urbandreamer
recession proof
Friday, 15 August 2008
The weather reminded me of Vancouver--rain mixed with sudden burst of sunshine. Cool, and very refreshing.
I like to walk...a lot. Here's what I saw on my journey towards the Common for an Americano (College St near Gladstone) with a sidetrip to Value Village (Bloor@Lansdowne.)
I begin the walk abit earlier, near Bloor and Keele (see the Giraffe condo thread for more photos of the grim Bloor and Dundas intersection: http://www.urbantoronto.ca/showthread.php?t=6052&page=8 ) So just past the GO tracks, I pick up the camera to shoot the grit.
It feels like an entirely different world out here compared to the Annex or Yorkville...filled with strange creatures that pop out of nowhere.
After taking shelter from the rain in Value Village--and chatting to some fellow hipsters buying clothes for the Fake Prom 2008 (did anyone else on UT go? It was an amazing pickup joint.
)--I take a peak inside Kealan Sullivan's 69 Vintage's "Buy the Pound" basement shop near Dufferin. Very very dead inside, and rather boring. Value Village is cheaper, better and funkier!
It's still raining, so I take cover under a vegetable stand. It is interesting watching the clientele--mostly traditionally attired middle eastern and African muslim women ... a starkly different vibe from the mostly white yuppies of Bloor West Village.
After walking past the shockingly suburban Dufferin Mall I cross through Dufferin Grove Park--a total contrast from the grim driver-dominated mall across the street. The farmer's market is having a bad (hair) day.
Suddenly, the noise of Bloor and Dufferin is but a memory, and the green wet residential streets surrounding College and Dufferin are full of surprises...like along Sylvan Avenue and Havelock St:
I hadn't seen this rundown/semi-abandoned apartment building before--it has a very mid-western Ontario aura about it.
Only two apartments appear inhabited--the landlord, perhaps? Why let such a nice (relatively dense) old building go to waste? Greed?
I sneak around the back to view the (buggy sheds?) Reminds me of reading The Secret Garden as a kid....especially with all the rain beating down around me.
There's a surprising number of brownstone-style apartment buildings scattered around Toronto, and several dozen in the Dufferin/College/Dundas triangle. On Havelock at College:
Safe inside the Common, I watch construction workers stroll by staring at the eye candy: hilarious!
Interesting little alleys off College Street...like Macklem Avenue
DeLeon White at Sheridan Ave, I chat with the girls...gallery sitters are kind of cute, eh?
Inside the gallery, Jen Hutton's paper structures (looking like honeycombs) actually represent a rock formation near her (Northern Ontario) hometown. View it until Sept 20 at DeLeon White Gallery, 1139 College St.
Back on College St, I weave over to Dundas St West via Margueretta St, discovering an old Baptist church tucked in behind St Helen's RC church.
I wish I could end my journey on this front porch: so chillax'n!
Instead, I end my photo tour on the Dundas St bridge heading towards Roncevalles. Looks like the linear bike/parkway is under construction:
The weather reminded me of Vancouver--rain mixed with sudden burst of sunshine. Cool, and very refreshing.
I like to walk...a lot. Here's what I saw on my journey towards the Common for an Americano (College St near Gladstone) with a sidetrip to Value Village (Bloor@Lansdowne.)
I begin the walk abit earlier, near Bloor and Keele (see the Giraffe condo thread for more photos of the grim Bloor and Dundas intersection: http://www.urbantoronto.ca/showthread.php?t=6052&page=8 ) So just past the GO tracks, I pick up the camera to shoot the grit.
It feels like an entirely different world out here compared to the Annex or Yorkville...filled with strange creatures that pop out of nowhere.
After taking shelter from the rain in Value Village--and chatting to some fellow hipsters buying clothes for the Fake Prom 2008 (did anyone else on UT go? It was an amazing pickup joint.
)--I take a peak inside Kealan Sullivan's 69 Vintage's "Buy the Pound" basement shop near Dufferin. Very very dead inside, and rather boring. Value Village is cheaper, better and funkier!
It's still raining, so I take cover under a vegetable stand. It is interesting watching the clientele--mostly traditionally attired middle eastern and African muslim women ... a starkly different vibe from the mostly white yuppies of Bloor West Village.
After walking past the shockingly suburban Dufferin Mall I cross through Dufferin Grove Park--a total contrast from the grim driver-dominated mall across the street. The farmer's market is having a bad (hair) day.
Suddenly, the noise of Bloor and Dufferin is but a memory, and the green wet residential streets surrounding College and Dufferin are full of surprises...like along Sylvan Avenue and Havelock St:
I hadn't seen this rundown/semi-abandoned apartment building before--it has a very mid-western Ontario aura about it.
Only two apartments appear inhabited--the landlord, perhaps? Why let such a nice (relatively dense) old building go to waste? Greed?
I sneak around the back to view the (buggy sheds?) Reminds me of reading The Secret Garden as a kid....especially with all the rain beating down around me.
There's a surprising number of brownstone-style apartment buildings scattered around Toronto, and several dozen in the Dufferin/College/Dundas triangle. On Havelock at College:
Safe inside the Common, I watch construction workers stroll by staring at the eye candy: hilarious!
Interesting little alleys off College Street...like Macklem Avenue
DeLeon White at Sheridan Ave, I chat with the girls...gallery sitters are kind of cute, eh?
Inside the gallery, Jen Hutton's paper structures (looking like honeycombs) actually represent a rock formation near her (Northern Ontario) hometown. View it until Sept 20 at DeLeon White Gallery, 1139 College St.
Back on College St, I weave over to Dundas St West via Margueretta St, discovering an old Baptist church tucked in behind St Helen's RC church.
I wish I could end my journey on this front porch: so chillax'n!
Instead, I end my photo tour on the Dundas St bridge heading towards Roncevalles. Looks like the linear bike/parkway is under construction:
