Historicist: "The city that nobody loves"
Elsewhere in the Ist-a-Verse
The Daily Photoist: November 23, 2009
If there was a single development in the city's history that could be said to have brought an end to the era of "Toronto the Good," the resurrection of the Entertainment District (crowned by the opening of the SkyDome) is probably it. From a Toronto where shopping on Sunday was a no-no and the nearest fun city was boom-town Buffalo, NY emerged a sea of lights, music, dance and drink in a formerly derelict warehouse district.
This map from the King-Spadina Residents Association shows The District's 82 nightclubs, 144 bars and restaurants, 20 hotels and handful of recently-built residential buildings. The neighbourhood, licensed for over 91,000 people in a 1km-square area, is rougly three times as dense as St. Jamestown and nine times as dense as New York at its maximum capacity.
It is interesting to see that the clustering of venues in Clubland, which many people consider a car-plagued zone, is so closely connected to transit corridors. It also shows relative sidewalk widths in the area. Enjoy!
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Crowned by the opening of SkyDome? Eek!
Maybe triggered by the opening of SkyDome...
It's interesting to get a bird's eye view of the happening-est place on the planet though.
I love you, Kevin, but I hate Clubland so much. It's ruined going to a place like the Paramount, or that stretch of Queen West/downtown on a Thursday or Friday night. Not that there aren't cool people who enjoy the scene, but most of the time all it does is fill me with rage for all of humanity. If anyone wants a quick and easy way to hate this city, I suggest dodging cocky, horny, horribly-dressed drunk people at 1 AM on a Thursday night.
It should be noted that the red circles also helpfully indicate both the location of sidewalk barf and 905ers.
i assume the existence of this map is because the boneheads who bought condos in the middle of the fully fledged entertainment district are now complaining about the people, noise, traffic etc.
clubland feels so foreign to me now. i have roots deep in the electronic music scene in this city, yet feel so completely NOT at home anywhere in the "heart" of the "entertainment district". the map is incredible and very detailed tho. that i like.
it's a shame that such a happening part of the city, happens to be happening with such a SHITTY crowd.
"It is interesting to see that the clustering of venues in Clubland, which many people consider a car-plagued zone, is so closely connected to transit corridors. It also shows relative sidewalk widths in the area."
Kevin I get the impression that many of the people who frequent Clubland aren't TTC riders so the transit corridors are a bit of a moot point. As for wider sidewalks, they're better to barf on, I guess.
eeep!
i love the club district!
(just not the people, the cabs, the barf, the shitty drinks or the lack of food...)
i must say that the chapters is probably my favourite part about it, though... and the movie theater has a BAR in it!!
"I want to live downtown, close to everything: work, bars, restaurants. I want life!"
"J---- C----- there are too many people here. What's with all this noise and commotion. There are too many bars, clubs, restaurants. Some of us need to sleep!"
Same Bull Shit station, same Bull Shit channel as all those people up in Etobicoke and Mississauga who complain about airport traffic (or the waterfronters who do the same). Pay attention to what's around you people. Everything is priced for a reason. If it's cheap, there could be a noise problem, traffic, people puking, crime... If you live in parkdale or Leslieville, this extends to junkies and prostitutes on your doorway.
But wait for Torontoist and the rest of the Leftists who demand dense urban living to come out in support of banning dense urban living. Idiots (but then you are on the left, so I guess I repeat myself).
The influx of 905's to clubland on the weekend is a good thing.
It really is the mark of a vibrant urban environment.
If you can't point out the people who aren't as cool as you, it is terribly hard to do the urban cool thing.
How cool would Queen West/West be if you couldn't sit at the Beaconsfield and complain about how bad clubland has become?
I agree with Alan, the influx of people to Clubland on the weekends is a good thing.
Not only does it mark Toronto as a vibrant urban centre, it's also a positive for the economy, and who doesn't enjoy sneering at the oiled up man at the party who they watch systematically attempt to pick up every girl he sees.
Clubland adds a little off it's offbeat colour to all of our lives! It's great.
Nothing wrong with Clubland. When I was younger (way younger), it was a great area to go for the weekend. It's good for the city and economy.
Skydome though did not trigger the area. It was triggered by the 1st House Music clubs to come to Toronto such as The Twilight Zone.
...ah, memories...
hey,
who here is complaining about density? we're [generally, it seems] amused not only by the new condo residents' complaints as well as the entertainment district as a whole, making us less of a stiff and more of a yahoo.
Sure, anyone living near clubs and bars can expect a reasonable amount of traffic and noise, but riding up and down the street hanging out the sunroof of an SUV screaming, "WOOOOOO!" is just being an asshole. Also: drunken people who barf in cabs should be forced to clean it up. Ask your next cab driver for some drunken tales and you'll be amazed at the nonsense those guys have to put up with from Thursday to Saturday.
I've always wondered where the idea that barfing, fighting, "hey, baby" club goers are from the 905 came from. Is there anything to substantiate this or is it just something we hear and repeat after immediately accepting as truth?
Crazy kids - I remember when there was no clubland at all. The jumping off point were a couple of bars that catered to the Thursday night business crowd from King & Bay. The first one that I can think of was a retro place - which back in 1986, meant the 50s-60s - called Studebakers. Everything else was warehouses.