The optics, especially around sunset, can be quite striking. The Danforth is arrow-straight for miles along that section and the sun hangs directly over the west end. You, and your block-long shadow, can see nothing but shabby two-story strip malls from one horizon to the other. You can easily believe that you’re in one of Bob Burden’s Flaming Carrot comics.

Seen:

- About one out of every six stores is vacant: more than usual even for this area.

- “Bring your own take-out container and get 30-cents off!”!!

- Ice-cream factory outlet

- Abandoned “Church of Scientology Mission to East Toronto”

- Not one but two flamingo-themed restaurants: sadly, not duelling

- Business Improvement Association signs from the “Mosaic BIA”

- “Legion of Mary – Archdiocese of Toronto”

- Duelling Pizza-Pizza and Dosa-Dosa. Ever wily, the Pizza-Pizza is offering Halal meat toppings on request.

- “Bill Biliq’s Charitable Store”

- A 3×2 metre framed Venus on the half-shell sticking out of the framing store. I’ve always been a big fan of Giant Icons and I’m glad to see that Toronto hasn’t gone the way of Gotham City in outlawing them because they tend to encourage Supervillain/Superhero fights.

http://www.comictreadmill.com/CTMBlogarchives/2009/2009_Individual/2009_03/001929.php

- The big shopping centre at Victoria Park is build around the first enclosed shopping mall in Canada: which was on the west end of the current site. You can see all of the sky-lights that were used to illuminate it on top of the Zellers: they were initially worried that people wouldn’t want to shop indoors under artificial lighting. (PS – Yes, I know that Hamilton claims this distinction with the Barton Street Mall but that was just a roof slapped over a pair of parallel strip-malls.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkV6u0xgNww

It is catchy.
And that Gary Lucas is a genius guitarist, too – but not so much on this cut.

This neighbourhood (just past where the Danforth stops being cool) is slowly changing demongraphics and it’s interesting to see it take a new shape.

The Italian “social clubs” are being replaced by halal butchers, and the current mosque is being renovated into what will soon be the city’s largest. Right across the street from a teeny little (Baptist?) church.

Add some slow but steady gentrification as people keep looking for affordable housing and it just makes for a very odd no-man’s land in a city where every block seems claimed by one culture at the expense of every other.

Maybe this will become the Obama part of town.

phil from montreal :P

I used to work in this neighbourhood, and yes, it is quite a weird area. There’s a really good Value Village at Woodbine, though.

This neighbourhood (just past where the Danforth stops being cool)

I don’t know what your definition of cool is, but this is my neighbourhood and the Danforth doesn’t start getting cool until east of Pape.

West of Pape is a bunch of overly priced “Ikea-modern” Greek restaurants, bullshit fake English/Irish pubs, wedding gown shops and places to buy your dog a sweater.

East of Pape is halal pizza joints, used book stores, mosques, parks, pubs with ridiculous beer selections, record stores, youth employment centres, great coffee, bakers, family run gyms, Islamic Book stores, LCBO, weekend brunch, cheap burritos, and great pizza.

This is one of the most diverse streets in the city, unlike your cool side of the Danforth. Your parents probably get it.

I think I’ll start a medical supplies company and sell Obama surgical knives and Obama heart stents…

He does have a bad beer and a lame band…