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A Toronto Star story on the changing face of Queen St. W. notes it hasn't been the same since the MuchMusic of old disappeared for good.
And now CP24 has moved out, too, even if the old Live Eye (formerly CityPulse) news truck remains in that wall.
Queen West used to be the heart of Toronto. How did it go so wrong?
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I might be over-explaining things here, but here I go. The story of Queen West is similar to other urban areas in the world today, including some others in Toronto. Excessive gentrification increased real estate costs to levels untenable by many more blue-collar businesses and residents and sadly live music has suffered among the worst losses even before 2020 despite it literally being a near billion-dollar industry just in Toronto itself as of 2019.
Other urban areas such as Liberty Village, the "main drag" of Yonge Street, the re-developed Regent Park and the eastern waterfront becoming desirable residential neighborhoods for the demographics that Queen West has traditionally catered to might also be another factor, although they too are affected by higher real estate costs. Simply put, although the "cheap rent" that put the area and its counterparts in other cities on that cultural map no longer exists in Toronto or many other cities, there are also a lot more choices of cool trendy places for those interested in good urban living today than in the 1970s and '80s.
The suburbs are also urbanizing to some extent. In exchange for coping with what is currently a more car-centric landscape, more rudimentary public transportation and slimmer offerings of "stuff to do" without making the trek to urban Toronto, an artist or professional of any age might find slightly cheaper rent or real estate prices in, for one good example, Mississauga City Centre; a rapidly emerging and urbanizing "downtown-to-be" with a new light rail line opening soon that will have a dedicated loop running right through it, drastically improving connectivity to local GO Transit stations and will create strong incentives for urban re-development up and down Hurontario Street.
The media landscape is another obvious factor. Traditional media is plagued with aggressive cost-cutting, and the latest manifestation of this has been the transfer of Bell Media's Toronto operations from the legendary and iconic 299 Queen Street west to the CFTO (CTV Toronto) studios at Nine Channel Nine court in suburban Scarborough, leaving another cultural and financial vacuum in the area that will need to be filled by something.
What's not diminishing however is digital content creation for social media, which can be done quite easily by non-formally trained individuals with simple, affordable and obtainable equipment without the need for elaborate studios or space for complex equipment. This allows YouTubers, vloggers, influencers, etc. to easily base their operations out of their homes and/or simple shared commercial workspaces, making them a major, even if less evidently visible presence in many communities far and wide.
Last edited by tdotwriter (January 4, 2025 2:02 pm)
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RadioActive wrote:
A Toronto Star story on the changing face of Queen St. W. notes it hasn't been the same since the MuchMusic of old disappeared for good.
And now CP24 has moved out, too, even if the old Live Eye (formerly CityPulse) news truck remains in that wall.
Queen West used to be the heart of Toronto. How did it go so wrong?
I used to work on Queen West and was back there in November for the first time in years. I read this article and it is bang on. All the developments etc. have sucked the soul out of this once vibrant stretch. I didn’t see one music store or book store, just chain stores, sad. I would spend half my pay there before I got home! At least I was lucky to have experienced it when it was alive. Good piece by the Star, thanks for sharing RA.
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Binson Echorec wrote:
I'm currently sitting at a desk my parents bought from a furniture place on Queen West (near Beverly maybe?) in 1984. For me, the vibe that was Queen W. started changing once the army surplus store disappeared.
I think that when the Silver Snail moved away, that was when Queen West started the downward spiral, followed by Bakka Books, then, the Beverly Tavern and the Bamboo. They all Said “Queen West” to me.
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I spent many happy hours in Active Surplus buying parts for electronics projects. In the 1990's the old Royce Dupont chicken store had some good food vendors - which provided a quick lunch for those of us who worked in the ChumCity building. I dined at the Queen Mother two weeks ago and I think the building has been abandoned, awaiting redevelopment. My trips to that area seem to be about twice as year - if that.... A bit of the "vibe" seems to have moved west along the stretch from Bathurst to Trinity Bellwoods Park. But I have no idea whether there is any live music along that stretch of Queen West.
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Shorty Wave wrote:
Binson Echorec wrote:
I'm currently sitting at a desk my parents bought from a furniture place on Queen West (near Beverly maybe?) in 1984. For me, the vibe that was Queen W. started changing once the army surplus store disappeared.
I think that when the Silver Snail moved away, that was when Queen West started the downward spiral, followed by Bakka Books, then, the Beverly Tavern and the Bamboo. They all Said “Queen West” to me.
My favourite store, also long gone from the area, was Kopp's Kollectibles, an old timey record store that sold incredibly obscure albums but also impossible to find 45s to help you complete your collection or just find a rarity you hadn't heard in years. (This was long before YouTube had just about everything.)
Not only were there thousands of records in the store (and in the basement, as I discovered when I mentioned an obscure tune to owner Martin Koppell and he went downstairs and somehow found it) but in a throwback to the 50s, they had actual turntables in the place where you could listen to the records to make sure it was the right one and that the quality of the vinyl was good.
Now THAT was a record store to remember! It's still around on Queen St. W., now closer to Spadina, and there are other branches, but the magic of that original place is sadly gone.
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Interesting to see the word 'vibe' used in some of the replies. I have not seen this word used very often for many years. Maybe it is having a resurgence.
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darcyh wrote:
Interesting to see the word 'vibe' used in some of the replies. I have not seen this word used very often for many years. Maybe it is having a resurgence.
Many years ago, I took a Pontiac Vibe out for a test drive. Not a bad little car, the same as the Toyota Matrix but GM's version had more included for the price. GM and Toyota made these cars as a joint project for years. The Matrix was made in Cambridge ON, and the Vibe in Freemont California. Back in this era, GM always had good AM/FM radios in their cars.
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RadioActive wrote:
Shorty Wave wrote:
Binson Echorec wrote:
I'm currently sitting at a desk my parents bought from a furniture place on Queen West (near Beverly maybe?) in 1984. For me, the vibe that was Queen W. started changing once the army surplus store disappeared.
I think that when the Silver Snail moved away, that was when Queen West started the downward spiral, followed by Bakka Books, then, the Beverly Tavern and the Bamboo. They all Said “Queen West” to me.My favourite store, also long gone from the area, was Kopp's Kollectibles, an old timey record store that sold incredibly obscure albums but also impossible to find 45s to help you complete your collection or just find a rarity you hadn't heard in years. (This was long before YouTube had just about everything.)
Now THAT was a record store to remember! It's still around on Queen St. W., now closer to Spadina, and there are other branches, but the magic of that original place is sadly gone.
Remember the original Kopp’s very well, I also frequented Vortex if I was in the mood for a good dig!
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tvguy wrote:
I spent many happy hours in Active Surplus buying parts for electronics projects.
I made many trips to Active Surplus when I was production manager in the early days of DC 103 in Orangeville.
To save money, we used to buy Ampex tape in bulk, called pancakes because they were just spools of tape stacked up on top of each other separated by styrofoam. They were cheaper because they didn't come with reels. So every few months I'd make a trip to Active.
They always seemed to have a bunch of used empty Ampex metal reels. They sold for about a dollar each and I would buy up the their whole stock. Back at the station I'd take the reels apart, pop in the pancakes, put the reels back together and voila, Ampex reels at a fraction of the price.
I kind of miss the days of using analog tape, and dealing with grease pencils and splicing tape, but I must admit editing digital audio is so much easier.
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Active Surplus! Loved it, and their creaking floors! Remember the mechanical gorilla outside, that never seemed to worked?
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Shorty Wave wrote:
Active Surplus! Loved it, and their creaking floors! Remember the mechanical gorilla outside, that never seemed to worked?
This place sounds the same - without the gorilla: A1 Electronic Parts - Serving the Toronto area for 30 years!
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The Weed wrote:
Shorty Wave wrote:
Active Surplus! Loved it, and their creaking floors! Remember the mechanical gorilla outside, that never seemed to worked?
This place sounds the same - without the gorilla: A1 Electronic Parts - Serving the Toronto area for 30 years!
Wow! It would not surprise me if it was the same owners!