DIGIN meeting: Wednesday 11 DEC 2013

Wednesday 11 DEC 2013

@ 7pm - 8:30pm

 

Wallace Emerson Community Centre
Ambrico Room
1260 Dufferin Street
(on Dufferin, south of Dupont)

 

Updates on the following:

1)      Hydro/traffic signal box (NW corner of Bloor and Lansdowne).

2)    TDSB sale of Kent & Bloor CI

3)      Bloordale BIA AGM update

4)      City of Toronto Richmond and Adelaide bike track public consultations

5)      City of Toronto Building department recommendation in favour of electronic billboard advertising in residential areas

6)      Transit - Relief Line

7)      Island Airport

8)      Committee of Adjustment for 1 Emerson

9)    Topics for discussion 2014?

DIGIN meeting Wed Nov 13 @ 7pm - Responsible Neighbourhood Development cont'd

Wednesday 13 Nov 2013

@ 7pm - 8:30pm

Wallace Emerson Community Centre
Ambrico Room1260 Dufferin Street
(on Dufferin, south of Dupont)

 
As our neighbourhood continues to morph, we will continue to discuss Responsible Neighbourhood Development.

It is recognized that our neighbourhoods need to remain affordable in order to retain the socio-economic and cultural diversity that has defined our area and that many of us value. As many of the big homes that line our streets hold multiple units it is in these homes that we often find affordable rental spaces. But what happens when the buildings and the yard maintenance are neglected? What happens when the neighbours have an issue they'd like to discuss with the owner but find the landlord unreachable? What is the landlord's responsibility to the neighbours? What by-laws etc are in place to encourage good neighbourly relations? How can we encourage engagement by the landlords? Do the cities policies help or hinder this engagement? Let's find out.

This month we have two guests from the City of Toronto.

Lauralyn Johnston -  from the City's Housing Policy Section and is a Planner working in our planning policy division. She who worked on the 20 Gladstone proposal and has lots of experience with rental housing, landlords, etc. She has a short presentation to make and a hand-out.

 

Joe Magalhaes -  district manager for Municipal Licensing & Standards. He works as the City's enforcement for municipal standards, including property maintenance.
He is well aware of the "problem properties" in our area and works in coordination with other city departments to address these situations. He is happy to speak to any specific concerns and answer questions.

DIGIN meetings are open to all. Feel free to forward and invite your friends and neighbours.

Donna

Holy Oak Cafe

BlogTO reviews Holy Oak cafe.

BlogTO on Bloordale

You can find out a little bit about our neighbourhood by visiting BlogTO's Bloordale page.

The Lansdowne Subway Station in Fast Forward

A quick and short video clip of the lansdowne subway station, the lansdowne station parking lot and the intersection of Bloor and Lansdowne. This video was concentrated on researching about the flow of traffic between cars and pedestrians. The three views are
showing in daytime and nighttime.

Are strip clubs losing their sex appeal?

The Globe and Mail asks, " Are strip clubs losing their sex appeal?"

A positive experience at Ely's Beauty Salon

More about Ely's Beauty Salon. A friend of Dig In writes:

Just wanted to give a plug to a local business. Ely's Beauty Salon set up shop just over a year ago at 652 Lansdowne (at Wallace, beside Peppers). I decided to give it a try this week and was really impressed.

I was really pleased with the cut and colour I received and the price was much cheaper than that charged at the salon I usually trek to downtown.

I'd highly recommend Ely. She's really personable and interesting. She emigrated to Canada from Equador. with her parents and siblings in 1986. In Equador, she studied to be a social worker at university. She worked with women and young people in trouble with the law before coming to Canada.

Her social work credentials weren't accepted here and because her English was limited, she spent her first five years here working in a factory. She says those were the worst five years of her life. She ended up going back to school and getting trained as a stylist.

Her prices are great. Here's an idea of what she charges:

Women's hair cut - $18
Men's cut - $14
Kids' cut - $12
Colour $45
Root touch-up $30

Esthetic services are also available, including:
Eyebrow shape wax - $10
Manicure - $15
Pedicure $25

The greatest thing is that Ely is located just around the corner from my home. Her number is 647-436-6071

Ely's Hair Salon

Ely's just North of Bloor on Lansdowne (652 Lansdowne Avenue to be exact) has been getting some praise on the Dig In Mailing List. Theresa brought it up first, suggesting people check it out; Diana went their recently and confirmed it's a great place to get your hair cut.

Sharrows on Lansdowne

The sharrows that were painted on Lansdowne between Bloor and College are being discussed by bicyclists: Sharrows Installed on Lansdowne Ave.

PLEASE NOTE: Dig In has never taken a stand on the Lansdowne road-narrowing controversy, but the issue has been debated on the Dig In discussion list.

Splash Party Video

The July 5 Splash Party was part of the Better Bloor Project.

Illegal Signs at Bloor and Lansdowne

Ramanan discusses the illegal billboard on the Municipal Housing just West of Lansdowne: Illegal Signs at Lansdowne.

Deep-rooted love for trees

GreenHere gets some positive press from the Toronto Star: Summer program turns teens into advocates for more green spaces in their neighbourhood.

Big on Bloor meeting

On Wednesday October 3 the Big on Bloor steering committee met at the Bob Abate community centre to discuss the festival planned for 2008. Sue Kaiser from the City of Toronto was there to discuss some aspects of the grant for the safety coordinator. Minutes from the meeting will be posted on the BIG website as soon as they are available. Previous minutes can be found here.

Thank you Dyan Marie. Bloor NIGHTLIGHT was a huge success

Thank you Dyan Marie for all the hard work you put into making Bloor NIGHTLIGHT the huge success that it was. None of this would have happened without you. Thank you too to Spiros Koumoudouro for allowing use of the House of Lancaster as well as to the Bloordale BIA for its support. Thank you also to Dig In chair Ann Homan for doing the necessary grunt work of securing the permits and for curating the Andi Morris exhibit. Thank you to Bruce Ward and his team of cyclists for promoting the event with their parade of bikes. Thank you to all the artists and volunteers who made last Saturday's event so enjoyable. Kudos to all.