Rakim, the Queen West Art Crawl and Private Lives

1. PRIVATE LIVES
This 1930s comedy by Noël Coward is responsible for about three quarters of romantic comedies today. Just look at the plot: divorced couple Elyot and Amanda and their respective new partners find themselves on vacation at the same hotel on (wait for it) the French Riviera. Campy, banter-laden shenanigans ensue, naturally. Kim Cattrall and Paul Gross star as the lovely ex-couple, which sounds just about perfect. Sept. 16 to Oct. 30. $35–$175. Royal Alexandra Theatre, 260 King St. W., 416-872-1212, mirvish.com.

2. STIFFED! FILM FESTIVAL
TIFF wraps up this weekend but that won’t stop this indie film fest from trying to steal its thunder just a little. The filmmakers featured at this one-day event have three things in common: they’re all Canadian, they’ve all recently directed a short film and they were all passed over for a screening at TIFF. Sept. 18. $15. The Annex Wreck Room, 794 Bathurst St., stiffedfilmfest.com.

3. QUEEN WEST ART CRAWL (FREE!)
What once was a little arty thing in the west end has become a huge, three-day event that kicks off with a gala on Friday and includes artist talks, an outdoor art show and sale and the unmissable night crawl. On Saturday night between 7 and 11 p.m., stroll along West Queen West and you’ll stumble upon the cage match edition of the popular Art Battles at Parts and Labour, karaoke and live portrait drawings at Mitzi’s Sister, a reading of “Tales of Civil Panic” by Sylvia Ziemann and tons of exhibits, live performances and other art-related wonderfulness. Sept. 16 to 18. Queen St. W. between Bathurst and Roncesvalles, queenwestartcrawl.com.

4. CANADIAN SHORELINE CLEANUP (FREE!)
This weekend will see legions of volunteers doing their part to save aquatic wildlife from rogue plastic bags and other trash. Volunteers will be cleaning up the shorelines of major bodies of water in 152 countries and logging what they find to help Ocean Conservancy put together a “global snapshot” of the pollution situation in the world’s oceans, lakes and rivers. Lake Ontario is very much on that list. Sept. 16-25. Cherry Beach and other GTA locations, 416-978-7879, shorelinecleanup.ca.

5. MANIFESTO FESTIVAL
This one is for Toronto’s hip-hop heads. An 11-day festival of art, culture and, of course, music, it includes performances, movie screenings, street dance and panel discussions and appearances from big names like Rakim and Kid Capri, Zaki Ibrahim, Afrika Bambaataa, Eternia and Michie Mee. This weekend check out the new artist showcase and the day-long celebration of women and trans artists. There’s also 106 and York, an associated festival celebrating the music scene in Jane and Finch, Rexdale and Weston-Mount Dennis. Sept. 15 to 25. Various prices. Various locations, themanifesto.ca/festival.

6. CITY CIDER
Sure, fall doesn’t technically start for another few days, but you’d never know it from the looks of this family-friendly jamboree. Snack on roasted corn and freshly pressed apple cider, tour the heritage urban apple orchard and take in some tunes by the appropriately named Toronto folk outfit Orchards. Sept. 18. $5. Spadina Museum, 285 Spadina Rd., notfarfromthetree.org.

7. TERRY FOX RUN
Every year, millions of Canadians lace up their running shoes, pull on a sweatband or two and take to the streets to raise money for the Terry Fox Foundation, which funds cancer research. Fox ran the equivalent of a marathon every day between April and September 1980—that’s 5,373 kilometres in 143 days—before he was forced to halt the Marathon of Hope when his primary bone cancer spread to his lungs. Even after all these years, it’s hard not to be inspired. Sept. 18. Various locations, 416-924-8252, terryfox.org.

8. FLEURETTE AFRICAINE
Inspired by the Duke Ellington composition of the same name, this poignant performance explores the complicated relationships between the African continent and its diaspora in Canada and around the world. An interdisciplinary undertaking by the new Wind in the Leaves Collective, the show is part dance, part poetry and part visual art. Sept. 17. $20. Dancemakers, Distillery District, Case Goods Warehouse, 55 Mill St., Bldg. 74, Suites 313 and 314, facebook.com/windintheleavescollective.

(Images: Rakim, Flowizm; Art Crawl, Alfred Ng from the Torontolife.com Flickr pool; Private Lives, Nobby Clark)

By Anupa Mistry

(Image: Gluekit; D-Sisive by Melanie Moore; Shad by Christine Lim; Drake by Christian Lapid/CP Images; Airplane Boys by Justin Create)

At 3:46 a.m. on December 12, 2010, a post titled “Introducing The Weeknd” appeared on the blog of Toronto’s most famous rapper, Drake. Two songs—“What You Need” and “The Morning”—revealed a new R&B singer to the world and kick-started a rabid following. The Weeknd’s free nine-song release House of Balloons garnered 200,000 downloads in its first three weeks, and his videos have been watched on YouTube hundreds of thousands of times. It’s been a rapid rise, like that of his mentor, Drake, whose 2010 full-length debut Thank Me Later went platinum in the U.S. just over a month after its release. This is Toronto’s hip-hop moment, and the city’s steadfast identity as safe, stable and middle-class—once the basis of its lack of rap credibility­—is the reason.

In hip-hop parlance, Toronto is “soft,” lacking the crack epidemics, gang violence and grizzled, weary profile of traditional centres such as south central Los Angeles or the boroughs of New York City. Yes, we have intermittent gunplay, as well as geographically isolated neighbourhoods where largely non-white populations deal with urban ills and low incomes. But the experience of urban poverty here doesn’t compare to that in the United States, which has been rigidly tied to hip hop’s ascent and cultural legacy for three decades. When the children of Toronto’s working-class West Indian immigrants first tried their hands at hip hop, U.S. audiences couldn’t relate to their identity woes and patois cadence. There were hard-won Junos and a brief stretch of identifiable party-rap hits in the early to mid-’00s (Kardinal Offishall’s “Bakardi Slang” comes to mind), but local hip hop never achieved more than token success. Toronto was long ago christened rap’s “Screwface Capital,” a hard-sell place where critical audiences greeted musicians with crossed arms and raised brows. Until Drake, hip hop in Toronto was in an eternally nascent state.

Then there he was, on the hip-hop canon Vibe: a handsome, mixed-race Degrassi actor–turned-pretty-boy rapper with a Jewish mom and a Forest Hill postal code. Drake’s 2009 cover both heralded his arrival and epitomized the Toronto rapper in the popular imagination: unadorned save two thumb-sized pendants (one a diamond-studded Hebrew chai) and a fitted, all-black baseball cap with the throwback Blue Jays logo, tilting his head with just enough bravado. Drake, unashamed of his mild origins, doesn’t co-opt clichéd thug tropes like gunslinging and drug dealing. The message in “Fancy,” from Thank Me Later, was new: “Shout-out to the homeowners, the girls that got diplomas,” he rapped, earning lusty squeals from the multiracial women squeezed into the front rows of his shows. Drake’s empowerment message is familiar to the average Toronto listener: real estate, higher education, financial independence.

The timing is right for hip hop’s middle-class ascension. The genre’s late-’70s and early-’80s roots focused on persevering (and partying) through racially based strife. Later, Top 40 successes translated into a celebration by the nouveau riche, when cash ruled everything around hip hop. Bling travelled the arc from joyful to obnoxious to ludicrous. In mid-2009, as the U.S. economy was swaying, Florida singer/rapper T-Pain posted a photo of his latest acquisition on Twitter: a gaudy, seven-and-a-half-pound, 197-karat-gold necklace reading, in cartoonish font, “BIG ASS CHAIN.” He battled a huge wave of criticism over the necklace’s frivolity (his retort included calling himself “Señor Recession-Proof”). Meanwhile, Kanye West, the son of a photojournalist and a college professor, had become rap’s reigning star. The higher-education theme of his first three albums—College Dropout, Late Registration and Graduation—was groundbreaking territory for hip hop, and Kanye vaulted over the genre’s dogged insistence on hardscrabble origins to bridge rap’s wordy, cerebral underground with its flashy, commercial face. Middle-class kids like Drake could now be taken seriously (assuming they had skills). His success, in turn, gave Toronto musicians the confidence to move from imitating U.S. rappers to self-actualized realizations of more genuine artistry.

The Drake Hotel (Image: Amber Dawn Pullen)

Since the day its current incarnation opened—Valentine’s Day, 2004—the Drake Hotel has been the restless centre of West Queen West. Unable to remain contained in its original building, the self-proclaimed “hotbed for culture” spread east, spawning a retail shop and barbecue joint. And now, as part of its seventh anniversary celebration, the Drake has announced that it will be expanding yet again. The plan is to provide additional rooms, new menu items, and enhanced performance and exhibit spaces for artists.

What a difference a year makes: The Drake General Store and what eventually became the Drake BBQ in February 2010 (Image: Grant Hollingworth)

“We’ve been thinking about the expansion for quite a while now; it’s sort of been in fruition almost since the opening,” Ana Yuristy, director of hotel operations, told us, adding that the new guest rooms will be just east of the main hotel. Owner Jeff Stober purchased the buildings next door early on—those that house the Drake General Store and Drake BBQ—and it’s the space above these that will be filled in with additional rooms.

The Drake has partnered with local architecture firm ERA Architects Inc. on the expansion, along with a yet-to-be-announced international design firm. ERA’s  portfolio reveals the firm’s familiarity with iconic Toronto buildings, including helping to restore the Distillery District and adapt Maple Leaf Gardens for reuse. “We’ve moved very slowly and very cautiously just to make sure that it’s really clear how committed we are to the neighbourhood and especially to the scale of the neighbourhood,” says Yuristy. “It’s gone through a lot of change, so [we wanted] to find a plan that will be exciting and appropriate for all the stakeholders in the area.”

While it’s much too early to have a new menu set, Yuristy says ventures—such as the pop-up ice cream shop this past summer and the Drake BBQ—are part of trying out new ideas for the future: “We’ve been playing with different food concepts over the past couple of summers…to experiment with what kind of food concepts we might further develop for the expansion.” Like the Drake’s current food offerings, the updated menu is sure to carry the fresh and local ethos dear to the heart of executive chef Anthony Rose. The expansion will also allow the Drake to extend visual and performance art platforms that Yuristy hopes will attract even higher calibre shows and performances.

In a press release, Stober said he’s thankful for the Drake’s success so far and excited about what the future holds for the hotel: “Being a Toronto-founded company, we are very proud of the outstanding community support we’ve received…. We now look to growth as a means of further developing our lifestyle brand and enhancing our hotel.” Yuristy echoed Stober’s sentiments, admitting that although many details about the expansions have yet to be finalized, the team couldn’t wait to let the cat out of the bag. While no clear timeline has been announced, more details will come in early spring.  Stay tuned.

(Image: café light, Gary J. Wood)

(Image: Renée Suen, from the torontolife.com Flickr pool)

January is upon us, and for many hungry Torontonians, that means one thing: Winterlicious. The menus are less predictable than previous years—crème brûlée’s out,  lentils du Puy are in—so even the ’Licious haters might have a reason to take advantage of the festival this year. We’ve already named the 12 menus that we think are the best bets, but that doesn’t begin to cover it. Here, find Toronto Life’s 62 favourite Winterlicious restaurants, complete with menus, reviews and reservation numbers.

Winterlicious runs from January 28 to February 10. Reservations are accepted from January 13 onward (January 11 for American Express users).

In opening up the shop a few weeks ago, Turner wasn’t trying to make inroads into the city’s growing craft coffee scene (Parkdale’s caffeinated set already has options on that front, like Cherry Bomb and Capital). Instead, he’s just looking to offer fair-trade, organic java at a good price—single espressos are just $1.75, taxes in—and without the attitude. “We just want to give good coffee to everybody,” Turner says. “We don’t want to be too elitist.”

That said, the new shop fits right in with its West Queen West surroundings. Nearly all the furniture is second-hand, including a set of shelves discovered on a curb, and a table in the back “chill-out” area that was fashioned out of an old door.

All the coffee is sourced from Guelph’s Planet Bean and is also sold in bulk ($4 per 100 grams). Rounding out the user experience is free Wi-Fi, plenty of seating and pastries from Circles and Squares. For now, the shop’s hoping to pick up on the boom of new businesses in the area, as well as the void left by a recently closed big guy nearby: Coffee Time.

The Big Guy’s Coffee Shop, 1718 Queen St. W., 416-389-1161, Facebook page.

(Images: Jon Sufrin)

Ring my bell: Cutrara and company get a green thumbs-up (Image: Google)

When it comes to providing environmentally sustainable cuisine, locavore haven Cowbell walks the walk, according to Leaders in Environmentally Accountable Foodservice (LEAF). The new Alberta-based organization, which aims to help diners recognize green restaurants, spent hours extensively examining Cowbell’s energy and water use, its menu and the way it deals with waste and recycling, among other criteria, before giving Cowbell the distinction of being the first LEAF-certified restaurant in Toronto.

Mark Cutrara, Cowbell’s co-owner, considers it an honour. LEAF offers a certification on three levels, with three representing the ultimate in culinary green-dom. Cowbell got a level two, but Cutrara says it’s difficult for a non-vegetarian restaurant to get much higher—and if there’s anything Cowbell is not, it’s vegetarian. “Meat production in itself is less sustainable,” he says. “And I’m not about to go and change the name of the restaurant to Veg-Bell.”

LEAF was particularly impressed with Cowbell’s dedication to buying local—almost always within 200 kilometres of its Parkdale locale—and its policy of buying direct from farms and using whole animals. The fact that Cowbell uses lots of second-hand decor (salvaged tabletops and cabinets, old church pews for seating) was also acknowledged, though we wonder if LEAF is aware that just about every other bar and restaurant on West Queen West is decked out in old stuff, too.

Other restaurants that have been certified include River Café in Calgary and RAW Fernie in B.C. All certified restaurants have to pass yearly audits to retain their certification.

The finished product of the Dufferin Jog correction looks remarkably like this artist's conception (Image: St. Lawrence)

Two things happened under a rail bridge in Parkdale yesterday: Dufferin Street was straightened out after a century, and mayor David Miller got an end-of-term (and desperately needed) boost to his credibility. Construction is now complete on the three-year project to eliminate the Dufferin Street jog, which heretofore forced drivers to use Gladstone, Peel and Queen West in order to go north or south.

Some are happy. Councillor Gord Perks, perhaps forgetting he was speaking to media, told the Star, “I’m tickled pink.” Others, like the National Post, are harder to please. It’s already looking ahead to other jogs that should be fixed—namely, the one at Gerrard and Pape.

We’re not going to hold our breath for other awkward road problems to be fixed, seeing as how this one cost about $40 million (although it came in right on budget). If we’re to believe Rob Ford, that’s about 8,000 fewer “free” lunches at city hall.

• ‘Dufferin Street Jog’ now a fast, straight run [Toronto Star]
• Dufferin to jog no more [National Post]

Remember West Queen West before it was a zoo? The folks at Churchill, Little Portugal’s newest bar, sure do. The owners of the new place are looking to resurrect that 2006 feeling, one street north. Churchill, staffed by Parkdale expats, joins Camp 4, Red Light and Brockton General in the glut of lo-fi-vibe bars that seem to be spilling off Ossington onto Dundas West.

If Lounge, the business that formerly occupied this space, was an upscale sports bar better known for attracting cops from a nearby precinct than the cool kids of Ossington. Churchill’s owners saw an opportunity to change all that. “They weren’t having tons of success with If Lounge, so they wanted to take a step back and give it a whole new style,” says general manager Kathryn Bates, who draws staff from a cocktail of Queen West hot spots, including the Drake, the Gladstone and the Beaconsfield (Bates’ own alma mater). “Now it has more of a west-end feel,” says Bates. “Some nights, I feel like it’s a Beaconsfield flashback from three years ago.”

Post-renovation, Churchill’s decor reads like a late-2000s trend guide: there’s a chalkboard wall and loads of reclaimed wood, all lit with neon bulb light fixtures and utility lantern sconces. The cheery, casual space reverberates with amped-up ’80s classic rock, ’90s R&B and nostalgic pop. Thirty-somethings looking for a throwback will swoon for specialty nights, like Wednesday’s Motown Philly with DJ Asia.

Behind the bar, signature drinks, served in no-fuss highballs, include the pucker-producing Dahna Grossi. The house favourite, which is named for a Beaconsfield bartender, is made with gin, Campari, grapefruit juice and cava. Beer is also big, along with bourbon and whiskey. A full menu is on the horizon (think simple, seasonal and locally focused dishes), but Bates is still searching for the perfect chef to make Churchill the complete package just off the Louboutin-beaten path.

“Dundas West is becoming a destination,” says Bates. “I think people are always looking for something that’s new and that you can call your own before it becomes public knowledge.”

Churchill, 1212 Dundas St. W. (at Ossington), 416-588-4900, Facebook page.

(Images: Davida Aronovitch)

Ruins has been lovingly renovated by the owners and their friends (Image: Hayley Murray)

The place: Impresario turned storekeeper Mikey Apples’ résumé lists several vocations: band manager, wardrobe assistant and vintage picker. So it’s fitting that Ruins, the menswear shop he owns with Josh Reichmann, another music industry veteran, functions as a cultural hub on Queen West. The store displays works by local artists, hosts shows by up-and-coming musicians and stocks obscure fashion tomes.

The owners and their friends did all the renovations, down to the metal window cages, fashioned by publisher, artist and smithy Tony Romano. A gothic archway salvaged from a church outside Toronto leads to Leonard’s—the in-house salon—where clients can go for a straight-razor shave.

The stuff: A deconstructed black wool blazer by Assembly New York ($425) is characteristic of the lean silhouette and rakish, slightly dishevelled look favoured by the store. Pendleton’s plaid and Native American motifs accent a mostly dark colour scheme. The store sells primarily men’s clothing, but there is a small selection that is geared toward women who like more masculine cuts. A curated selection of vintage pieces hangs on the racks, including a women’s blouse in royal blue silk ($35) and a men’s ’50s gabardine jacket ($250).

The shoppers: Williamsburg transplants searching for pieces of Americana, and urban beatniks with Jack Kerouac meets Ian Curtis style.

Our favourite thing: The H by Hudson lace-up grey leather ankle boots ($295). Pieces by British shoemaker Hudson’s “errant younger brother” are made with the same level of craftsmanship as the brogues, but the kicks tend toward younger, edgier styles. All the leather is washed, so the boots have the character of an old denim jacket or a slightly threadbare sofa.

Ruins, 960 Queen St. W., 647-351-0960, ruinstoronto.com.

The interior of Bar Salumi. Volano meat slicer located near bottom left (Images: Jon Sufrin)

Inside Queen West’s new Bar Salumi—under hanging Berkshire prosciutto, garlands of hot peppers and a wild boar’s head—sits the Ferrari of all meat slicers: a Volano. In the hands of the right operator, the apparatus is supposed to make a perfect slice every time. Michael Sangregorio and Fabio Bondi, Bar Salumi’s owners, are hoping to become such operators. “It’s the most expensive thing in the entire bar,” says Sangregorio, who likens it to a Swiss watch. Bondi admits they’re trying to figure out how to use it to its full potential.

We have reason to believe in them; after all, Sangregorio and Bondi are the duo behind Local Kitchen and Wine Bar, which was named one of the best new restaurants of the year. Bar Salumi (Italian for charcuterie) is their “aperitif and piattini bar,” set in a former antique shop just a few doors down from the flagship. The menu here looks simple, but the small appetizer plates are scrupulously prepared. Take the octopus ($8)—pounded out and submerged in a braising liquid for two hours with bay leaves, salt, lemons and wine corks (for tenderizing)—or the sardines ($8), which are deboned by hand and cured in salt and sugar for two hours, then brined in orange juice, limoncello, white wine vinegar, olive oil and parsley for 24 hours, and finally served on a crostino.

While the owners hope the bar will become a destination in its own right, it was partially intended to handle overflow from Local Kitchen. Here, customers can indulge in four takes on the negroni (a gin-based cocktail, $10), a compact selection of wines and, of course, a variety of cured meats and cheeses while waiting for a table down the street. It’s a more lucrative alternative to sending customers over to Parts and Labour, and with the success of the similarly inspired Hoof Café, Sangregorio and Bondi have good reason to hope for two nearly side-by-side ventures to pay off.

Bar Salumi, 1704 Queen St. W. (at Roncesvalles Ave.), 416-588-0100.

Left to right: the sign on Queen Street West, a sardine on crostino, some delicious decor (Images: Jon Sufrin)

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BRIDLE PATH
The Bridle Path is the place people go to flash their money, and prices here are based as much on bragging rights as market value. Though the high end of the market is more stable, average home prices took a tumble between 2008 and 2009, from more than $4 million to less than $2 million. In 2007, a two-storey villa at 12A Park Circle was listed at $6.25 million, and when it was on the market again in 2009, it dropped to $4.9. Properties below the $2‑million mark, for which there is more demand, are usually safe.
Risk Assessment: Medium

FOREST HILL
There are two sides to Forest Hill. The lots on the classic inner streets—Dunvegan, Old Forest Hill Road—are about as safe as it gets in Toronto. Forest Hill is also (relatively) tear-down tolerant, unlike Rosedale. But there are the less prestigious and riskier streets like Heath, just north of St. Clair, where people buy to say they’re in Forest Hill. These streets, bordered by apartments and rentals, don’t have the same cachet. The house at 35 Heath, originally listed in January 2008 at $2,325,000, dropped six months later to $2,079,000.
Risk Assessment: Very low

ROSEDALE
Some experts say the quintessential Toronto establishment neighbourhood has suffered financially from its historical designation. Fewer options for renovation and practically none for tear-downs (Heather and Gerry notwithstanding) make it a like-it-or-lump-it community. Those who like it like it a lot, and you don’t see much price spiralling on Cluny or Binscarth or Beaumont during bubbles. Crashes? Sure, a lot of brokers and traders live here, but Rosedale’s residents aren’t often worried by interest rates.
Risk Assessment: Very low

THE ANNEX
The Annex is a gem, if not a flawless one. Values here will remain more stable than most in the city, but the closer you get to Dupont, the more house prices are subject to correction once the market cools down. One unrenovated Dupont house right beside the tracks was listed for $549,000 and sold for $715,000 this past April after getting multiple offers. When this bubble deflates, those buyers are going to start hearing that train and feeling the walls shake, and future buyers will be reluctant to meet the same inflated price.
Risk Assessment: Low

YORKVILLE
Yorkville is big with the money people, who like the narrow Victorian houses and the plush new condos for their proximity to financial industry watering holes like L’Unità. According to one agent who specializes in the area, York­ville became a dead zone in 2008 while easily spooked buyers waited and watched. Then it spun on its heels; this year, prices rocketed (one house that was listed at $2.6 million in 2006 was relisted at $3.9 million this spring) and buyers lined up.
Risk Assessment: Very low

KINGSWAY
This is the very definition of a stable neighbourhood. Buyers put down roots and stay put. Such streets as Prince Edward and King Georges, Wendover and Kings Lynn will not lose their value except in the most extreme circumstances, like a worldwide financial meltdown. There are a few exceptions, including houses beside the railroad along Westrose Avenue. 106 Westrose was listed at $829,000 in October 2008, before the downturn had registered in some sellers’ minds. It was back on the market a year later, and the price had fallen to $679,000.
Risk Assessment: Very low

RONCESVALLES
Roncesvalles is one of those hot neighbourhoods surrounded by less gentrified strips, and, as such, not every street is prime. The centre of the ’hood is strong, among the fastest and most steadily appreciating neighbourhoods in the city according to the CMHC. Garden, Galley, Fern and the middle section of Sorauren are highly sought after by young families. The riskier streets are to the north and south, bordering stagnant commercial stretches of Dundas West and Parkdale.
Risk Assessment: Low

TRINITY-BELLWOODS
Small-scale development in this neighbourhood is catering to 30‑something buyers who want a piece of the West Queen West action but think the cheaper properties west of Dufferin are a little too remote. The neighbourhood includes such perpetually upward-trending spots as the Ossing­ton strip and the streets surrounding the park, like idyllic Gore Vale, Claremont and Crawford. The construction around CAMH guarantees a good investment on such nearby streets as Fenning, Brookfield and Givins.
Risk Assessment: Low

DANFORTH VILLAGE
According to the CMHC, one of the few organizations that reliably crunches real estate data on a neighbourhood level, Danforth Village, with an average house price of about $425,000, is one of the areas that offers the highest potential for price growth in the mid-term. It is also a prime candidate for precipitous depreciation, since cautious buyers would be less likely to take a chance on the next-big-thing area during uncertain times. The farther east along the Danforth, the less likely it is that houses will retain their value in a downturn.
Risk Assessment: Medium-high

THE BEACH
The Beach is one of those neighbourhoods dominated by middle-aged, double-income people who, in the minds of some mortgage brokers, are striving a little too hard for what they think they deserve and, as a result, commit too large a proportion of their income to a mortgage. These are the people who are most likely to be tipped over the edge by even modest increases in interest rates, which could result in block after block of “For Sale” signs in the not too distant future. The safest spots, value wise, will be the closest to the lake.
Risk Assessment: Medium

LESLIEVILLE
This neighbourhood of artsy 30-somethings was up-and-coming a decade ago and has now mostly arrived. The stock is still dominated by modest two-storey semis, and the renos have been minimal, kept mostly to interiors. The weak spots here are along the railroad to the east, busy thoroughfares Gerrard, Queen and Eastern, and the seedy bits between Coxwell and Woodbine.
Risk Assessment: Medium-high

LEASIDE
Average house prices here were about $740,000 this year, or half what they are in Benning­ton Heights, immediately south of Leaside. With most of the same amenities and proximities, this would make Leaside a good bet for value retention, were it not for that pesky demographic of over-reachers looking for the poor man’s Moore Park and Lawrence Park. Many residents are young families with stretched resources, making them especially vulnerable to rising interest rates.
Risk Assessment: Medium

THE JUNCTION
Despite all the hype, the cool cafés and the gourmet chocolate shops, house prices in this not-quite-arrived part of town sit at the
relatively low average of $455,000. The main commercial strip on Dundas West is still gap-toothed, with vacancies and junk shops in the spaces between the new doggie daycares and raw food bars. As High Park and Bloor West Village continue their climbs, the Junction will continue to benefit from the runoff, but the fact that it’s not Bloor West Village tends to loom larger when the market wobbles.
Risk Assessment: Medium-high

PARKDALE
Once the very definition of Toronto grit, Parkdale has followed a familiar gentle upward arc out of the bargain basement. But, like the Junction, the grit hasn’t been totally eradicated, and the plethora of dollar stores, payday loan companies and soup kitchens is still a huge disincentive. A detached Victorian at 1586 King West demonstrates the fragility of the newly high Parkdale prices: listed at $589,900 in the heady days of early 2007, it was back on the market at a humbled $539,000 exactly two years later, an 8.6 per cent drop in 24 months.
Risk Assessment: Medium-high

BLOOR WEST VILLAGE
Bloor West Village is another well-established neighbourhood, close to High Park and ritzy Baby Point, out of the downtown fray but near enough by car and transit. Eighty per cent of houses, mostly detached homes built between 1946 and 1970, sell for between $500,000 and $750,000—higher near Bloor’s commercial strip. Prices are less stable to the north, where Dundas is a light-industrial mayhem of auto body shops and KFCs, and to the west, close to Jane Street’s modest bungalows and low-end commercial strip.
Risk Assessment: Low

HARBOURFRONT-CITYPLACE
The average unit price in condo town is about $350,000. There are plenty of jittery first-time buyers moving in, possibly not entirely aware of the ramifications of changing interest rates. It’s also prime investor territory. According to the CMHC, between 30 and 40 per cent of Toronto’s condos are owned by people who either rent them out or flip for a profit. In CityPlace, that figure is likely even higher. Investors are a fickle lot, and even a slight downturn or increase in interest rates could prompt a wave of sales, which by definition would dampen prices.
Risk Assessment: High

YONGE AND SHEPPARD
Though the neighbourhood is undoubtedly gaining in value in the long term, with the enormous amount of condo development, a Whole Foods moving in, and easy access to the TTC and the commuter highways, Yonge and Sheppard stands to lose a lot from a bubble deflation. It isn’t yet established as a neighbourhood per se, which means people could very well be buying just because interest rates are low, rather than being especially attracted to the place itself. And simple laws of supply and demand suggest prices will take a tumble.
Risk Assessment: Medium-high

RIVERDALE
This is one of the city’s can’t-go-wrong neighbourhoods, its upward rise seemingly unstoppable. Given its proximity to the core and to Withrow Park, plus the healthy commercial strip on Danforth, there’s little chance prices will suffer from a burst bubble. Even the demographic is more stable than, say, the Beach, which has the same working-age cohort but more children and, as a result, far more stretched lines of credit.
Risk Assessment: Very low

YONGE-EGLINTON
Yonge and Eglinton has the advantage of being a destination neighbourhood. There is a Yonge and Eg type: young but not too young, family just started. Tucked between Forest Hill and Lawrence Park, the area is aspirational without being out of reach, which may be the root of its one problem: the neighbourhood’s $500,000 to $800,000 houses are within reach of double-earning new parents but an interest-rate percentage point away from being too much to handle.
Risk Assessment: Medium

BAYVIEW VILLAGE
Though it’s increasingly known for high-end condos, this is also one of the most popular neighbourhoods for first-time buyers looking for homes below the GTA average price. They tend to find these in the mid-range buildings (like 3 Rean Drive), which go for less per square foot than their downtown counterparts. Bayview Village’s weak spot is its single family dwellings, especially its 1960s bungalows. They often sell as tear-downs for $500,000 and are easy targets for a price correction.
Risk Assessment: Medium-high

(Images: Ryan Szulc; Roncesvalles, Bloor West Village, The Beach, Leslieville and Harbourfront by Devin Jeffrey)

HOW DID WE DO IT? While the Great Recession battered other cities, Toronto has emerged triumphant—Bay Street is bullish, our real estate market is hot, and the streets are sparkling for this month’s G20. Yes, our success has a lot to do with our stingy financial system, but it’s also because smart, interesting people move here every day, attracted to a city that’s challenging and gritty and exciting and indulgent (we have a restaurant dedicated entirely to grilled cheese sandwiches, Reason No. 2). If Torontonians have one shared flaw, it’s that we’re pathologically reluctant to acknowledge our greatness. Now, more than ever, we have reasons to brag

See the reasons »

So excited he must be an east-ender (Image: Sam Pullara)

For those who believe the hype, the iPad is capable of doing just about anything. Well, it can’t make phone calls, but apparently it can perpetuate Toronto’s east-west stereotypes like nobody’s business.

As if the iPad needed more publicity, the Star casually took one into various cafés throughout the city just to see what would happen (for the record, the Globe’s Amy Verner did this weeks ago). Patron reactions to the much-coveted device were nearly comical in their predictability: with few exceptions, east-enders acted as if the Messiah had returned (or finally arrived, to be PC about it), while west-enders sipped their lattes with studied indifference.

Various media organizations (including ourselves) have tried, with little success, to determine which end of the city is cooler, but the iPad managed to elicit this telling quote:

“I’ve never been this excited about a piece of technology,” one east-ender told the Star. “I’ve only seen it on Oprah so far.”

Please. A west-ender would never outwardly display enthusiasm, let alone admit to watching Oprah. While it’s nice to have the east-west debate nudged forward one step, we would prefer the Star to conduct real investigations, into such matters as who is or is not hanging out with busty hookers.

• West Queen West too cool for the iPad [Toronto Star]

Sound and fury: many are irked by the loud revellers in West Queen West (Image: 416style)

There was the moratorium on new restaurants on Ossington, the end of community pizza nights at Christie Pits and the brouhaha over Ici Bistro because teenage gangs were attracted to J.P. Challet’s croissants. Now the Star is reporting that West Queen West is a hotbed of hooligans because places like The Drake are serving more booze than food (somehow, this is news). Customers leaving these establishments are noisy and have a penchant for “public urination and vomiting,” says the paper. It’s an old neighbourhood issue that has flared up again, with local councillors Adam Giambrone and Gord Perks wondering if the city should cap the number of bars on Queen West. There’s just one problem: technically, Toronto has no bars.

The city doesn’t have a separate classification for bars or “taverns,” since the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario made it mandatory for establishments that serve alcohol to provide food back in the early ’90s. The result: the line between a restaurant that serves alcohol and a bar that serves food is as blurred as a trendster’s vision when he stumbles out of the Double Deuce.

The concerned councillors say they want the city to come up with bylaws to limit the number of bars in a neighbourhood—some residents signed a petition to that effect last year. If they want to, they’d better be quick: The Savoy, a new watering hole, just opened. Plus, three condo complexes are going up fast along the strip. All those new residents are going to need somewhere to drink.

• When is a restaurant really just a bar? [Toronto Star]