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.
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.
posted by Alexander Rubin Schneider at 11:11 PM
1 Comments:
You're right - that is a shelter (the Scott Mission) north of the hotel. The Mission offers nightly shelter to men and, by day, provides various services to homeless and low-income men, women and children.
Also, sometime during the past year (sorry for the vagueness!) there was an extremely interesting (and lengthy) article about the Waverley Hotel in the Toronto Star, which might be worth looking up on the Star Archive if anyone wants to cover this for their flaneur assignment. There's a bit of history about the hotel here: http://www.chbooks.com/online/eastwest/112.html
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