I didn't realize that local brunch hotspot, Dooney's, was changing ownership until I read a National Post article on councillor Adam Vaughan's website.
The article contains this intriguing tidbit: "Dooney’s Café is another casualty of the Annex’s slow drift from a functional bohemian neighbourhood to an upscale student ghetto populated by bars, fast-food outlets, and stubbornly resilient futon stores." (The article failed to mention sushi restaurants, which were outlined in a Toronto Life article that the author has posted here in unabridged form.)
I can't say that I disagree with The Post's take on our stretch of Bloor. While I love our neighbourhood for many reasons, shopping/dining on Bloor is not one of them and the retail/housing lining Bathurst, Spadina and other major arteries seems uninspired, at best, with a few notable exceptions. While local institutions such as Grapefruit Moon and Annapurna draw crowds, there are stretches that look like slums.
I was reminded of that recently when I visited Roncesvalles Village (kick ass BIA site, BTW. Here's ours: Bloor Annex BIA.) I bought my first home there and lived there from '94 to '98. Strolling Roncesvalles is a lovley endeavour, as is window shoppping and dining.
Other than supporting local business by frequenting them, how does a resident affect the face of the local streetscape?
Cheers,
Vanessa
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I just moved to the Annex a year ago (from London England) and I love the neighbourhood. While I agree that Bathurst and Spadina streets are downright dreadful and can use a major facelift, I don’t think Bloor Street is not as bad as the national post is making out to be. Yes there are a lot of bars and fast food places but we do have quite a few of reasonably priced Asian (Thai, Korean and Japanese) restaurants, book stores, boutique stores and coffee shops. In addition there seems to be a fair amount of retail turnover on the street and not all of it favours the university students. It seems that several of the bland franchise retail locations have closed down recently (e.g. Blockbuster and Pita Pit) and several of the new retail locations will add variety to the area (the new tea shop, bagel world).
Unfortunately I don’t think there is much we can do to influence the development of Bloor, Spadina, or Bathurst. I think the main factor influencing the variety of retail locations on all three streets is foot traffic. Spadina and Bathurst don’t have enough foot traffic to support retail location. Bloor is at the opposite end of the spectrum with a large amount of foot traffic which results in very high rents. The high rents and the average store size make the stretch of road only viable for business designed for high volume or high margins. Due to the historical composition of the street and the area the street has focused on high margin businesses and I can’t see that changing in the near term. If you have a high end retail concept you will locate in Yorkville, if you want to have a nicer restaurant you are better off locating on Harbord where there is a cluster of restaurants and larger locations (that take advantage of economies of scale).
All we can do to influence the situation is shop at the locations we like and encourage retailers / restaurants that we like to open a new location in the Annex. Alternatively the BIA can encourage landlords to try and build a cluster of specific retailers (e.g. clothing, art, etc.)
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