Bloor Street West is a street rich with architectural and community history. Earlier this Summer, I was happy to join neighbours from across our community and Clay and Paper Theatre for a theatrical story telling of the cinematic history of Bloor St W. We also unveiled a unique commemorative sign for former Doric Theatre (now the Tim Hortons at 1094 Bloor St W), presented by art collective DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC MEMORY. Thank you to the artists and organizers for your dedication to shining a spotlight on an important piece of Bloor Street West's history!

At the October 6, 2015 Toronto and East York Community Council meeting, neighbouring Councillor for Ward 19, Mike Layton and I moved a motion to request a review of development on Bloor Street West, between Christie Street and Lansdowne Avenue. 

The ten blocks of Bloor Street West, between Christie Street and Lansdowne Avenue, are unique in the City of Toronto due to the fact that much of the original built form still remains.  Many of these two and three storey buildings were designed and built at the turn of the 20^th century, with further development taking place between the 1920s and 1930s.

The purpose of this City Planning review is to focus on the unique character of the properties along Bloor Street West, between Christie Street and Lansdowne Avenue, and how to effectively plan for new development that will complement the existing built form and heritage attributes. 

The request for this review comes at a time when development pressure is making its way to Bloor Street West, between Christie Street and Lansdowne Avenue.

Toronto and East York Community Council passed our motion and has recommended that:

1.  City Council request the Director, Community Planning, Toronto and East York District to conduct a review of development on Bloor Street West between Lansdowne Avenue and Christie Street, including an inventory of current applications and current development pressure in the area, and to work with the Director, Transportation Services to review potential streetscape improvements on Bloor Street West in the context of current and future development proposals.

2.  City Council request the Director, Community Planning, Toronto and East York District and the Director, Urban Design, City Planning to assess the applicable policy framework in the area and consider developing additional urban design and built form guidelines, including an assessment of heritage resources, to be used to inform the review of current and future development proposals, and to develop an understanding of what defines the character of the street.

3.  City Council request the Director, Community Planning, Toronto and East York District to report to Toronto and East York Community Council in the second quarter of 2016 on the status of this work.

I look forward to this item being discussed and hopefully passed at the next City Council meeting. 

As of December 2014 the City contractors have finished most of the parts of this project:

• All road work
• All sidewalk replacement along Bloor Street (some sidewalk will be replaced on side streets as part of streetscaping)
• All Bloor Street tree planting, including guards and watering grates
• Bump-out construction
• Lay-by reconstruction in front of the Bickford Centre

Also, new street furniture (e.g. benches, waste bins, bike post and ring) and signage for Bloor Street is in place, with some pre-existing street furniture being reinstated shortly.

In the Spring 2015, contractors will return to finish up the last of the project tasks:

• Additional Bloorcourt streetscape upgrades at side streets e.g. decorative pavers, bronze markers, seat walls, custom tree pits, decorative signage, swing gates and landscaping at Crawford St, Shaw St, Roxton Rd, Carling Ave, Ossington Ave, Concord Ave, Delaware Ave, Dovercourt Rd, Westmoreland Ave, Rushholme Rd, Salem Ave, Havelock St, Bartlett Ave, and Gladstone Ave.
• Two large planters with new trees at the front of the Bickford Centre driveway
• Address any remaining deficiencies such as minor impacts at store fronts, adjustments to pavers, deficient landscaping features, etc.

The trailer will be removed from Bloor & Christie for the winter and returned for work in the spring.

We thank the community for your continued patience and cooperation.  We all look forward to seeing the final upgrades in place for enjoying next summer.

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[This information, written by Jason Diceman, has been re-posted from http://torontobloor.wordpress.com/2014/12/22/done-for-the-winter-back-in-spring-2015-to-finish-on-side-streets/]

North east sidewalk starting soon. Havelock step to go. New trees in progress.

By this weekend work should be completed on the south sidewalk and base asphalt from Montrose Ave. to Havelock St. Work will then be moving to the remaining north sidewalk at Bartlett Ave. headed east towards Montrose Ave. Expect noise, dust and sidewalk closures as excavation and reconstruction take place. Sorry for the inconvenience.

As part of this project we will be re-grading the Havelock St. and Bloor St. intersection to remove the legacy two-step curb and ramp on the north side.

Get a last look at the two-step curb at the top of Havelock St. – to be replaced with a normal one-step curb and pedestrian curb cut.

Tree planting started on June 9, on the south side. City Forestry Operations is planting 

approximately 10 trees a day. The species are Maple, Elm and Locust. You can learn more about the improved growing conditions for boulevard trees being provided on Bloor in this recent CBC news report.

Concord Avenue south of Bloor is closed this week as the new sidewalk “bump out” is installed. Further planting and streetscape upgrades will be completed there in the fall.

All major road and sidewalk work between Lansdowne Ave. and Havelock St. should be completed by the end of June. The area east of Havelock St. will be completed by the end of July.

Additional streetscape upgrades will be completed in the fall.

Thanks again for your patience and cooperation.

Example of old temporary asphalt and planters to be replaced

The Bloor Street West road and sidewalk work will restart on May 5 with two crews working simultaneously at each end of the work area: one finishing off elements from Landowne Avenue going east, and the other starting sidewalk reconstruction on the south side from Montrose Avenue (by Christie Pits Park) going west.  Expect lane reductions, parking restrictions and traffic delays (sorry!).

This year’s work will again include:

• repair existing road base, curb and sidewalks (as required)
• replace existing elevated tree planters with tree pits
• add “bump outs” of widened sidewalk area on some side streets with additional decorative treatments
• grind the existing pavement and resurface the roadway

We expect all the road work to be completed by July 25, 2014.  Additional streetscape upgrades east of Dufferin Street, including  special pavers, seat walls, trees, bike racks and the Bickford Centre driveway, will be completed in early Fall 2014.

Trees to be Removed

You can expect to see the remaining streets trees in planters west of  in the work area to be removed in the next few weeks. While we are sad to see any  trees cut down, we will start planting 159 new healthy elm, maple and locust trees starting in late May.  There will be a total increase of 49 street trees.  The new trees will be planted at sidewalk level with concrete covers and decorative iron tree protections.  The removal of the old planters will provide more sidewalk space and these improved conditions will encourage a long and healthy future for these trees.

Reminders for business owners:

• Please label your curbside waste collection bins with your address.

• Please remove any privately owned items from the sidewalk area. The City will not be responsible for damage to
  any privately owned items installed on City property.

• Expect limited access to street front entrances during sidewalk excavation and concrete installation. Contractors will notify your business prior to starting in front of your entrance.

Again, your co-operation and patience during the construction period is crucial and appreciated. 

UPDATE: Monday afternoon, March 24th

There has been a major sewer chamber collapse in front of #1379 Bloor Street West which has also damaged the sewer system entering and exiting this chamber. The sewer system is still flowing and is not causing any sewer back up or basement flooding.

Toronto Water's District Contractor is on site. To perform this work, Bloor Street West must be closed from Symington Ave to Lansdowne Ave for a estimated time of 7 days. Unfortunately due to the amount of damage beneath the road surface all four lanes must be closed at this time for safety of the public and the construction crew working within this site.

In order to re-open this road quickly, it will be necessary for crews to work around the clock. To ensure ample warning for people commuting along Bloor Street, the contractor has set up "Road Closure Ahead" signage so that commuters have warning prior to reaching Symington and Lansdowne.

Toronto Police will be on site performing traffic control to allow local traffic to enter side streets for business and homes.

I will be in close contact with Toronto Water staff for the duration of this work and will keep our community informed through my website social media. Follow me on Twitter @Ward18AnaBailao and Facebook Councillor Ana Bailao for the most up to date information on news affecting Ward 18.

[Photo by @peanut_butter_b on Twitter]

By James Armstrong  Global News

TORONTO – Small business owners within Bloordale Village are leading the charge towards gentrification while still holding on to the “gritty” aura of the neighbourhood.

And they don’t all like the word gentrification either.

“I think a neighbourhood thrives when you have lots of different kinds of businesses that appeal to lots of different kinds of people owned independently by a family or individuals,” Liza Lukashevsky, owner of Nuthouse said. “[If a] large business that’s owned by a corporation were to come into this neighbourhood, there would be backlash and people would be very upset.”

Lukashevsky owns Nuthouse, a health food store on Bloor Street West, a block east of Lansdowne Avenue. The store, like the name suggests, sells a variety of nuts and the storefront is crowned with a giant walnut.  It’s easy to find.

She opened the store three years ago with her husband. They have lived in the neighbourhood for 11 years and were frustrated they couldn’t find a local health food store to buy food for their kids.

“We kept waiting and waiting for someone to open a shop that we would shop in and it just never happened,” she said. “We just decided we couldn’t wait anymore and we would open a store that we would want to shop in.”

She said her family criticized her for not doing any market research. Her retort? She was the market. She and her husband wanted the store to serve the community it’s in.

“It’s been very busy since then,” she said.

Like Queen Street West, Regent Park and Leslieville before it, Bloordale Village is in the early stages of gentrification. It still has a “scrappy” attitude and several stores with boarded up windows, but residents say the neighbourhood has changed dramatically.

“Safety has increased tremendously, ten years ago, my god, Bloor and Lansdowne was not a good neighbourhood to visit,” area-councillor Ana Bailao said. “Having that safety, people walking on the street and families going down to Bloor and Lansdowne to have a brunch and at night to have a coffee, it’s great.”

But property values are increasing. Data collected by Global News shows the average price of a home in the neighbourhood jumped 37.5 per cent from 2005 to 2012. The average price in 2005? $436,441. In 2012? $600,136.

Councillor Bailao says skyrocketing property values are a “challenge.”

“Property values are increasing all over the city, we know how our real estate is doing in Toronto and this neighbourhood is no different,” she said. “Actually property values have been going up substantially and that’s definitely something that needs to be addressed. How do we keep affordability in this place?”

Bailao pointed to co-op housing and rooming houses in the area that need to be welcome and not “pushed out” during gentrification.

And it’s the relatively cheap rents that have brought some business owners to the area.

“I was looking between either Parkdale or Bloordale,” Amanda Somerville said.

“It’s still reasonable as far as rents go and it’s cool to be a part of the gentrification in a sense that you’re bringing a good thing to a neighbourhood that has so much potential and there’s a need for it.”

Somerville owns the Through Being Cool Vegan Baking Company – a store serving prepared foods and baked goods. But everything, as the name suggests, is vegan.

As for gentrification? She’s ok with it. She sees it as a “natural thing” that happens in a big city but wants a “vibrant” community post-gentrification and one that’s free from the spectre of large corporations.

“I think for now Bloordale is safe from Starbucks. There’s too many local independent owned stores here for that to happen yet.”

As for the corporate coffee-shop moving to the neighbourhood, Lukashevsky suspects one of the other businesses may be keeping it at bay.

“We have a strip club across the street and I think we all agree in this neighbourhood that as long as that strip club is there, a Starbucks probably won’t come in.”

- With files from Mark McAllister 

This story originally posted http://globalnews.ca/news/1088102/bloordale-residents-want-independent-stores-to-lead-gentrification/

Jack Frost has landed in Toronto, and with the cold weather our construction crews will be packing up shortly for the season, to return in the early spring 2014 to finish the job to Montrose Avenue.

Crews will be working hard over the next week to complete the road resurfacing west of Bartlett Avenue, and tidy up the completed work zone. Street trees and pit covers will be installed in spring 2014. Until then, the contractor will back-fill all tree pits for sidewalk safety.

Post-and-ring bike locks have been returned, with two additional bike racks to be installed in the near future.

Sidewalk paver installation in progress

New decorative pavers are being laid at intersection corners. You may have also noticed the new detectable warning plates, also known as tactile pavers. These bumpy plates signal to pedestrians with reduced vision that they are approaching an intersection. Expect to see these kinds of plates installed across the city with each new sidewalk reconstruction project.

Bloordale Blooms: stainless steel flowers

Steel flower art installed in sidewalk

Thanks to the Dyan Marie with the Bloordale BIA, you will now see a number of stainless steel flowers inlaid in the cement sidewalk. Crews are still in the process of cleaning off construction residue, but we are already hearing praise and appreciation from people passing by. More flowers will be installed next year as the additional decorative treatments are applied at some connecting street intersections.

Visit the Bloordale Facebook page for more great photos.

Thank you all for your patience and cooperation. You may see some small crews working on a few tasks during any warm spells we might get in early 2014, but otherwise we won't be pulling up any more sidewalk or roadway until the spring.

Sidewalk reconstruction and base asphalt is complete on the south side of Bloor Street from Lansdowne to Havelock. Traffic has now been switched from the north side to the south side of Bloor Street.

The contractor is now working on removing and reconstructing the north sidewalk from Lansdowne and working east towards Havelock. The anticipated completion of sidewalk reconstruction, base and top course asphalt from Lansdowne to west of Havelock is December 21, weather permitting. 

Sidewalk reconstruction and base asphalt is complete on the south side of Bloor Street from Lansdowne to Havelock. Traffic was switched from the north side to the south side of Bloor Street on Tuesday, November 19th. Contractor is now working on removing and reconstructing the north sidewalk from Lansdowne and working east towards Havelock. Anticipated completion of sidewalk reconstruction, base and top course asphalt from Lansdowne to west of Havelock is December 21st, weather permitting.

Starting this week, construction crews will begin putting out pylons and restricting traffic in order to prepare for construction on Bloor Street.

Construction will generally follow a loop, starting on the south side at Havelock Street, working westward towards Lansdowne Avenue. Then switching to the north side, from Lansdowne Avenue eastward all the way to Montrose Avenue. And finally back to the south side from Montrose Avenue westward to Havelock Street.

To speed up construction, the contractor will have two crews working 6 days a week.  The crews will focus on two blocks at a time.  This will minimize disruption to the businesses.  This method of construction has been successful on other projects within the City and due to the time of year allows the contractor to complete full sections of roadway (both sides) prior to proceeding on.  It should take an average of 5-6 days per block, weather permitting.