buy a camera like this, use a filter.

Home sweet home

I remember first stumbling upon West Side Stories. The store wasn’t open, but when you peered inside you noticed shelves of videos on deep red walls. I had read about the store on a website called Gay West, which discusses Toronto’s Queer West Village. West Side Stories is Toronto’s first and only video rental store catering to women and the LGBT community. I remember thinking…I need to get in touch with the owner(s) of this shop because this is definitely a story in itself.

The process of getting in touch with what turned out to be two owners was not a difficult one. I called and emailed and was able to get in touch with Dawn Chomitsch. She was very enthusiastic about the store and what the opening means to gay and lesbian communities outside the Gay Village in Toronto.

I remember feeling terrible when I first sat down with Dawn and she told me about her experiences in London, Ont. I had no idea that there were so many homophobic people and students living in a university town. I am a little sheltered in the sense that I have grown up in Toronto and have always been surrounded by those in the LGBT community so when I hear stories about people spewing hate from their mouths I am disgusted beyond words.

When I told Chomitsch’s stories to others, their reactions were much like mine. When I interviewed Sylvia Fernandez of the Dundas West BIA she was so happy and excited about the gay and lesbian community finding home on Dundas that now she is going to make sure the neighbourhood stays welcoming. Discussion with other BIA members has revealed that everyone is proud that the community can be home to a very diverse amount of people.

Toronto has really changed and it was Kris Purdy of Bosley Real Estate who really opened up my eyes to that. There once was a point where homosexuals needed a place like Church and Wellesley to be free and open with their sexual preferences. Today there are still issues, but the LGBT community is expanding into neighbourhoods that suit them financially.

For Dawn, the Church and Wellesley area was too costly and too commercial. With Dundas West she was able to find a place that her video store would do well.

Dawn had to face some trials in her life, but she has finally found a place where her business and her lifestyle will not be ridiculed.

The death of the 905

The 905 area of Toronto is more then just an area code or a block of land.

Mississauga, Vaughan, Brampton, Pickering, Ajax, Whitby, Burlington, these cities and towns represent a belief that freedom and safety can be rolled into one.

It's a belief that parents can raise their children in an affordable single-family detached home, drive them to school and pick them up again without fear that they will be harmed.

That parent can then drive to work to a suburban office or factory with the knowledge that they will be able to find a parking spot and they won’t be charged by some Byzantine parking authority.

If they ever found themselves out of work they could quickly get a new, high paying job. The cheap land in the 905 would keep businesses flocking to the area, letting people stay employed.

If they need to go to Toronto they can take a GO train and avoid parking a car downtown.

The basis for this belief was laid down in the 1970’s with the creation of new cities and regional governments that allowed development to balloon outside of Toronto.

But now, nearly 40 years after the creation of the 905, this idea is dying as its flaws are coming home to roost.

The roads that permit cars to move freely have become clogged as more and more people want to be 905ers. The cheap land that made it affordable to build houses, factories and offices has become expensive, since there is only so much space to build on.

The GO trains that give us access to downtown Toronto have become clogged and overcrowded.

To make matters worse global events have driven up the price of gas making it more expensive to sustain a car-based culture.

The point when I knew that the “905” that I grew up in, was truly over, came in 2006.

The Ontario government released a regional plan under the “Places to Grow” act. I wrote a story on it for Planning, an American magazine.

The plan puts in strict population density levels, designated growth areas and public transit requirements. To sum up a complex law, the days of building single-family detached homes in the 905 are pretty much over.

Townhouses, condos and apartments, these will be the places where the next generation of parents will raise their kids. Farmland will be protected and the march of suburbia will ground to a crawl.

Instead of traveling to work in a car, people will have little choice but to take a bus or train.

New workplaces will be built closer to where people live. This will allow people to take short trips on local transit and avoid long drives and the crowded GO trains.

The downtown areas of Mississauga, Milton and the other towns and cities will resemble Toronto more then they resemble Chatham.

Don't get me wrong, many people are not ready to buy into the notion that the 905 must change and there will be resistance as seen here and here.

In the end the protesters may just as well howl at an incoming storm as government officials are forced to confront the problems mentioned in this blog.

After the "Places to Grow" plan was approved I wasn’t surprised when this transit plan was laid out and this light rail line proposed.

The 905 that we once knew is gone forever, it died of its own faulty planning and from a dream that turned out to be unsustainable.

Over the next 20 years it will be interesting to see what rises in its place.

A decision made on artistic grounds

The first time I walked past the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) was an odd experience for me. It was a sunny day in 2004—my first year at Ryerson, while I was exploring the city. I didn’t know what this rectangular building held up by a bunch of leaning towers shaped like crayons around it was supposed to be but it did make me stop and look up. Way up. So high that the sun that was just in my eyes was now being obstructed by this strange structure.

The actual core of this building, known as the Sharp Centre for Design, is raised 26 metres above ground by 12 coloured pillars that are about 10 storeys high. Since its introduction to 100 McCaul St. next to the AGO, everyone who’s seen it seems to have a strong opinion. I’ve heard it called out of place and unattractive, distracting and even pretentious. Others admire its daring, experimental design, saying it fits right into the artistic vibe of the college and the area in general.

But it wasn’t until I met museum curator and resident of the Village by the Grange neighbourhood, Max Allen that I truly understood the real reason the building stands above this sorted debate. Allen, an avid fan of the design he calls “astounding,” says his interest was peaked as early as when the architect Will Alsop actually held a meeting and invited everyone from the neighbourhood to attend.

“(Alsop) asked us all, ‘What do you want?’ says Allen. “He didn’t come with any sketches of the building, he didn’t come with any ideas of what he was going to build, he didn’t have an idea that he was going take this thing and stick it up on stilts, he had no ideas at all.” The neighbours living in the series of buildings across from the OCAD property, with the highest at eight stories high, requested for the building not to block their view of Grange Park.

The fact that someone in such a position of power actually stopped to consider the thoughts and feelings of the community members really helped give the award-winning facility stable footing. “It solved everybody’s problem,” says Allen. “It solved the circulation problem within the building and it also solved the problem of the view across the street. Good for him.”

While taking a stroll through Grange Park, I understand what the neighbours were talking about. This is a place meant to be held onto if not for its wide open stretch of land and relaxing atmosphere then for its position as the backyard of two of Toronto's major cultural institutions: OCAD and the AGO. Though the school's hovering structure may block the sun sometimes, this park is worth seeing.

Is photo radar coming to Dundas?

I spent the better part of yesterday reporting on a new plan that if approved will see photo radar return to Mississauga.

The technology is a vague memory for my generation but ask a driver over 40 about it and there's a good chance you'll get an earful one way or another.

It will be months before we know if it's a go and even longer before we know which roads it will appear on.

Still if it gets the thumbs up it's pretty hard to imagine the city's Dundas Street area not getting a unit of its own. It's one of the biggest roadways in the city and it takes on a HUGE amount of traffic, including people commuting from Mississauga to Toronto (and back).

To: DuWest

DuWest is the area that caught my attention
This area on Dundas is definitely worth a mention
Flags in the air waving back and forth in the breeze
Welcomes you to the shops with a comforting ease

Vibrant and welcoming are words thrown around
About this part of the city which resembles a town
Music in forms of culture, horns from cars, or shouts
Shows the differences in people all out and about

One specific group who found community
Are those that are proudly part of the LGBT
Acceptance of alternative shops can be found
West Side Stories only rents dvds, nothing that needs to be rewound

The BIA has been formed and plans are in place
To make the area pretty with murals is all in good taste
In the future plants will pretty the street
As for now there is only a lot of concrete

Lively events are held at Lula Lounge
A popular place where almost anyone in the neighbourhood can be found
It’s the first place one realtor takes her clients
As she is sure it’s a landmark that no one can miss

Affordable housing is attractive to most
Large high-rises and skyscrapers this place does not boast
It is not trying to become Church and Wellesley
But there are hopes of welcoming even more diversity

A safe haven some call free from prejudice
Where different demographics of people can certainly coexist
The Dundas streetcar will show you the way
To a place of tolerance those that live there dare say