In honour of St. Patrick’s Day this week … St. Patrick Street!

In the late 1800′s, what we know today as St. Patrick Street was known as William Street while St. Patrick Street back then was actually today’s Dundas West between Bathurst and University. But University Avenue at that time was called College Avenue.

Confused? Don’t worry. All you really need to know is that today St. Patrick Street – just west of University Avenue – runs north/south from Elm Street to Queen West.

It was renamed St. Patrick Street in honour of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, the fifth oldest Roman Catholic church in Toronto. Of course, in keeping with the above confusion, the address of this church is actually 153 McCaul Street, one block to the west of St. Patrick street. Go figure.

At St. Patrick Street’s south end, at Queen West, the Rex Hotel (pictured above) sits on the northeast corner. This building has been around since at least 1890 when it was the Williams Hotel. Today it is not only still a hotel but also one of the best jazz bars around. And although the Rex may not look like a dining destination, it really does have good food. Nothing fancy, just the basics, but I can personally attest to the fact that they have the best french fries ever.

Just a couple blocks north is something you don’t see everyday: a half house. No, not a half-way house, but literally a house that is cut in half. Sandwiched between the Cottage Life building at 54 St. Patrick and one of the Village by the Grange condos at 60 St. Patrick is, suitably enough, 54 1/2 St. Patrick Street…a townhouse that appears to have been sliced right down the middle. I wonder what happened to the other half?

Further north at Dundas West are the Village By the Grange mall and the 52 Division headquarters. I strongly advise that you make a habit of frequenting the former rather than the latter

The remainder of St. Patrick Street up to Elm is quiet and tree-lined with the west side dominated by St. Patrick’s German Parish Church, St. Patrick’s Catholic Church and the Chinese Catholic Centre and the east side taken up mostly by One Park Lane, an older but lovely condo building.

Unfortunately there are no Irish pubs on St. Patrick Street, but wherever you may be sipping your green beer this Thursday:

“Like the warmth of the sun
And the light of the day,
May the luck of the Irish
shine bright on your way”

Photo credit

Colborne Street is named after Sir John Colborne who was Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada from 1828 to 1836. A military officer, he was known to his soldiers as “auld grog Willie” because of the extra rum he gave them. Nice!

It runs just a few short blocks between Yonge and Church Streets nestled between King East to the north and Wellington East to the south.

I love Colborne Street for the same reasons I love any street: it’s architecture and what you can find there, but Colborne Street has that extra special something: atmosphere. I often mistakenly call it Colborne Lane, not just because Claudio Aprile’s indescribably fantastic restaurant of that name is located there but because it actually feels more like a lane than a “street”.

Many of the buildings actually front onto King or Wellington, like the King Edward Hotel for example, so when you’re walking down Colborne Street it really seems as though you are in a lane or alleyway.

There are, however, two very significant exceptions to the above: the Cosmopolitan Hotel and the block on the south side between Leader Lane and Church Street.

The Cosmopolitan Hotel is one of Toronto’s first hotel condos. The website describes it as an “oasis of Zen” and it really is an urban oasis that was apparently designed in every way to encourage optimal energy flow throughout the building in a balance of yin and yang. There’s a lovely spa on site, Shizen Spa, but for me, the real Zen experience is found in the hotel’s resto-lounge, Eight Bar. The food is good and the drinks are better. It’s one of those places you can just ask the bartender to make you something tasty – and they will and it will be!

The south side block of Colborne Street between Leader Lane and Church Street is no less than architecturally magnificent (see photo above). With the exception of PJ O’Briens, this stretch is known as the Milburn Building and is one of the remaining examples of commercial architecture by E. J. Lennox [You may know some of his other buildings: Old City Hall (swoon!), Casa Loma, the King Edward Hotel]. The style is known as Richardsonian Romanesque.

Today there is plenty to love in this block: as already mentioned, PJ O’Briens pub and Colborne Lane restaurant, representing two diametrically opposed food styles; Six Steps and Thai Dish restaurants side by side; the Bikram Yoga Centre; and if you get the urge for a made to measure suit or other custom tailoring there’s Bulloch Tailors – in business since 1938!

Can you believe that the above photo is a shot of Pottery Road, right in the middle of Toronto?

Pottery Road runs from the Bayview Extension to Broadview Avenue where it turns into Mortimer Avenue. On it’s way there it meanders across the Don River, under the DVP and around Todmorden Mills Park. It passes by Todmorden Mills Heritage Museum and Fantasy Farm, too.

And just when you think it couldn’t get better … there’s a Dairy Queen right at the top at Broadview!

Not only is Pottery Road a scenic walk, cycle or drive, but there are all kinds of good things in this part of the Don Valley.

In addition to Todmorden Mills and Fantasy Farm, there is a 9 hectare wildflower preserve behind the Todmorden Mills Heritage Museum It’s run by a group of volunteers who are working to restore the site back to something like the original vegetation prior to settlement by Europeans in the 18th Century.

There is also Crothers’ Woods – 25 hectares of woodland, meadows, wetlands, and an assortment of past and present municipal uses. The wooded area has been designated as an Environmentally Significant Area (ESA) by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. The boundaries are generally thought to include both sides of the valley that extends from Pottery Road and the Bayview Avenue extension in the south and west to the Millwood Road bridge in the east.

But do you know about the “other” Pottery Road? Just south of Moore Avenue on the north end of the Bayview Extension there is a Pottery Road sign that points to the entry for a Loblaws. This is what remains of about a 1km stretch of old Pottery Road that used to connect up with what we commonly know today as Pottery Road.

The two Pottery Roads used to be one, connecting Moore and Broadview Avenues, roughly following Cudmore Creek for much of its length, but most of the road was abandoned when the Bayview Extension was constructed in the late 1950s with the section running from Bayview to Broadview left mostly intact.

But unlike many abandoned roads, this old Pottery Road is still open and can be hiked from beginning to end.

The most visible part of the old road runs west off Bayview, just north of the current Pottery Road & Bayview Avenue intersection. It’s chained off to vehicles, but easily accessible by foot. The roadway first leads down into the Don Valley, then heads northwest, climbing up toward the CP tracks. On the other side of the tracks, the old roadway is more overgrown, but there is a clear route through the center of the growth, especially visible in the winter.

If you like to hike or cycle, you should definitely check it out. It’s a little country paradise in the middle of the city.

The Dineen Building – 2 Temperance Street

As much as I love Temperance Street, I had to think long and hard about writing about it because I’m not exactly a big fan of banning alcohol. Only because it’s downright undemocratic of course, that would be the only reason.

But when I looked into this street’s history I suddenly became a big fan of the founder of Temperance Street – Jesse Ketchum. He was a major philanthropist in the early 1800′s, supporting schools, churches, libraries and the working class in general.

He also worked closely with William Lyon Mackenzie for political reform, but his anti-violence stance meant he did not support the armed rebellion of 1837.

Temperance Street was born when Jesse, who owned a tannery at Yonge and Queen, moved his factory to Buffalo in the late 1830′s. He donated the land now known as Temperance Street so that a Temperance Hall could be built there, on the condition that alcohol never be served on this street.

Well fyi … alcohol is most certainly served on this street (sorry Jesse)! There are a few restaurants and bars on Temperance, which runs west from Yonge to just west of Bay Street and is between Adelaide and Richmond West.

My favourite thing about Temperance Street is the Dineen Building (pictured above and so named because it once housed the Dineen hat and fur showroom/workshop) at the corner of Yonge and Temperance.

In 2008, this building was finally given its heritage designation in recognition of being a surviving example of Renaissance Revival architecture.

Charlotte Street, looking south toward King West…

I know Charlotte Street isn’t very big – it only runs the one short block between Adelaide West and King West – but I was surprised (and disappointed) that I couldn’t seem to find any historical information on it at all.

Well, it may be considered “insignificant” in terms of size and historical pedigree, but I really like this street. And one of the main reasons for this is that it’s the location of The Charlotte Room.

The Charlotte Room is probably best known for its pool tables and the tournaments that take place there, but it’s also a great bar for pre-dinner drinks or just lounging around, and the food is pretty good, too. It has this cozy little nook up at the front with couches and a coffee table where you can sit and enjoy a cocktail. And it always has a photo exhibit going on – right now, the photos are mainly depictions of urban decay … a subject I find endlessly fascinating for some reason.

Charlotte Street is also the home of the Charlotte Lofts – a small “new loft” building – and Glas Condominium and is the future home of Charlie Condos.

One piece of information that I did find in my research is that Great Gulf Homes – the builder for Charlie Condos – will be including a public art installation on the site of the finished residence. I can’t wait to see what this will be!

One thing is for sure, though – with the completion of Charlie and the changes to the King West strip just to the south of it, Charlotte Street is certain to finally get the recognition it deserves. I just hope I’ll still be able to get my favourite perch at the Charlotte Room.

Draper is one of my all time favourite streets in the city. This is partly because of the age and architecture of the houses, most of which are heritage homes . In fact the whole street is designated as a Heritage Conservation District. But I also love it because it’s like a tiny oasis of quiet and charm amid what was once a largely industrialized area and is now an area in the midst of rapid revitalization and development.

Draper Street runs north-south between Front and Wellington. Its history goes back to 1882 when many of the Second Empire Victorian homes were first constructed. These homes were first built for laborers working the railway lands, but both the street and the surrounding area have changed dramatically over the past century.

Although Draper Street remained strictly residential during the overall industrialization of the King-Spadina neighbourhood in the 1900′s, the residences evolved from working class housing to homes for urban professionals.

And did you know that Lincoln Alexander, the first black member of Parliament and the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, was born in 29 Draper Street?

So as I mentioned, the surrounding areas of Front & Spadina and King West are experiencing an unprecedented pace of growth and redevelopment, bringing oodles of new shops, restaurants and residences to these neighbourhoods. I’m happy about this because I firmly believe that the central core of our city needs to focus on building vital neighbourhoods. But I’m very glad that, as a Heritage Conservation District, Draper Street is guaranteed to remain just as it is – both a present day oasis and a glimpse also into our city’s rich history.

How do you feel about graffiti? Love it, hate it, tolerate it?

What if it’s art?

This post is the first in a series I’m going to do on city streets. Now Grafiti Alley is not exactly a street, it’s an alley called Rush Lane that runs west from Spadina to Portland between Queen West and Richmond. But it’s not just for pedestrians … it’s also a valid route for vehicle traffic. So don’t get so lost in admiring the scenery that you don’t notice a car coming your way!

I’m starting this series with Graffiti Alley because I love it and it’s behind where we live. I think it’s cooool to come out my back door to this artscape and see tourists taking photos, fashion or movie shoots in progress, and unsuspecting passersby just ogling the sheer expanse of colour and design.

Two of my favourite things about Graffiti Alley are that it’s where Rick Mercer does his rant at the end of the Mercer Report AND a group of artists called Style in Progress reinvent it every year by laying down a coat of beige paint and doing their thing.

So check it out … maybe we’ll see you there!