Metropolis 347

I recieved an interesting book for christmas called Found. Based on Found Magazine, it is a collection of various things, especially notes which people have found and sent in to be published. It's an interesting way of seeing an individual, with lots of detail into one specific part of their life, but without knowing the person or having any further context. In a city we see so many people every day and most of them we will never see again and will never know anything about their lives. The notes in found magazine give a little picture of some part of a stranger's life, a different way of seeing the people in a city. Check out www.foundmagazine.com.

Does the chattering annoy you?

What if there were no cinemas left in the city? What if the public experience of going to a film disappeared from city life? This is what the controversial filmmaker Ken Russell thinks is going to happen. Not only does he think it's going to happen, he is glad for it: "It's like going to church," he said of the multiplex film experience. "Some need the cathedral full of people to worship but others, like me, I live in the middle of the forest. I just look at a tree and to me that's a religious experience." What do you think? Do you prefer the cinema or does the chattering annoy you?

Your ID Please

How do you identify? As an Ontarian or as someone who lives in Toronto? As a 905er or a 416er? As someone who lives in 'the core' or someone who lives in the 'ring' around the core? As people try to describe the new political map of the country they are also striving to promote their particular views about urban identities. Listen to this short interview by Andy Barrie with Mayor Miller. It also serves as an example of a mayor's efforts to promote a notion of urban citizenship against a more dominant notion of provincial citizenship. (Update: sorry, interview no longer available. But it's always worth seeing what's on offer at Metro Morning).

Not-so-favorite spot

I was planning on posting a comment about my favorite spot in toronto, but people might be tired of reading about Baldwin between beverley and mccaul.
Instead I wanted to bring up the intersection of College and Spadina. For U of T students at least, it seems to be quite the infamous spot. The north-west corner of the intersection is home to a strange collection of places. Just north of the bank is the Waverley hotel. The hotel is well known as a place which has more permanent tenants than visitors, and rumor has it that the other rooms can be rented by the hour (correct me if I'm wrong). The hotel is famous enough that it was featured as background for a recent hip-hop video. Located somewhere within the same building is an after-hours club. While I have never been inside, the location combined with the name 'The Comfort Zone' make me a bit uneasy. North of the hotel is what I believe is a shelter, although I'm not sure of exactly what it is. Perhaps I should have done a bit of research first, but regardless, the sidewalk in front is usually busy with people sleeping, sitting, or just standing and talking.
The last part of this block is the Silver Dollar blues club which is tucked between the Waverly Hotel and shelter, if anyone knows how the venue actually is, I would love to know, but have not attended anything there myself.
Continuing across the street, there is the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (at least I think that's what it's called), which has a path that makes a great short-cut from U of T to chinatown and kensington market, but many of my friends avoid its paths at night. On the north-east corner of College and Spadina is my local 7-11. Any time after dark, you will likely find a mix of drunk students, homeless people, and prostitutes.
My not-so-favorite intersection is plunked down between chinatown and Spadina Crescent so if you're ever walking in either spot try heading towards it, perhaps with a friend or two, and take a look around...far from pretty I find it one of the most interesting spots that I have discovered in my 2 years in Toronto.

Yonge-Dundas Square

Today's guest speaker explicitly stated his disdain for the Yonge and Dundas intersection. Yet I wrote it down last week as my favorite one in Toronto. I can't say that it is the only one, I'm sure that everyone in the class could have listed several places they feel a connection with. But it was the first intersection that came to my mind and, incidentally, one of the first places I visited in Toronto. I arrived here from Belgium at the end of July 2005. I first walked down Yonge Street on August 6th (thank you, diary) and marvelled at the mixture of "funky stores, seedy stores, restaurants, book stores, grocery stores, adult video stores, internet cafes and coffee shops". The consumerist temple that is the Eaton Center overwhelmed me - I distinctly remember a sense of overstimulation - the billboards, the shoppers, the oddballs, the sheer size of the actual mall...I have since seen Times Square and understand Shawn's opinion of YD Square. But then I remember the gorgeous summer night when a friend and I stumbled upon a PWYC rendition of "Guys and Dolls" there. I think about how much I enjoy walking down both Yonge and Dundas on my way to the fundamentally dissimilar areas of Yorkville and Chinatown. So what if it's "not New York"? It's different, more intimate and deserving of recognition.

Baldwin Street

Although it is hard to say which intersection/street is my favourite in Toronto, I can say confidently that Baldwin Street nears the top of the list. Tucked among the residential neighborhoods south of campus, it was initially surprising to come upon. Populated by restaurants serving foods to please any appetite and from multiplicities of ethnic backgrounds, I enjoy the fact that the buildings are all nestled closely one next to another. Almost like an image of Toronto itself - a miniature 'mosaic of enclaves', self-contained, unique. Of course, I can't write about Baldwin Street without mentioning my choice of restaurant: Vegetarian Haven. Being a vegetarian, I enjoy being able to bring my 'non-veg' friends to a vegan restaurant - and the cheesecake is enough to make Baldwin Street one of my favourites.

McCaul Street

McCaul Street is a favourite of mine. I have always thought of it as giant back laneway, probably because the building facades are so close to the sidewalk and because so much of the traffic consists of delivery vehicles. Nonetheless, I always find myself wandering south along McCaul from Baldwin to Queen. The street is a bit out of place because it feels so archaic with its still functional but lightly used streetcar tracks and its low-hanging cables. Remnants of the industrial city. Where it meets Baldwin this impression is heightened by the old store fronts, especially the huge glass windows and old lettering on the Yung Sing Chinese bakery, where my partner and I often seek out shrimp rolls. Walking south, there are some nice little cafes and small businesses tucked in on the west side before one reaches the AGO intersection with its corner cafe and pub (pictured here from the Daily Dose of Imagery), both of which are great places to sit and watch the traffic go by. I love the contrast of this old northern section with the postmodern OCAD building south of Dundas. Back in the early-1980s, when this area was still something of an artist colony, the warehouse-like building south of the new OCAD housed one of the best vintage clothing stores in the city, called 'Strange' (presumably to rhyme with Grange). This store, with its pointy shoes and all-black clothing, always comes to mind as I walk down to Queen on my way to Pages to browse.

My Favourite TO Intersection

My current favourite intersection in Toronto is Bloor and Avenue Road (or Bloor and Queen's Park - either pair of corners will do!) Standing there, the huge buildings in the distance highlight the immensity of the city, but you are also close to a few somewhat quaint, village-like spots: Yorkville (which is beautiful on winter evenings, with all the lights), and my favourite spots on campus, Victoria University and St. Michael's College. These secluded places have fantastic buildings and great public art. Back at the corner, I've always loved how the Church of the Redeemer sits so placidly in front of the massive Four Seasons Hotel. Similarly juxtaposed are the new and old façades of the ROM, and although an architect friend disparagingly tells me that such juxtapositions are passé, I adore the way the new design looks in its current skeleton formulation. The redesign of the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art is also promising, but the site is currently a giant pit of mud and, as such, not much to look at. Throw in a nearby Swiss Chalet and it is easy to see why this intersection tops my list.

The City in Sound and Image

Listen to the sounds of an Indonesian bird market, or traffic in Cairo's Ramses Square. Scroll through photographs of Turkish street scenes or Vegas motel signs. Marc Voelckel collects urban soundscapes and landscapes on his website, ruavista.com. He is interested in promoting "a new form of urban tourism based upon visiting ordinary streets and paying attention to details rather than famous spots and beautiful architecture." Link to this site above or on the right-hand side of the page. Follow the numerous other links posted on this blog for a variety of engaging and stimulating explorations of the urban environment.

The Creative City

Stop by Hart House Thursday, January 12 at 7 pm for a panel discussion on the future of creativity in Toronto. Speakers include City Councillor Adam Giambrone, murmur co-creator Shawn Micallef, curator Katherine Mulherin and AGO director Matthew Teitelbaum.

New Orleans: Urban Planning and the Divided City

Setha Low discusses what she calls the 'divided city'. New Orleans was an extreme example of a city divided along racial lines. Some of this social divison followed geographic distinctions of low ground vs high ground. In the reconstruction, this could pose major problems: "Some residents feared the...recommendations would create a blueprint that eliminated mostly black neighbourhoods."

Urban Pharmakon

How to heal the alienating effects of the modern city? According to an interview with Albert Hoffman in the New York Times, a drug that some believe is a poison could be the answer:"'It's very, very dangerous to lose contact with living nature... In the big cities, there are people who have never seen living nature, all things are products of humans,' he said. 'The bigger the town, the less they see and understand nature.' And, yes, he said, LSD, which he calls his 'problem child,' could help reconnect people to the universe." To learn about Derrida's reading of Plato's concept of the pharmakon, read this.

UN World Urban Forum in Vancouver in June

This June 19-23, the UN Human Settlements Programme will be holding a conference on urban issues in Vancouver. "The World Urban Forum was established by the United Nations to examine one of the most pressing issues facing the world today: rapid urbanisation and its impact on communities, cities, economies and policies." For information about the conference and about e-discussions on global urban issues, check out their website. To get a sense of the kinds of urban initiatives the UN is involved in, check out the link to programmes at the top of the page.

Reimagining the TTC, the ad-less way

It seems an impossible task - imagine the TTC without advertisements. What would go in their place? The Toronto Public Space Committee challenged transit riders to envision this "better way", and their designs will be displayed at XPACE in Kensington Market from January 5 - 8. Check out the details here: http://www.publicspace.ca/betterway.htm

Traffic vs the Environment in Stockholm

"Congestion charging to cut traffic and pollution has come into effect in the Swedish capital, Stockholm....Stockholm follows London, Oslo and Singapore in introducing the tax."