Tag Archives: metro toronto convention centre
Things will be great when you’re downtown
Lauren Ferranti-Ballem, National Post
When complete strangers buy into a condo building, they’re in for a big surprise. It doesn’t take long before they’re going for a swim with one of their neighbours and befriending others at the pub, on the treadmill, or in the shops downstairs. Then it dawns on them: They’ve lucked in to a vibrant neighbourhood — and life is good.
Let the kids have their condos. Let them fill their glittering jewel boxes in the city sky and live the adult life of maintenance fees, maxed credit cards and weekday hangovers. But as we well know, silly readers, condos aren’t just for kids. In fact, their elders, the ones who have flown the empty nest for a smaller, more sensational pad, may just be having more fun.
Valerie Rabold and her husband sold the family home in Markham and decamped for London recently — lofts that is. With their daughter on her way to university, the couple purchased their Esplanade condo four years ago. In the 12 months they’ve lived there, they have made an admirable effort to get a taste for the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood.
“We don’t eat much at home anymore,” Ms. Rabold says. “There are just too many reasons not to.” Among their favourite spots only steps away, The Hot House Café, The Jersey Giant pub and Jason George, and, in winter, when they’re willing only to dash from the elevator to table, the brand new Keg outpost, Spaghetti Factory, Scotland Yard and Fionn MacCool’s, all in a row right below their building.
With two other couples of foodie friends nearby, the six have made a pact to experiment: dinner at a new restaurant every month from now on. On the rare nights they do stay in, the Rabolds entertain on their large private, flower-studded terrace. Between meals, they enjoy meeting up at the St. Lawrence Market for both groceries and antiques and strolling the grounds of St. James Park a few blocks north. They have tickets to the opera, are members of the Art Gallery of Ontario, and marvel at the steady stream of action that often shuts down the streets: festivals like Woofstock, bike races and the occasional Hollywood production. “There’s never a dull moment,” Ms. Rabold says. “We should have made the move years ago.”
Just west is the site of 300 Front Street, a Tridel development at the foot of the CN Tower. When Niyousha Falaknazi, a 34-year-old banker, moves into her loft in the summer of 2012, she imagines attending all of the consumer shows at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre without having to stress about parking, and spending lots of time eating out, taking nighttime walks along Queen’s Quay and entertaining guests in a private cabana lounge around the building’s rooftop pool. “I want to be close to the lake and where it’s all happening,” she says. “People keep asking me where I will buy my groceries, but for me it’s more important to consider where — which bars and restaurants — I’ll spend my nights.”
Rooftop infinity pools, paparazzi-proof private cabanas, fire pits and outdoor kitchens, bars and showers — this ain’t Miami, it’s the future of amenities for Toronto condo dwellers. Situated as they are in bustling neighbourhoods, developers are nevertheless making a strong case for staying home. Renata Casey, a 28-year-old professional, can’t wait until it’s her turn to host family Thanksgiving — in the party room that spills on to a rooftop terrace 55 storeys high. The term party room may not be apt — it evokes stained carpet and folding chairs and tables. The amenity space at UCondos, Ms. Casey’s future home in the heart of Yorkville, is designed with the clean lines and soft lighting of a modern lounge, and an anything-but-modest skyline backdrop. “I can’t wait to share this view with my guests,” she says. “I almost prefer to stay in with these kinds of amenities.”
As she currently lives in the area, Ms. Casey’s not at a loss when she is forced to go out. She brunches with croissants at Le Pain Quotidien, uses the University of Toronto’s verdant campus for runs, and spends special occasions on One’s wraparound patio.
Shawn Foley, a first-time buyer at Nicholas Residences, just south of Bloor, enthusiastically adds to the list of quintessential Yorkville meeting places. Though his building isn’t slated for occupancy until spring of 2013, as he works in the area, he’s getting a head start, establishing residency on the patio at Hemingway’s, and classics like The Pilot and Roof Lounge at the Park Hyatt.
On the subject of high-end hotels and their swanky amenities, both The King Edward and Ritz-Carlton residences will play up their social spaces, with banquette-filled, oversized lobbies and buzzing bars. In the thick of the black-tie district, hemmed in by Roy Thompson Hall, a handful of theatres and the new film fest headquarters, the Ritz will offer a 21st-floor sky lounge for residents only, while one of Toronto’s oldest and most renowned meeting places, the King Eddy’s Concert Bar, will see a facelift. On the very same day she learned the historical hotel was converting a number of units to permanent residences, Nalina Williams, a self-employed event planner, purchased two condos in the building. “I love the history of the hotel and the area,” Ms. Williams says. “I look forward to entertaining my clients in the famous bar.”
There’s certainly no dearth of social options for residents of the new condos coming to downtown — among other notable mentions: the green space under the Gardiner that’s being prepped as a pedestrian-friendly outdoor vestibule for Panorama, a condo project by Raw Design architects that’s currently being occupied; the cobblestoned streets and niche boutiques leading to Gooderham in the Distillery District; and the deluxe gaming room at Chaz on Charles, sponsored by Sony and equipped with multiple screens, surround sound, wireless and leather articulating chairs that gamers could spend hours in — as if they needed convincing.
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G20 traffic and perimeter plans unveiled
Joanna Lavoie – Inside Toronto
Torontonians can expect significant traffic jam ups and a heavy police presence in the city’s downtown core in the days prior to, during, and after the upcoming G20 Summit.
Friday morning, May 28 Toronto Police Service (TPS) – a member of the conference’s Integrated Security Unit (ISU) – unveiled traffic and perimeter plans for the June 26/27 conference.
The ISU, which is also comprised of members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Peel Regional Police, and the Canadian Armed Forces, aims to ensure the safety and security of everyone involved with and impacted by the G20 and G8 summits in Toronto and Huntsville.
The security challenges are especially unique as both summits are being held the same week.
Starting June 7, the ISU will begin erecting an eight- to 10-foot chain link fence that will surround the designated “yellow zone,” bounded by Bay and York streets to the east, Wellington Street West to the north, Windsor Street, Blue Jays Way and Rees Street to the west and Lake Shore and Bremner boulevards to the south. Photo identification will be mandatory for anyone entering this zone from late Friday, June 25 until Sunday, June 27.
A highly secure RCMP zone will also surround the immediate area near the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
An estimated 40,000 people currently work and/or live in this affected area.
Toronto Police will also set up a “traffic zone” bounded by King Street West to the north, Yonge Street to the east, Lake Ontario to the south, and Spadina Avenue to the west. This secondary zone aims to maintain traffic flow in the area and direct vehicles from the designated security zones.
Some of the other security measures during the G20 may include some TTC route diversions and/or delays on an as-needed basis. Union Station will be open that weekend. Exits to front Street will, however, be prohibited. Vehicular traffic on Front Street near the station will also be restricted.
The underground PATH system will be closed from the evening of June 25 until Monday, June 28.
No parking and no standing bylaws will also be strictly enforced, particularly for the area bounded by Queen Street West to Yonge Street, Lake Shore Boulevard West to Spadina Avenue.
GO Transit and VIA Rail trains will be operating on their regular weekend schedules. The Toronto Islands ferry service will also be running that weekend on its usual schedule.
For safety reasons, homeless people within the yellow zone will be relocated to what the city hopes will become more permanent homes.
Toronto Police may also make use of tear gas and sound cannons for crowd control, if needed. The TPS has also installed 77 additional closed-circuit television cameras for monitoring the G20 Summit.
Supt. Tom Russell, commander of the TPS’ G8-G20 Planning Team, said people shouldn’t necessarily avoid the downtown core during the summit but said it’s a “personal choice” they’ll have to make based on how they anticipate the summit may or may not affect their lives.
“It’s not about shutting the city down… Criminal acts, criminal behaviour (are) a concern to us,” he said, underlining police want to strike a balance between regular life in Toronto and the security needed to host the major international event.
Mayor David Miller, on the other hand, said Torontonians who don’t need to be in the vicinity of the summit should “enjoy another part of our city” that weekend.
Taking a few moments from the Federation for Canadian Municipalities Conference to address the media about the G20 security plans, Miller said the City of Toronto would roll out a comprehensive information campaign to help residents and business owners better understand the conference’s impact. Miller also indicated information is available in the latest edition of the city’s Our Toronto newsletter.
“This is a massive event. It’s probably the largest event of its kind in the world,” he said, noting Toronto has many amazing stories to share with the world.
“I think hosting the G20 is a unique opportunity.”
Pointing to a recent spate of anti-G20 vandalism at several Chinatown-area banks, Miller said protesters are welcome but not those who wreck our city.
“We don’t welcome people who do damage in the city. We do welcome people who do peaceful protests,” he said, adding the city actually preferred the G20 Summit take place on the grounds of Exhibition Place. “I hope it’s not a forerunner of what might happen.”
Queen’s Park has been identified as the official G20 protest area.
The summit is set to especially impact the lives of those living and working in Councillor Adam Vaughan’s Trinity-Spadina ward.
“People in my ward, in particular, I think are going to have a difficult time getting in and out of their condos. I want everyone to realize there’s a local economy, a local culture that doesn’t deserve to be trampled here,” the Ward 20 representative told members of the media following Toronto Police’s security plan press conference.
Vaughan was notably concerned about compensation from the federal government for local residents and merchants whose homes and businesses are damaged as a result of the summit.
“I’m at a loss of words to describe my frustrations,” he said, calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to explain the G8 and G20 $1-billion security price tag paid by taxpayers’ dollars.
“We’re trying to get an answer from the Prime Minister. We’re going to continually raise this issue.”
Miller said business owners, like hot dog vendors, facing loss of revenue as a result of the summit can make a claim with the federal government for compensation.
He also said if the government can find $1 billion for G8-G20 security, it should also be able to come up with funds for important infrastructure projects, like the stalled Finch Avenue light rail transit line.
Security plans for the G8-G20 summits are in an ongoing state of flux and are modified on a daily basis.
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960
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