HATS OFF TO THE ARTISTS!

Some of you might remember what Queen St. west of Spadina or even Bathurst used to be like! I remember the corner of Queen & Shaw before the restoration of the Candy Factory into todays uber cool lofts! The area was a rough one and we owe it to the artists and outgoing gallery owners who saw the potential and had the courage to invest their money into the first galleries. That move helped bring in the people who then could also see the potential of this great area with it’s loft spaces waiting to be transformed into desirable living spaces; Trinity Bellwoods Park beckoned with it’s endless green space and CAMH saw that future – they too are progressively changing the face of this “institution” by integrating their new structures into a more user friendly streetscape. The older more ominious looking buildings are being replaced with a look that holds less of a stigma to its purpose.

The Gladstone Hotel renovation has been a welcome one in that it continued to keep its doors open to its faithful patrons as well as beckoning new ones with a facelift to the premises and instilling a fresh vibe into the local scene by holding events that promote the arts and culture of our city.

All of these activities have worked together to revive this neighbourhood into what we see today. That of course translates into a vibrant real estate market due to the tremendous exposure creating a buyer demand that doesn’t seem to see an end. And being a happy resident myself since 1996 I remain grateful to those businesses who cater to the arts as they have done our neighbourhood a great service.