The Rise and Fall of Dundas West

Chances are after a couple of articles called it "the next sure thing!", rents went up accordingly, and the area skipped past funkification and gentrification all the way to uncoolification.

On the plus side there's no queues for Musa anymore. (On the minus side my gf has issued a veto on it because the service, while friendly, is terrible.)

That just means more Ella's Uncle for me! :D

But I was sad to see Model Citizen & Melanie's Closet go. Every time I walked in Melanie's Closet I bought something, and it was so conveniently placed for me.

Every picture shows graffiti on the walls.

Guess the 'gangs' were too much of a hassle too.

I hope Ella's isn't next. They have the best coffee and banana bread in the city. Business looks like it has been good there though.

Also, Cafe Brasiliano appears to be neglected from this blog for well too long. If more places were like Brasiliano, the world would be a better place.

"Every picture shows graffiti on the walls.

Guess the 'gangs' were too much of a hassle too." - Sean

I haven't felt a gang presence in this neighborhood for years.

You're right. Cafe Brasiliano is pretty awesome and should have been mentioned.

I also agree about Brasiliano, and I just sent in my listing suggestion.

These closures are unfortunate, but those that remain are strong and proud of their neighborhood, Monkey's Paw, LE gallery, Grateful Head, Saving Grace and Ella's Uncle only show signs of growth. And the three hoods from Bathurst out to Lansdowne have all just formed BIA's that are eager to grow and promote their strip.

Ciccio's just moved down and across the street, closer to Bathurst.

Sure it's situated between College and Queen W, but people on foot primarily seem to move east to west in that area of the city rather than north and south.

Just because there's graffiti doesn't mean there are gangs present. Besides all the tags are pretty lame.

There still seem to be quite a few nice places in the area. Isn't it a bit too early to pronounce the neighbourhood DOA.

Kstop hit the nail on the head. Model Citizen charging $75 for a screened t-shirt? Are you kidding me? There's still a 7-11 and their 99 cent Taquitos in the hood.

I'm sure the neighbourhood will pick up again, it's too nice and central to die so soon.
Haha, all they need is a Starbucks,H&M or big Loft building

The Dundas West "micro-neighbourhood" still exists with the purpose it has for decades: To support of the community lives here.

No vintage clothing store or eccentric hipster fashion shop will change that. The trendier businesses (examples mentioned above) that survive do as they complement the local community and are not riding the Dundas West trend.

Its funny that the same hispsters who herald the arrival of a Starbucks as a sign that gentrification has ruined the neighborhood see the closing of expensive boutiques as a sign of a neighborhood in decline.

Sorry, x_the_x, but where are these hipsters you speak of?

gangs? seriously? ha ha ha
sean's from the 'burbs y'all

Dundas West of Grace is still pretty bustling...given that it's the main Portuguese area of downtown. There are lots of great places there. I think things are fine, if perhaps a bit more Portuguese and less general interest than for some people's liking.

Model Citizen closed because their landlord was a nut (but the building has already been leased and the new owner's reno paper is already up on the windows). Melanie's Closet has hoped from Brock to Kensington to Dundas and now on to Dundas further west because the owner bought a building. Marylou Flamingo opened at the beginning of the year and has one of the best picked and priced vintage selections in the city. These are all facts that could have been easily dug up by making a few phone calls instead of walking the strip photographing empty storefronts and drawing your own conclusions.

With gaps like the 7 Eleven, St. Agnes church and the lumber yard, storefronts are way less concentrated on this part of Dundas compared to similar stretches of Queen and College and thriving corner stores on every block don't seem to count in your evaluation of a healthy neighbourhood?

Your post does not truly reflect the reality of selling and serving on Dundas West but even the most obviously lazy reporting has the ability to change perceptions and hurt the businesses who call the area home.

@grumpy dundas

With all due respect, the facts you raise don't really counter the observation I was making; namely, that Dundas West was heralded as the next hot neighbourhood as little as a year ago and today there are few signs that it has made the progress that many hoped for.

While many amazing local businesses remain, the reality is that:

1. There are plenty of empty storefronts. Clandestino and Sunshine Deli have been sitting vacant for some time now.

2. Other neighbourhoods have surpassed Dundas West's pace of development. Just look at South Ossington and The Junction - both of which didn't have the promise of Dundas West a couple of years back but today are both much more revitalized.

I understand and appreciate you sticking up for the neighbourhood. As I mentioned in my post above, the door is not closed on Dundas West at all. I do hope that it fulfills the promise many had hoped for; but I don't think you can successfully argue that its promise has been fully realized and that there haven't been some setbacks.

For Sarah

http://www.blogto.com/cafes/CaffeBrasiliano/

Don't forget about Skirt, it was a great clothing store that closed down.

http://www.blogto.com/city/2005/09/spotlight_on_dundas_st_w/

I live within rock-throwing distance of this area and I don't know who, if anyone, "heralded it as the next hot neighbourhood". This Dundas West area has always been rather stagnant. There are three different groups present: old Portuguese people (all the young ones have moved out), poor Chinese people, and relatively wealthy yuppie types. The old Portuguese shop only at old Portuguese stores. The poor Chinese shop only in Chinatown. The yuppies would be willing to shop at hip places but there aren't enough of them to support most shops. Having streetcar tracks replaced for a year didn't help any. There isn't enough draw to really suck people to walking down Dundas - people go to Queen or College instead. And there are, as noted, dead zones like the 7-11 and church. (And nearer Ossington, you've got Portuguese radio stations and car repair shops and banks, all commercial dead zones.)

I agree with Anon above. This story seems laughably out of touch, like it was written based on sound-bites from a Vaughan real-estate agent in Toronto Life who knows all about the cities "next hot neighbourhoods".

The neighbourhood did not rise with the arrival of these stores and has not fallen because they left. It's carrying along as it always has with the residents making use of the services they require.

Tim, your spiel about the "promise of the neighbourhood" is arrogant and insulting (and quite typical). For reference, I don't live anywhere near this stretch of Dundas (which I've never heard called "Dundas West").

Well, I live right on the edge of the neighbourhood and have done so for a number of years so I think I know it fairly well.

The area hasn't been hyped much recently but you might have missed all the buzz a number of years ago when Model Citizen, Skirt, Grateful Head, The Chelsea Room, Cocktail Molotov, Musa, Ella's Uncle, Saving Grace etc....were all just starting out. There was tons of buzz and high hopes.

@Tim

With all due respect, the facts you raise don't really counter the observation I was making: your post (and your response to my comment) includes no facts to back up your observations. It would have been very easy to count the number of empty storefronts and relate them to the vacancy count of similar stretches on Ossington or in the Junction. Or you could have just asked the folks at Ela's Uncle how they felt about recent closings on the strip while you were grabbing a coffee. It would have been a backward approach to reporting on your theory but, at least, it would have given it some cred.

Thank you for the Brasiliano listing!

Since when is the opening and closing of overpriced independent niche boutiques considered the measuring stick for the success of a neighbourhood? Oh yeah, on blogTO where the city stops east of Spadina and posts from arrogant hipsters like "soren" abound.

@mark - i didn't say anything about pricey independent boutiques. ok. maybe model citizen fits in this category but the other stores i mentioned certainly don't. and, btw, blogTO certainly covers the city both east and west of spadina.

did i miss a mention of cafe 668? incredible vegetarian restaurant!

yes! cafe 668 seems to be doing quite well, just ate there yesterday.

Hey y'all. Melanie's Closet would have carried on in what I consider to be a fabulous, realistic hood, if not for the building that I just purchased down the street at Gladstone. I like it that there is a hardware store, butcher, family owned cafe (Brasiliano), Magpie, The Press Club. a glass shop, Musa, Saving Grace, Ella's Uncle, 668 (another family owned biz), Made, Marylou, 909, Barbarella, plus, a cash register repair spot. What I am trying to get at is that this area of Dundas is a good balance of the new and the traditional business that makes for a realistic local hood.

Commercially leased real estate is a really serious set of negotiations. My guess is that some of the owners are not willing to upgrade their buildings to justify the rent they are hoping for and that this is stalling out the few buildings that are currently for lease. Not to mention , new business ventures are a pretty high risk when auto plant closures and whisperings of a recession pepper the news kinda regularly. My observation though is that the businesses that have committed to this area are doing exceptionally well. As for the debate over the retail oriented stores, it is a tough gig to sell Canadians threads. Model Citizen is one of the ONLY stores that give you 100% hand made Canadian goods. Just think, that hand done silkscreen wasn't made in a greed-infested manufacturing house in China or elsewhere. Food for thought...

As far as the rise of the 'hood goes, it would help if some of these hipster hot spots, like Saving Grace or Ella's Uncle were open during non-office hours. I work full-time, which means that by the time I get home in the evenings, or finish running errands on weekends, sipping coffee at a neighbourhood locale is out of question.

Given the extraordinarily limited hours some of these places keep, I'm amazed they stay in business. I'd almost welcome a Starbucks - as much as I'd prefer to support indy places, I find they don't really support me and my "office drone" hours.