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-- I'm here to cockblock your scene Clubland. - Condo
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I'm here to cockblock your scene Clubland. - Condo
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| A large sign is fixed over a front window at 117 Peter Street; in official city lettering, the headline reads: "Development Proposal." The three-story warehouse sits on the southeast corner of Peter and Richmond - the epicenter of Clubland - and has hosted some of the areas most notorious and successful nightclubs. On any given weekend thousands of would be bar-stars descend on the downtown core in a quest to see and be seen. This "proposal" could change all that. In a neighbourhood that seems to thrive on reinvention, this could signify the next phase for the Richmond Street corridor. In the area's current incarnation, individual businesses generally only last a few years, often being shut down for liquor or capacity violations, but when one closes it only creates space and opportunity for another to open. At present, 117 Peter houses Embassy, Home, and Traffik nightclubs - as well as a women's fitness centre and a pizza parlour. But over the years, the elongated windows in the red and brown brick have offered a peek into a shifting neighbourhood. Throughout Peter Street's many lives - from manufacturing district all the way to club district and beyond - that building on the corner has changed too, following the trends laid out by the neighbourhood. Buntin-Reid Co., a paper manufacturer, erected the building in 1931 when they moved from Yonge Street. The company was founded in 1858; its original headquarters fell victim to the Great Toronto Fire of 1904, but moved to another location elsewhere on Yonge until finding it's new permanent residence on Peter. When Buntin-Reid arrived on Peter Street the neighbourhood was a manufacturing Mecca at the edge of the city. As the city began to swell, property values rose with it and it wasn't long before the factories began pursuing greener cheaper pastures. When Buntin-Reid moved to Mississauga in the early sixties, Peter Street was already shifting from manufacturing centre to more service oriented industries. Typesetters, appliance repair shops and various importers began occupying the factories' former spaces. Soon after Buntin-Reid's beeline for the 'burbs, the Bank of Nova Scotia moved in and for the next thirty years the area comfortably expanded, continuing its makeover. By the eighties Scotiabank had vacated too and was replaced by a graphic design firm, foreshadowing another trend that would continue as more creative based companies would soon swarm into the area. The first inklings of what was to come came in the early nineties. At the time the street was still mostly littered with offices that emptied out at night and in 1995 Orchid Nightclub opened at 117 Peter. Orchid was among the originals of the newly minted scene, but like most clubs it ran its course and by the turn of the century it was being traded in for a new image to keep the masses interested. For the next decade the neighbourhood continued to redefine itself, this time as a late night playground for the young. It seems the city was slow to catch on to what was happening in the area and for the next few years there was little stopping the former manufacturing district's metamorphosis. Today that evolution continues. That piece of plywood fastened to the brick of 117 Peter Street signals the next phase in the districts life - its residential phase. A proposal has been submitted to the city to build a 29-story hotel/condominium. The request is still being debated and fine tuned within City Hall, but there is little doubt change is on the horizon. |
Condo + hotel to see what??? You usually build a hotel where there is stuff to do nearby (at least it's what I think it...)
If everything in the area is being turned into a residence what will there actually be left to see?
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| Originally posted by Endlesswave Condo + hotel to see what??? You usually build a hotel where there is stuff to do nearby (at least it's what I think it...) If everything in the area is being turned into a residence what will there actually be left to see? |
Its all about money, folks, thats the bottom line. There's tons of bucks to be made with this big real estate project.
Re: I'm here to cockblock your scene Clubland. - Condo
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| Originally posted by Dior Homme Yes, right in the middle of the district. Here |
Man... I loved Orchid.
...and 29 storeys? wtf? wow.
I can't wait to buy a condo downtown and kick all you little bastards out of my Toronto
a somewhat related story:
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Council 'corrupt', Ford charges City council�s decision to award an untendered, 20-year contract to Boardwalk Pub operator Tuggs Inc. smacks of civic corruption, Councillor Rob Ford says. �If Tuggs isn�t, then I don�t now what is,� Ford told the Toronto Sun�s editorial board. �I can�t accuse anyone or I can�t pinpoint it, but why do we have to go in camera on the Tuggs deal? �These in-camera meetings, there�s more corruption and skullduggery going on in there than I�ve ever seen in my life.� Tuggs owner George Foulidis did not respond to requests for comment from the Sun. Sandra Bussin, the local councillor who has defended Tuggs in the past but recused herself from the most recent vote on the contract in June, also declined to comment. Both were provided with a transcript of Ford�s remarks by e-mail. Bussin received more than $12,000 from Foulidis and people associated to him in campaign contributions in 2003 and 2006. City staff had recommended putting the food and drink concession at the eastern Beaches up for public tender after Tuggs� first contract expired but councillors opted instead to negotiate a sole-sourced deal with the firm. A belated attempt to reopen the deal at council�s June meeting failed to get the necessary two-thirds support. �It�s confidential and I wish you guys knew what happened in camera,� Ford said. �I wish I could tell you the stuff that happens behind closed doors.� He said the Tuggs deal �stinks to high heaven� and if he is elected mayor on Oct. 25 � he told The Sun he�s now leading the race with 35% support, according to his campaign polls � he might try to break the contract. �You can undo anything that�s been done,� Ford said. �If it�s going to save (money) in the long run, then I�m going to do it. If there�s a short-term cost for a long-term gain, then that�s what�s going to happen.� Doug Ford, Rob�s brother and campaign manager who is also running for council in Ward 2, said the system at City Hall is broken. �There�s a culture of corruption down there and we�re going to put an end to it,� Doug said. �If this was Chicago or anywhere in the States, they�d be in front of a grand jury and they�d be indicted and they�d be in jail right now.� He said it�s unthinkable that a private business would agree to a 10-year lease, let alone 20-year lease, for such a business. |
Re: Re: I'm here to cockblock your scene Clubland. - Condo
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| Originally posted by Jayx1 ive known about this for 2 years. Which is why ive been going on about condo politics. The raids in the ent district are purely political which is why they rarely make the news. Step 1: Destroy the current business to make them worthless (you dont have to buy them out) |
Its all about the 905 and even 519 suburbs now. Toronto is getting its wish. And soon enough people will get bored of living downtown and move out and thats when the detroitification of downtown will start. It already has in some of the older condo neighbourhoods in scarborough!
Council idiots seem to forget that gentrification can go both ways if not done properly
There aren't any more good clubs in clubland anyway other than TIL and it's tucked away in an alley...
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| Originally posted by VDub There aren't any more good clubs in clubland anyway other than TIL and it's tucked away in an alley... |
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| Originally posted by Jayx1 And the clubs have gotten crappy thanks to the pressures put on by the city causing a lot of people to already stay away. |
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| Originally posted by Jayx1 good or bad is irrelevant as the city powers dont define between them. And the clubs have gotten crappy thanks to the pressures put on by the city causing a lot of people to already stay away. |
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| Originally posted by VDub First part I agree with but not the second... |
maybe its just a bubble that will eventually burst and the city will find out that we NEED a good entertainment district.
ya.... maybe that will happen.
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| Originally posted by Jayx1 think about it. fewer people come downtown because they dont want to be harrassed by police. Fewer spaces opening up (mostly being closed down) meaning no fresh ideas for clubs and you end up with the stale crap that we have now because they are hanging on for dear life. reality is clubland should have gentrified years ago but the clubs have nowhere to go now thanks to the city not allowing them to go to other parts of the city. |
guv is about the only thing good dtown.
Cobra and footwork are good too on selected nights too
not sure why many of you seem to still be romanticizing about the ent district.. it's been a zoo for 1/2 a decade
Honestly, who the fck would live there. It would be hell.
Honestly if clubs are forced into other areas because of the development of condos in the entertainment district, so be it. the entertainment district is a gong show that should be dispersed throughout the city.
Sweet Article
Toronto�s Most Wanted25 ways to help make this the city it wants to be: a cultural wish list
Wanted: more stuff.
If Toronto is, as Steve Martin observed on 30 Rock, �just like New York but without all the stuff,� then stuff is just what we need.
The question is: what stuff? Music? Theatre? Art? We have plenty of those already. The answer has to be something intangibly missing from the fabric of the city, yet that robs us of assuming a complete identity.
During its greatest festivals � TIFF, Doors Open, Caribana, Nuit Blanche, etc. � something unusual happens to Toronto. It loosens up, becomes more self-confident, boisterous, friendly even. Like the shy cousin who feels �more herself� after a couple of drinks, for a few days scattered across the calendar, Toronto becomes the city it wants to be.
So the challenge is: how do we make that festival vibe the norm, not the exception? We�ve assembled a handful of ideas, some modest, some grand, stolen from other great cities or plucked from the creative recesses of our addled Hogtown brains.
1. A Toronto Dish: Admit it. Poutine will always be Quebec�s dish, no matter how artfully our chefs concoct it. So let�s find a food to call our very own � every self-respecting city has one � preferably something cheap and portable. To ensure uniqueness, make it a blend of cultures: an injera burrito? A pho cone? You invent it. The city will decide if it�s good enough to be sold on every street corner � and for Quebec to imitate it.
2. We�ll settle for dessert.
3. Make the subways run 24 hours on weekends.
4. Make the island ferries free on weekdays.
5. Waterfront culture: Harbourfront Centre is great and all, but there�s something distinctly . . . government-funded about it, isn�t there? We want a waterside district teeming with restaurants and clubs and clothing boutiques and theatres and ice cream parlours � more Queen Street than Queens Quay. Throw in a few thatched lakeside huts selling green coconuts in the summer, hot chocolate in the winter (and pho cones � see above) to give it seasonal flair.
6. Bike lanes that actually go somewhere: You would think that with all the fuss that preceded the addition of bike lanes on Jarvis St., the result would be more functional. Yet it unceremoniously abandons riders at Queen St. Many other bike lanes leave riders similarly frustrated. And while we�re at it . . .
7. An unbroken waterfront recreational path: Plans have been in the works for years. Make it happen soon, please?
8. Assigned seating at cinemas: Yes, general admission ensures we get there early enough to watch the commercials. But surely many of us would be willing to pay a little extra for the convenience of knowing where we�ll be sitting when the trailers unspool. This is the norm in parts of Europe, South America and elsewhere; if just a couple of theatres did this here, they might be able to coax a few more of us away from our home theatres.
9. More 24-hour dining: Thank you, Lakeview, 7 West, Fran�s, The Counter and Chinatown for keeping insomniacs fed. Everyone else, step up to the dinner plate.
10. A movie museum: So many are filmed here, so let�s celebrate them. We�ve even got an apt location in mind: the Distillery District. Or, in honour of one Scott Pilgrim, we offer Casa Loma.
11. Night market: This phenomenon, popular in Taiwan � and during the summer in Vancouver�s Chinatown � has proven a hit as a weekend event in Markham (and last week downtown in the parking lot of T&T Supermarket). It�s an idea that deserves a permanent home here, especially in the summertime, uniting craft vendors with free entertainment and an abundance of good, cheap street foods from around the world. What�s not to love?
12. A Capsule Hotel: Far from the most glamorous thing to come out of Tokyo, but not every new lodging needs to be of the five-star variety.
13. Condo culture: Skyscraping condos are here to stay, so there�s no use griping. But we can gripe about the street-level retail at condo towers in pedestrian-heavy zones, which are almost universally abhorrent. Subways and Sobeys do not make a recipe for vibrant streetlife. We�d like to see one new condo offer rooftop drinking and dining, open to the public. Our view of the city/lake has been obstructed; this would be their way to give back.
14. Ferris Wheel for Grownups: Like the futuristic London Eye � which has both shared and private enclosed capsules, and in which you can dine on canap�s and sip champagne � a huge modern Ferris wheel here could be an instant success. Put it on the island, next to the CN Tower, or at Exhibition Place, for some of the best vistas of the city.
15. More �Littles�: The Ethiopian community has tried at least twice to designate a part of the city �Little Ethiopia,� most recently on a stretch of Danforth Ave. The proposal was rejected, and that�s too bad. There should be a Little Ethiopia, as well as a Little Japan, Iran, Netherlands, Russia, Jamaica, Chile and Bangladesh. Toronto is all about diversity, and all about its neighbourhoods, so any sizeable community deserves a designated commercial zone, even if it�s only a half-block long. Sure, it�s mostly just a sign, but signs matter.
16. Stop punishing the Entertainment District for being an entertainment district.
17. Make neighbourhood festivals more about neighbours: Taste of the Danforth and its ilk would be more worthwhile if the side streets got involved and residents offered scaled-down entertainment and trays of home-baked goodies, rather than the often-overrated street food hawked along the main drag. A logistical nightmare, you say? We�ll leave that to city planners to solve.
18. Siphon bar: Toronto has shown a seemingly insatiable appetite for indie coffee shops and boutique brewing gear (roasters, Clovers, etc.). Time to take it to the next level: a siphon bar. This Japanese innovation, featuring five individually brewed, glass siphon-filtered pots of java, is halogen-powered and mesmerizing to watch. (It also costs some $20,000.) San Francisco�s heavenly Blue Bottle Coffee has one. It�s one way to get your cafe to stand out from the increasingly crowded pack. Throw in some dim lighting and a well-curated jukebox and you�ve got a rare gem: coffee bar as nightlife destination.
19. Later drinking hours: Torontonians can drink till the wee hours during special events like TIFF. As far as we know, this has not resulted in any more drunken mayhem than usual, so why not allow us an extra hour year-round?
20. Less-stupid liquor laws in general: More freedom at outdoor concerts; more places to buy; more BYOBs at restos without punitively high corkage fees.
21. Permanent pedestrian zone: Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market have proven to be a huge hit, but it only happens a handful of times a year. Making a part of the market permanently � or at the very least, every summer weekend � off limits to cars and bikes is the right thing to do. Other candidates for a pedestrian zone: Yonge-Dundas Square; an under-construction neighbourhood such as West Don Lands, where the Pan Am Games village will be built.
22. A Planetarium: Didn�t we used to have one of these? We like planetariums.
23. Gourmet fast food: One of the many pleasures of Brazil are its �por kilo� restaurants, with tables full of foods, freshly prepared daily in time for lunch, and sold by weight for a reasonable sum. While such dining exists here, it is rare and tends to be expensive. Put one in a well-travelled food court to revolutionize dining on the run in this city.
24. Secret Concerts: With the recent success of Metric�s surprise concert at Union Station Square, the City of Toronto should take it a step further. Why not have the city work with promoters to feature acts at unique indoor and outdoor venues across the GTA � from a hangar at the airport to the grounds of the R.C. Harris Filtration Plant � as a regular series of free �secret� concerts? Fans would have to figure out a selection of clues to find the venue.
25. Ping pong: A clever project in London, England this summer has placed 100 ping-pong tables in public spaces around town, indoors and out, encouraging strangers to strike up a game. Last year it was pianos. There�s no reason not to try the same thing here: pianos, ping-pong, bocce, backgammon, table hockey � anything to encourage friendly interaction between strangers. This is �stuff� Toronto could truly use. Let the games begin.
You know, I wouldn't mind 'club land' being phased-out if Toronto revisited the bylaws/zoning laws that created club-land in the first place.
If it was easier to clubs to open up in other areas of the city without having to operate in zoneing-gray areas as restaurants (wrong bar/fly), or grandfathering into existing spaces - I think thinning out that area isn't necessarily a bad thing - as long as there are other areas in the city that clubs could open.
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| Originally posted by Jayx1 guv is about the only thing good dtown. |
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| Originally posted by FunkyCrew there are tons of fun things to do downtown and around the city, except going to clubs you know |
Well anything else besides guv or footwork is more oriented towards... "yo do you want a shot?"
1. [opens mouth] pour bottle of vodka down your throad [/close mouth]
2. vip bottle service
3. glitz/glamour
you get the idea.
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