Blamblog - Brett Lamb's Blog

Thursday, March 11, 2010

West Goes East

A West-Ender's Guide to East Toronto

I've been meaning to post about our move east, but now I don't have to. Today's issue of NOW Magazine takes a look at Toronto's East vs. West divide: people in this city tend to associate themselves with the side of Yonge Street, the city's spine, they live on. In the past there's been very little cross-pollination; west-enders stay in the west and east-enders stay in the east. As a west-ender, I once didn't cross the valley for five years in a row ... and I still don't have a good sense of the layout of the east. Where exactly is the "Upper Beach"? St. Clair & Victoria Park?

But NOW missed the real story. Six years ago, some friends moved from Little Italy to Leslieville (which was a barren, neglected stretch of Queen Street East at the time). I thought they were nuts: why would anyone move EAST? A year later another friend moved to Leslieville. The trickle continued and more friends moved east until we ourselves picked up and left for Leslieville in December (joined by more friends all moving at roughly the same time). This was a story we heard over and over as we were house-hunting: priced out of the west, people are migrating east in droves.

[above] one difference: the west end is mostly deforested compared to the east. Leslieville even has a spring 'tree festival'..

For us, it was a no-brainer. We were priced out of the crappier parts of the west end and by moving east we traded up in almost every way that matters. Out in the shadow of the Dufferin Mall, it was a minimum ten-minute walk to do or get anything ... here in the east, we have everything we need within a few blocks. Some trades are significant; we have a galaxy-class LCBO compared to the tiny Parkdale & Little Portugal stores we used to rely on. And we can walk up and get Indian take-out any time we need it (which seems to be often). We even have a little French cafe right on our corner ... but it's run by west-enders.

[above] one trade-up: parks and the dog beach. A year ago, we didn't even know the dog beaches existed.

Because we've only been here for a few months, we're seeing the neighbourhood with fresh eyes, so here's my 2 cents on NOW's coverage.

In NOW's feature, Michael Hollett defends the east and Josh Errett defends the west. I thought Hollettt lived out here, but after reading his east end article, I have my doubts:

East-enders know that pedestrian traffic, even late at night, helps make a neighbourhood safe, not surly, and the ease with which our latest fun ’hood, Leslieville, has sprung to life with an ever-increasing number of excellent galleries, restos and bars illustrates this.

Um, no Mike, east enders don't know this. Dufferin & College has more pedestrian traffic than Leslieville, especially at night when Leslievile turns into a ghost town. Heck, Bloor & Lansdowne has more nightlife. And the Danforth has one little stretch that's walkable. The west has far more pedestrians and far fewer front yard parking pads, than the east. I actually signed a petition the other day to help a new pizza place -- a really nice pizza place -- get a liquor license because a neighbour opposes the place being open after 8pm. It's on QUEEN STREET, why wouldn't it be open after 8pm?

Josh does a better job although, being Josh, he does it in a bit of a dickish way. But he mucks up at the end:

The East lacks that ability to reinvent itself. It is staid, which ultimately spells boring. Greektown along the Danforth is a prime example; it hasn’t changed in nearly 40 years, and probably never will.

Stupid thing to say at a time when the east is rapidly reinventing itself. See paragraph 2, above.

[above] Even the people in Leslieville have told us that the Beach residents are a bunch of conservative douchebags.

But while the divide is real, it's not really a fair comparison. The city's centre of gravity really is in the west and the east is smaller and quieter. To paraphrase 30 Rock: the east end is just like the west end, just without all the stuff!

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