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Place where I grew up- then & now


shootingstar

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I grew up 100 km. west of Toronto. In a small city of 30,000 (at that time) which has 2 universities within the city boundaries. As mentioned occasionally by self and Rattlecan here, it has been historically in a Mennonite-German county. 

We lived downtown on a street which is now part of a local heritage walk for some of its homes. (Not our house).  I did have a noticeable number of classmates with German-Mennonite last names from long time families. Then other kids whose parent(s) were professors and had moved from other parts of the world.  Oktoberfest is commercial/quite touristy..but genuinely can be claimed by this Canadian city since there used to be 5 distinct German clubs/associations.  It was in hindsight a great place for us kids to grow up. I grew up on a street where there was a mixed income: ...low income as well as high income families.  So no kid was "protected"/insulated.  

Now, I was just browsing through ….real estate home ads for the city. Am abit shocked by the high prices. The city has changed partially because of high tech firms developed which has brought in money into the area, but also it's abit cheaper to find housing vs. Toronto.  

Last fall I wanted to visit this city but friend living in the area, sorta blocked my effort by visiting me....in Toronto. :( 

One day I'll visit. I like to see how places where I've lived for many years, have changed ...both for good or less good.  Or maybe, it's also how much I have changed in how I see things. :huh: Was last there about 25 yrs. ago. We biked round trip between Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo.

Note:  southern Ontario is sufficiently different than Alberta and Vancouver area...

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I grew up in North Burnaby.  My parents owned 25 acres of land that backed on Burnaby Mountain.   They bought there because they thought it would be a good investment with the construction of SFU.  They were right.  There was no Skytrain, few high-rises, no congestion and a clear view of the North Shore mountains from almost anywhere in Burnaby.  There were four Chinese and two Japanese families with kids in my high school.  There was a growing number of Indian and Pakistani families immigrating and most were labour workers on farms.  They now own those farms or have become land developers themselves.  There was no development on Westwood Plateau or in Anmore.  Port Moody was where the city ended until Haney and Maple Ridge. 

There was one provincial prison and one insane asylum in Burnaby.  They are both gone. 

EXPO 86 was the downfall of Vancouver. 

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5 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

I grew up in North Burnaby.  My parents owned 25 acres of land that backed on Burnaby Mountain.   They bought there because they thought it would be a good investment with the construction of SFU.  They were right.  There was no Skytrain, few high-rises, no congestion and a clear view of the North Shore mountains from almost anywhere in Burnaby.  There were four Chinese and two Japanese families with kids in my high school.  There was a growing number of Indian and Pakistani families immigrating and most were labour workers on farms.  They now own those farms or have become land developers themselves.  There was no development on Westwood Plateau or in Anmore.  Port Moody was where the city ended until Haney and Maple Ridge. 

There was one provincial prison and one insane asylum in Burnaby.  They are both gone. 

EXPO 86 was the downfall of Vancouver. 

Interesting Wilbur.  

I went to a high school of 2,000 students in the oldest high school in Waterloo County. There were students transferring from other high schools to ours because it was innovative at time, to be on semester system which would mimic college/university.  There were less than 15 kids of Asian descent.  

When I went to university in London, Ontario and lived there for 3 years, I found it....boring and dull in general. I took for granted my childhood's Mennonite-Germany historic-cultural foundation which is still found in older street names, sites.  K-W has a streak of pacificism (in addition to the WW I and II recruits) because the Mennonites historically....are pacifists.  So the church groups locally have promoted interfaith, intercultural understanding even when I was a teen and settlement of some refugees.  It is also highly unusual to live and grow up in small city with 2 public universities.

I have met other employees in Calgary who grew up in K-W ...and some did belong to those German clubs. 

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43 minutes ago, Dottie said:

Why?

Most of the large land plots were sold off to foreign entities as the city had been previously, unknown.   That pushed a lot of business and a lot of residents out of Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond and Coquitlam.  IT also drove land prices through the roof. 

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1 minute ago, Wilbur said:

Most of the large land plots were sold off to foreign entities as the city had been previously, unknown.   That pushed a lot of business and a lot of residents out of Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond and Coquitlam.  IT also drove land prices through the roof. 

Why did you settle on Toronto?  Aerobusiness?  Yeah -- I just made that word up.

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I don’t recognize the town I grew up it. Small Revolutionary war era-town, mostly farms when I moved there at age 5. It was getting more developed over the 13 years I lived there plus a couple of summers I came back during college. But thirty years later it is sprawling, not quite equidistant from center city Philly and NYC.

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I was born in Richardson Texas.  Lived in Oklahoma for 6 years where I went to elementary school.  Moved back to with a few miles of the house where I was born and after college and marriage I bought the house I grew up in, so I have got to witness the change to where I grew up first hand.

City has done an excellent job of attracting corporate business and the graduate school a mile from my home has turned into a 4 year university with a very diverse student population.  Our area is booming and becoming a mecca for restuarnats, both mom and pop and high end.  Anything you could desire to eat you could find within about 5 miles of our home.

Light rail transit is starting to grow and we now have a north south rail stop near our home and will soon have an east west line as well.  Can get to down town Dallas, the state fair, the zoo and soon to the airport with relative ease.

Have a good concert hall that attract a wide variety of acts to neighborhood.  Needs a bit more pedestrian paths to cross over or under the highway, but we can bike there easily.

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7 minutes ago, Prophet Zacharia said:

I don’t recognize the town I grew up it. Small Revolutionary war era-town, mostly farms when I moved there at age 5. It was getting more developed over the 13 years I lived there plus a couple of summers I came back during college. But thirty years later it is sprawling, not quite equidistant from center city Philly and NYC.

Chester? ;)

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8 minutes ago, jsharr said:

I was born in Richardson Texas.  Lived in Oklahoma for 6 years where I went to elementary school.  Moved back to with a few miles of the house where I was born and after college and marriage I bought the house I grew up in, so I have got to witness the change to where I grew up first hand.

City has done an excellent job of attracting corporate business and the graduate school a mile from my home has turned into a 4 year university with a very diverse student population.  Our area is booming and becoming a mecca for restuarnats, both mom and pop and high end.  Anything you could desire to eat you could find within about 5 miles of our home.

Light rail transit is starting to grow and we now have a north south rail stop near our home and will soon have an east west line as well.  Can get to down town Dallas, the state fair, the zoo and soon to the airport with relative ease.

Have a good concert hall that attract a wide variety of acts to neighborhood.  Needs a bit more pedestrian paths to cross over or under the highway, but we can bike there easily.

This is actually very true.  Richardson is a nice city.  

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I hear bits and pieces about where I grew up because of the 1 friend still living in that city. Also a nephew from Toronto, will complete his engineering university degree in the city. He is a lucky Canadian engineering (paid) student intern who landed his 2nd co-op job in San Francisco to start this winter. Silicon North is for Canada, Metro Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo.  A number of American firms have hired the co-op engineering students via University of Waterloo.  So I hear bits from his mother, my sister about the city.

Would I recommend the city to live now?,....yes as a choice where city wouldn't fall apart economically long-term, with local opportunities to learn, recent new LRT line, some signed/separated bike routes, etc. and close to other major transportation alternative options. What is disappointing is the loss of farmland north of the city...

 

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3 hours ago, Wilbur said:

I grew up in North Burnaby.  My parents owned 25 acres of land that backed on Burnaby Mountain.   They bought there because they thought it would be a good investment with the construction of SFU.  They were right.  There was no Skytrain, few high-rises, no congestion and a clear view of the North Shore mountains from almost anywhere in Burnaby.  There were four Chinese and two Japanese families with kids in my high school.  There was a growing number of Indian and Pakistani families immigrating and most were labour workers on farms.  They now own those farms or have become land developers themselves.  There was no development on Westwood Plateau or in Anmore.  Port Moody was where the city ended until Haney and Maple Ridge. 

There was one provincial prison and one insane asylum in Burnaby.  They are both gone. 

EXPO 86 was the downfall of Vancouver. 

Dearie's daughter lives in the complex of low-rise condos on bottom part of Burnaby Mtn. It's in a forested area with coyotes and occasional bears. Could this be the area that was once your parents'? 

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44 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

Dearie's daughter lives in the complex of low-rise condos on bottom part of Burnaby Mtn. It's in a forested area with coyotes and occasional bears. Could this be the area that was once your parents'? 

They sold their property to the developer of the Burnaby Man Golf Course and Montecito.  It was on Augusta Avenue, part of which is still there.  

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4 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

They sold their property to the developer of the Burnaby Man Golf Course and Montecito.  It was on Augusta Avenue, part of which is still there.  

She lives north of Lougheed Hwy. before Gagliardi Way. Third way up the mtn.  So different direction.  I love the view overlooking Indian Arm. We biked to the viewpoint from downtown Vancouver.

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13 hours ago, shootingstar said:

I hear bits and pieces about where I grew up because of the 1 friend still living in that city. Also a nephew from Toronto, will complete his engineering university degree in the city. He is a lucky Canadian engineering (paid) student intern who landed his 2nd co-op job in San Francisco to start this winter. Silicon North is for Canada, Metro Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo.  A number of American firms have hired the co-op engineering students via University of Waterloo.  So I hear bits from his mother, my sister about the city.

Would I recommend the city to live now?,....yes as a choice where city wouldn't fall apart economically long-term, with local opportunities to learn, recent new LRT line, some signed/separated bike routes, etc. and close to other major transportation alternative options. What is disappointing is the loss of farmland north of the city...

 

Funny how we compare our cities to US counterparts. Before Waterloo was called Silicone North, it was often referred to as Hartford North as it is the Insurance center of Canada.

The local economy has weathered the disruptions of business closures relatively well. Kitchener was once called Akron north as it was a major tire manufacturing centre. I think that is all gone now, along with Budd Automotive which was another huge employer.

I grew up about a 25 minute drive north of Waterloo where street traffic was about 50% horse and buggy when I was a kid. My surname is one of those German/ Mennonite names you mentioned.

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I'll get to see the area where I spent my youth when I attend our 60th high school reunion this spring.  I doubt much has changed in the residential area where we lived, but town is a different matter.  As with many places, it has suffered from urban sprawl. I've been back a few times, but have never spent anytime in town.

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5 hours ago, Rattlecan said:

Funny how we compare our cities to US counterparts. Before Waterloo was called Silicone North, it was often referred to as Hartford North as it is the Insurance center of Canada.

The local economy has weathered the disruptions of business closures relatively well. Kitchener was once called Akron north as it was a major tire manufacturing centre. I think that is all gone now, along with Budd Automotive which was another huge employer.

I grew up about a 25 minute drive north of Waterloo where street traffic was about 50% horse and buggy when I was a kid. My surname is one of those German/ Mennonite names you mentioned.

I forgot about the insurance headquarters hub in Waterloo. You know, I got hit by a car as a pedestrian on King St. in front of an insurance headquarters bldg., now its' the ManuLife (I can't remember former company name) main bldg. I was a teen, going to school.

Let's see we had a Rempel, Thiessen, living on our street. We shopped at Zehr's.  I knew Friedel, Epp, Weber, Enns, Schneider (and a place where teens got summer jobs), Martin, etc.

3 hours ago, sheep_herder said:

I'll get to see the area where I spent my youth when I attend our 60th high school reunion this spring.  I doubt much has changed in the residential area where we lived, but town is a different matter.  As with many places, it has suffered from urban sprawl. I've been back a few times, but have never spent anytime in town.

It is disappointing to see urban sprawl and no parks. I used work at a large shopping mall as a teen on outskirts, where right beside it ...were cornfields. I don't have a problem with thoughtful development but some of those neighbourhoods just aren't walkable at all and not close to services within walking distance without crossing an expressway.

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Maybe I'm a rarity - the small town where I grew up looks much the same, especially the eastern half where we lived. There are more houses in the western half, but still no commercial development to speak of.

As of this past August I can confirm there is still only one R-Y-G traffic light in the entire town, and one blinker. 

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3 hours ago, shootingstar said:

now its' the ManuLife (I can't remember former company name) main bldg.

It was called Mutual Insurance in those days.

Another big change you will see if you go back is the new light rapid rail system. They had huge parts of both cities torn up for years installing it, but it's completed now.

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25 minutes ago, Rattlecan said:

It was called Mutual Insurance in those days.

Another big change you will see if you go back is the new light rapid rail system. They had huge parts of both cities torn up for years installing it, but it's completed now.

That was a good reason why I waned to visit K-W last fall...  I'm sure I would be in shock to see the LRT rail running through certain areas, with disappeared places.  I would burn off K-W resident's ear just telling them how many pedestrians or stupid car drivers who died or were injured via Calgary' road surface level LRT.  It's horrible thing compared to Toronto's subway system.  I'm certain there would be waaaaay more injuries if Toronto's line was primarily road surface level.

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3 hours ago, shootingstar said:

I forgot about the insurance headquarters hub in Waterloo.

Here is a Google street view of the mutual building showing the light rail tracks down the middle of King st. I can remember electric trolley buses running up and down King st back in the day. 

It's great that they preserved that grand old building.

Mutual building.jpg

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10 minutes ago, Rattlecan said:

Here is a Google street view of the mutual building showing the light rail tracks down the middle of King st. I can remember electric trolley buses running up and down King st back in the day. 

Mutual building.jpg

:lol:  Wow.  I remembered a lot more big shady trees around that building. And that highrise behind it, never existed when I was a teenager!!  Yes, I took the electric trolley occasionally.  As you know HS, was just a few blocks up King St.  I've seen bits about the Iron Horse bike trail path....which is probably not a long distance path.  Still, better than nothing. I think my friend wanted to meet up with me in Toronto, instead of K-W because she was abit bored....in her early retirement (started last year).  I showed her some downtown Toronto interesting places, which she had no clue ...even though only 2-3 blocks away from where she would use same street route to get to father's place.

(I really think Toronto is a highly dynamic and creative city.  It gets a bad rap because rest of CAnada has a stereotyped, limited/narrow impression of TO. I am tired of hearing Calgary's bad mouthing about TO. They have no clue about the economic strength and creativity of Toronto.)

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14 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

  I've seen bits about the Iron Horse bike trail path

The Iron Horse runs from About William st in Waterloo to Borden in Kitchener. I have ridden it, but the last time I tried to ride it with my grand daughter, I ran into a closure where they were building the light rail.l I presume that's all fixed up now.

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On 1/2/2020 at 9:01 AM, Kzoo said:

Growing up on the other side of he state I knew very little about your side of PA.  The one understanding I did have was the Chester was not a area you wanted to grow up in.

 

I worked on the border of Chester for years. They say it was a nice city in its heyday when there was a ford engine plant there. 
 

My hometown in western pa suffered a similar loss of industry but is managing to limp along. 

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I grew up on a farm.  The farmhouse and barns are now an "estate".  The fields are littered with starter castles.  My uncles farm down the road still exists.  It's now preserved as a hysterical site as Rochambeau's troops camped out there curing the war.  I drive through that town every few years to see how much is gone, swallowed up by the modern world.
 

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Hey Toronto people, have you ever been to a little restaurant in Welland named Rinderlin's Dining Rooms?  We were there maybe 15 years ago and loved it. It was quite a find when visiting the touristy Niagara Falls area.  I'm not sure if we visited before or after they sold it.

https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/living-story/9640325-welland-now-and-then-iconic-fortner-house-once-became-dance-school-and-restaurant/

Welland Tribune story on the Rinderlins

 

B88897907Z.1_20191010193945_000_G8IOIMBV

 

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16 minutes ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said:

Hey Toronto people, have you ever been to a little restaurant in Welland named Rinderlin's Dining Rooms?  We were there maybe 15 years ago and loved it. It was quite a find when visiting the touristy Niagara Falls area.  I'm not sure if we visited before or after they sold it.

https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/living-story/9640325-welland-now-and-then-iconic-fortner-house-once-became-dance-school-and-restaurant/

Welland Tribune story on the Rinderlins

 

B88897907Z.1_20191010193945_000_G8IOIMBV

 

We were in the Niagara on the Lake region on bike this past fall, but not in Welland.  That looks like lovely old house.

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I grew up in 2 small towns near the small city I live in now. We moved to the first town when I was about 6. We moved a lot before that with Dad's work so I don't have much for memories before then. It was about 400 people. My grade school class was 12 kids; 4 boys, 8 girls. It was a very blue collar town, but a great place to be a kid! We were feral kids during the days of summer. If we weren't making wooden go-karts to push around, or riding our bikes on the unpaved streets, we were playing at the school playground or hanging out in the covered grandstand of the old baseball field. It was pretty homogenous. The Rodriguez family were the only Latinx family I knew. They lived a block away and were super nice, but Mom and Dad didn't speak a lot of English. My dad was a charter member of the volunteer fire department.

Today, the little grocery, the DX service station that would fix our bike flats, and the steak house are gone. There is a newer convenience store, but that is it for retail. They do have some industrial jobs from manufacturers that take advantage of the lower tax rates and relaxed zoning restrictions. The plot of ground that had 5 trailers where we lived is gone. Someone built a house with a larger yard there. 

The town I lived in from 7-12 grade was about 20 miles away. It has 800 people. I thought the school was huge because there were 45 in my class! It was a consolidated school with 2 other small towns included. The school was equidistant from all 3 towns in the country. 2 of the towns had drive-in restaurants with good food. The third had a steak house that was frequented by Dick Cavett and Charles Kurault among other notables. Our town had a grocery, bank, bowling alley, pharmacy and a bar. The dad of my brother's best friend owned the pharmacy. He kept the magazine rack stocked with Mad and Cracked magazine as well as Hot Rod and other publications we requested. During the summer, we lived at the brand new pool after we completed our chores or detasseling. 

Today, the grocery and pharmacy are gone. The drive-in is gone, but there is a coffee shop serves a great breakfast and lunch and the bowling alley serves lunch and supper. The service station is now a convenience store with a Subway attached. The coffee shop is owned by one of my favorite baristas when she worked in my city. WoW and I will drive out there for a brunch. I will occasionally ride my bike out there and sit for a bit as well. I always see people I know from when I grew up! My parents sold their acreage to a younger couple. They decided to burn down the house and outbuildings and start new. 

The city I live in has been a retail hub as long as I have lived in this area. I remember when all business was locally owned downtown. One of the attorneys I service has a giant mural in his office that was an aerial photograph of downtown from 1954. It wasn't too far from what I remember as a child. The current retail corridor was cornfield. In the 70s, 2 malls were built out there and business migrated away from downtown. By the late 80s, downtown was all but a ghost town. Then about 10 years ago, a couple developers started reclaiming buildings and improving to contemporary safety standards while restoring the facades to near their original appearance. The art deco Grand Theater was renovated to original appearance with state of the art sound and projection equipment. Downtown is now seeing a renaissance! The city is in some ways very different, but in some ways the same as when I was a kid. 

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I lived for a college semester just north of Bloor St., on Bedford Ave,, just north of the grounds of the University of Toronto where I completed my chemistry research: my grad. advisor at IIT was name Chair of the Chemistry Dept. at Toronto and it was arranged that I'd go up with him and finish my work and defend my thesis at IIT and get my grad. degree from IIT.

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When I retired, I bought-out my siblings interest in our late-parents house, downsized and the house looks much like it did when I was growing up, except there's now a full basement, a large, enclosed back porch, a 10' x 10' front open porch, and vinyl siding.

My parents planted a lot of trees and I've cut down all but one, a Canadian maple tree that provides a lot of backyard shade in the afternoon.

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7 hours ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said:

Hey Toronto people, have you ever been to a little restaurant in Welland named Rinderlin's Dining Rooms?  We were there maybe 15 years ago and loved it. It was quite a find when visiting the touristy Niagara Falls area.  I'm not sure if we visited before or after they sold it.

https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/living-story/9640325-welland-now-and-then-iconic-fortner-house-once-became-dance-school-and-restaurant/

Welland Tribune story on the Rinderlins

 

B88897907Z.1_20191010193945_000_G8IOIMBV

 

I have ridden through Welland enrolee to Niagara but that is it.  Never spent time there.   Thanks for the history though. :) 

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25 minutes ago, MickinMD said:

I lived for a college semester just north of Bloor St., on Bedford Ave,, just north of the grounds of the University of Toronto where I completed my chemistry research: my grad. advisor at IIT was name Chair of the Chemistry Dept. at Toronto and it was arranged that I'd go up with him and finish my work and defend my thesis at IIT and get my grad. degree from IIT.

It would have been a nice area to live in downtown Toronto.

 

21 minutes ago, MickinMD said:

When I retired, I bought-out my siblings interest in our late-parents house, downsized and the house looks much like it did when I was growing up, except there's now a full basement, a large, enclosed back porch, a 10' x 10' front open porch, and vinyl siding.

My parents planted a lot of trees and I've cut down all but one, a Canadian maple tree that provides a lot of backyard shade in the afternoon.

You did good.  My mother's house would be worth it for 1 or 2 of us (her children) to acquire since they moved in new in-fill house in an established neighbourhood in midtown Toronto with bike lane, across from school, community garden and hydro corridor park just 6 houses away, 5 min. walk from a grocery store. 10 min. walk to choice of 2 different buses to 2 different subway stations in different directions. However, not really interested in 3 level house at this time in life.

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5 hours ago, groupw said:

The city I live in has been a retail hub as long as I have lived in this area. I remember when all business was locally owned downtown. One of the attorneys I service has a giant mural in his office that was an aerial photograph of downtown from 1954. It wasn't too far from what I remember as a child. The current retail corridor was cornfield. In the 70s, 2 malls were built out there and business migrated away from downtown. By the late 80s, downtown was all but a ghost town. Then about 10 years ago, a couple developers started reclaiming buildings and improving to contemporary safety standards while restoring the facades to near their original appearance. The art deco Grand Theater was renovated to original appearance with state of the art sound and projection equipment. Downtown is now seeing a renaissance! The city is in some ways very different, but in some ways the same as when I was a kid. 

I lived in another neighbourhood where the local park down the street, was known for drug pushers with condoms and needles scattered about. The park has been totally rehabbed..and is vibrant with community events, basketball court /hoop, rink in winter, community garden....the change was partially due to the local neighbourhood lobbying for changes and also being directly involved in making those changes real with the support of Toronto municipal staff.  The park is held up a "model" example what community activism and careful city planning/programming for parks can do for improvements.

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