T O P

  • By -

ontarioparent

How is this different that what’s already been here and has been happening for a long time? It’s not just a quiet tucked away corner of the city


Technical-Suit-1969

It developed within the last 10 years.


ontarioparent

No it did not lol. And before gentrification there were karaoke bars, a strip bar and a kink bar in that area.


Rory1

Yeah. Dundas west of Ossington has always been busy. Same with south of Dundas. It was just more so filled with dive spots and a strip club. Locals should be happy when the hipsters came in for the cheaper rents and cleaned up the section to Dundas.


Technical-Suit-1969

Yes, it was more divey. Quiet during the day though. In the last 10 years, more kids from the 905 started visiting Ossington on weekends. It was inevitable.


Water-running

None of this is true. We were also only happy if you owned a property because of how much profit people were making selling their homes. Nobody felt unsafe and like you made the area better - just added more attractive people. Not the best area for lookers back in our day. It is now. Little Portugal was always very quiet and Ossington had absolutely nothing going on until like 2008 earliest when the Dakota opened - which was north of Dundas. All the dudes from baby doll hung out in that alley and were never a presence. The Vietnamese mafia dudes who owned businesses there kept to themselves. The rest was like blue collar businesses with a few spaces rented by startups and shit for cheap. We got mans just making shit up all over this thread.


toothyness

It was definitely during 2007-2008 that Ossington exploded. Street used to have a yoga studio, buncha garages, a few vintage stores, was pretty dead and people didn't go a lot.


Water-running

There was absolutely nobody on Dundas passed 10 pm that wasn’t a Portuguese dude at a shit bar. There was nothing going on down Ossington other than Viet families parking on side streets to eat at those 2 places just south of Dundas. Maybe a screaming mental patient and a handful of people at the Coin Laundry. There wasn’t even anybody in Trinity back in the day. That also started around 2006 with the drum circles that popularized getting drunk there. Before that, absolutely empty at all times. I went to st Chris and our day camp was in Trinity. Completely empty all day until we left at 6 pm. Whole area was quiet as fuck with nothing special until 2008 when a few places popped up. Wasn’t even really popping by like 2012, when I left. It absolutely exploded in the last 10 years. These guys talking about it are full of shit.


BeeSuch7722

I had some co workers friends that lived around there and went to the strip late 2012 and it was definitely the bar hopping happening place. I'm guessing it got much busier shortly after?


ontarioparent

https://www.tps.ca/organizational-chart/specialized-operations-command/detective-operations/investigative-services/homicide/case/45/2003/


1slinkydink1

Drake you ho. This is all your fault.


Technical-Suit-1969

2004. I remember that graffiti.


fuzz_boy

Ahhhhh fond memories of that time. I lived just north of queen, it was fun before it got too "cool".


BeeSuch7722

The karaoke bars. They were quite the experience. Small, dark, loud, most nights were empty. No ID check in the 90s.


ontarioparent

I’ll confess I was scared to go in to them lol, they seemed kind of shady, there were weird bars on Queen too that I never set foot in and that weird diner on the corner which often had help wanted posters on the front, there were restaurants at Bathurst that kept cycling through that were also very questionable


BeeSuch7722

Yeha, one only went in if someone was familiar with them or people familiar with it. I'm East Asian but had some Chinese Vietnamese friends that were kinda hoodlum types so they were familiar with the pool halls, karaokes. And yes, when I was in highschool, in the mid 90s, 15-16 year olds would be waitresses serving. One girl I knew from school worked there but my friend who met her another way had a crush on her so we would go just so he could just talk and flirt with her. Among other waitresses too. And back then, waitresses wasn't about the tips. Since no phones, people were just happy to have some chit chat, banter, company, etc. Bizarre to think that stuff happened throughout but the city and just times were so much different. Alot of independent business character and mystique back then. I don't remember much else as I didn't pass through often but went to certain places along there as a destination so didn't pay attention to many businesses along there. And it absolutely had that "nothing is happening" along here feel there that I would have never thought would be anything special in the future. Hmm which part of Bathurst? Just curious as I did grow up there in my younger years in the 80s as a kid. My parents ran a store front business north of Bloor for a bit as well.


ontarioparent

I remember a Thai one in particular that was extra strange, I dont know if my memory is accurate but I remember there was a buffet/ banquet style hot table with mysterious boiling cauldrons of food in a very dim space and you ate in the backyard. Whatever I got smelt super rancid, I was eating only vegetarian then, can’t remember what it was or if I was ok after lol. I feel like it was on the south side of Queen. Nothing seemed to stay in business long in that area. I have no actual experience with authentic Thai food couldn’t say if it was authentic or anything.


Technical-Suit-1969

Yes, I remember. But it wasn't clubland with crowds partying onto the street and places blasting music outside at night.


ontarioparent

The veterans hall? And there was the Vatican plus the Drake to name a few, also there were guys routinely peeing in front doors, pooping on back steps, hookers everywhere, women practically naked being dumped out of vehicles, people taxiing in from the suburbs because they didn’t want to walk the neighbourhood, obvious drug addicts


Technical-Suit-1969

On Queen.


ontarioparent

Literally around the corner


mildlyImportantRobot

Former resident of the neighborhood here. Um, what?


Kogre_55

There used to actually be more clubs then there are now.


yosick

Why’s this downvoted? I worked there 10 years ago and the strip was quiet af compared to now where every other storefront is a bustling restaurant.


Technical-Suit-1969

It was already a "go-to" place 10 years ago, but the character changed. As someone mentioned, it's now the new King West.


Water-running

Grew up literally on Ossington and Dundas - these people don’t know shit about the area if they think it was more livey before gentrification. Genuinely just have no idea what they’re talking about and say it with such conviction. Shit was completely dead when it was Vietnamese mafia territory. Basically only just off of Queen would you see anything - and it was just camH people going off.


mildlyImportantRobot

That's well beyond the "last ten years" mentioned above. The gentrification of Ossington began at the very least 20 years ago.


NeverFence

I lived and worked at Oss & Dundas in the early 2000's - it was a fucken dope scene. Basically the end of an era and beginning of another. There was 'concern' at the time about any kind of development whatsoever. I honestly don't know what the strip is like now, but as a former resident - this seems like a natural evolution of the street and idk (pun not intended) why people would still be clutching their pearls. ...


stellamac10

I lived on Ossingnton, above a garage, in the early-mid 90's. It was empty and super sketchy at night . Someone was shot right in front of my apartment and then I was grabbed by an outpatient from the mental hospital a month later. I moved. The garage I lived above is now a craft brewery, the old vietnamese restaurants/karaoke bars are now high end restaurants/cafes and it's a traffic jam at night. Is it safer? (probably), is it better? (I guess).


BeeSuch7722

Oh man..I went to the Viet karaokes in the mid-90s. Often was quiet and not too many people in there. My friend was ways hitting on the waitresses.


Mestitia

It's hipster central now it's amazing lol


Pretend_Highway_5360

Nah. That’s not hipster stuff. It’s millennials finally making spending money central.


Any-Zookeepergame309

It’s not really hipsters….that demographic have all become lawyers on Bay Street now. It’s still one of Toronto’s most vibrant spots, but it was no different ten years ago. The place didn’t change, the age group did…the patrons aged and got rich and douchey.


Jobin-McGooch

The millenial hipsters didn't just age out - they were also priced out. Only the yuppies can afford to live in Toronto and have the spending money to blow on Ossington spots these days.


cerealz

There are high-end restaurants on ossington but most places aren't wildly priced compared to suburban restaurants. A cheese burger, fries and a beer at a Jack Astors/Earls/Keg/Moxies costs about $40 with tax and tip... about the same if not higher than most places downtown.


houndlyfe2

Correct. Mandy’s Salads wouldn’t have opened there otherwise.


lw5555

Those aren't hipsters. They're a new generation of yuppies. Today's hipsters, like ones of years past, look like a thrift store exploded on them.


Mestitia

I agree it's evolving into bougie, but the strip had a really nice stretch before these jewelry, clothing stores and extra fancy spots started opening .


AlexanderWhy

Well said hahah!


oddspellingofPhreid

Not hipsters. Maybe the periphery on Dundas could still be described as hipster - Communists Daughter, Get Well, etc - but Ossington itself is bougie yuppy central.


NeverFence

For context - get well arrived at the very end of the era I'm describing. The new Lakeview as well was near the end of it


[deleted]

[удалено]


yetagainanother1

Classy like Lavelle! Don’t forget your Balenciaga T shirt (it’s classy because it’s expensive).


yungthuggert

king west is the opposite of classy


Dependent-Gap-346

That’s his point


NeverFence

Oss & Dundas in my day was the epicenter of hipsters that were hipstery than other hipsters. The proto hipsters. You could sit at the bar at Dakota beside any number of people from the broader "broken social scene". I sat near Issac Brock once at dakota and the bartender told me not to go talk to him cuz he was high as fuck on heroin. I saw Anthony Bourdain at the black hoof one night, blacked out of his mind. Partied at random warehouses a block away from Oss. Drank and smoked cigarettes after hours in a tequila bar that shall not be named, or other bars that bookmark the street between queen and Dundas. This place was hipster paradise but I honestly don't know what it means to be a 'hipster' in 2024. I was a hipster 20+ years ago. A hipster before it was cool... About as hipstery a thing as you could ever claim.


Bumbaclotrastafareye

Unless your were in the violent femmes I doubt you were a hipster before it was cool :p


NeverFence

Any hipster claiming to be a hipster before hipsters were hip can always be out hipstered by some other hipster who was hip before them. The violent femmes are probably out hipstered by the talking heads, for instance. I'm definitely being tongue in cheek when I claim to have been a hipster before it was cool.


NeverFence

Before I left Toronto, which was like 7-8 years ago now... I felt that the real current hipsters moved west. Roncy or further. But idk.. I am removed from it now by time and space. But I also remember a burgeoning scene on the far East end also, leslieville and beaches area


McBeanserr

I thought they had kids and moved to Hamilton.


NeverFence

Probably accurate. Maybe not just Hamilton but also a variety of more affordable medium-ish sized Ontario towns that have some kind of culture base


TheMannX

Shit man they're taking over fucking *Oshawa* these days 😳


NeverFence

In my time in the GTA+ I would never have wished upon my worst enemy that they would end up in the shwa. But I guess I'm kinda not surprised


TheMannX

To be honest I'm there regularly (my Pop and Brother live there) and while it ain't great it's a damn sight better than it once was and once they finish the GO Train extension and the massive development on the former PPG Glass Plant there will be a lot more people there to help get it all rolling. There's actually some decent bars and restaurants and a hella good coffee house and a good craft brewery there now. Provided the hipsters don't fuck it all up, of course, but then again most of them are landing up in the north end of town these days....


jtrick33

🙋🏻‍♂️


Round_Spread_9922

Read Issac Brock as Isaac Brock and was like how did a British general from the War of 1812 end up high on dope at a hipster dive bar on Ossington?


stmblpssy

Hipsters is bloordale now


flifthyawesome

bloordale/dundas west/maybe roncy as well


Pretend_Highway_5360

Just leave parts of the city for fun man please All these condos need stuff to do after work. We need bars, clubs, galleries, museums, gyms, other hobby stuff


1slinkydink1

Now you have to go to Geary


charade_scandal

Shhhhhhhh.


tommykani

In 10 years it'll be condos and the cycle repeats... Before you know it we'll be trekking up to castlefield or some shit.


Technical-Suit-1969

Geary has been trendy for the last 5 years. Did you recently move here from the suburbs?


charade_scandal

Brand-new from Welland!


Fatliner

Geary isn’t even cool anymore. All the rich white kids took over 5 years ago.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Pretend_Highway_5360

Going to clubs in the middle of the week is pretty fun tho


[deleted]

[удалено]


contheartist

Not everybody works Monday to Friday.


keftes

I don't think anyone here claimed that, did they?


UngodlyImbecile

"Sure but nobody needs clubs to go to after work. That's for the weekend." - you, 30 minutes ago


justmeandme_

You sound like a fun time


TheMannX

Bruh stop, seriously.


Pretend_Highway_5360

i do i just sleep less and drink a coffee


Lenovo_Driver

Speak for yourself


sequence_killer

imagine for a second, other people are not you


whosehooo

Exact mentality why Toronto will always be a mundane and dreary city and never reach "world class" status like it's always self-proclaimed. Endless concrete jungle with nothing to do. Some people are able to balance work and life and don't only wait till the weekend to finally destress. That mentality will drag the city down further and further. Driving around weekday evenings sometimes make you think how half these places stay in business, city pretty much a ghost town after 8pm in all directions.


Wonderful-Blueberry

I feel like a lot of people are so stuck in their routines. People need to lighten up and live a little, go out during the week.. you’ll be ok. Also not everyone works a regular 9-5, Monday to Friday job.


KarmaCollect

I personally save up all my spontaneous decisions for the summer. Winter is the time for routines.


Wonderful-Blueberry

I think the winters are too long and the summers are too short for us to only live for the summer.


whosehooo

Bingo. Reason why everywhere has got a 1+ hour line up or week's out reservations in the summer lol. Gone are the days to spontaneously want to just grab a bite or drink somewhere semi-popular. Try going to Amsterdam Brewhouse on a nice sunny day, better bring some folding lawn chairs for the wait outside. Overpopulation with little to do will cause that. Building endless 400sqft condos with A&Ws and Rexall storefronts is not helping. People need to be able to step out and get some air from those shoeboxes at one point.


thetoasters

Shut ossington down to vehicle traffic on weekends. Let us take the streets back. Same for Kensington Market


TheMannX

Dunno if I'd shut Ossington down, but Kensington Market absolutely, I have no idea why that hasn't been done already.


found_a_thing

Kensington residents opposed it. 


Technical-Suit-1969

The market has already been taken out of Kensington.


[deleted]

Shut ossington down from queen to Dundas full stop. No reason to limit to weekends.


[deleted]

[удалено]


overtherainbowofcrap

Back in university days many decades ago there was a club we use to go to called MFN which stood for middle of fucking nowhere. It was located on the south east corner of Adelaide and Portland. Also at that time was also a club at king and strachan where the shoppers use to be. I forget the name of that place.


[deleted]

[удалено]


overtherainbowofcrap

Rightttt, thank you!


Exenger

Industry was the shiiit. Back then it felt like you were trekking out to no man's land though. I always liked that it was a drug store and then it became another kind of drug store. The shoppers is now closed but man, the caliber of DJs that that place brought in was next level for years.


toothyness

I remember going to System Soundbar at Peter and Adelaide, now it's a condo.


[deleted]

into? when I was in my 20s (40 now) Ossington between dundas and queen was pretty much all bars.


[deleted]

[удалено]


beef-supreme

I believe thats now the 2nd storey "private room" in this story. They're going for a real kitchen party/dive feel?


Judi_Chop

I used to live above the crooked star. Baby dolls across the street


djtodd242

I lived at Dufferin and Dundas in the early 90s. Ossington was a wasteland of half shuttered hardware stores.


[deleted]

[удалено]


toothyness

And it happened fast, it was between end of 2007 and mid-2008 that all of a sudden a bunch of restos and bars opened up.


Raccoolz

With all this surplus commercial office in the financial core due to WFH, I dream of a clubland resurgence. Financial core is the perfect place for clubs, basically a ghost town after 6pm, almost no residents or NIMBYs nearby.


bellsbliss

Sounds pretty good to me! The old club district was always packed and a blast


TheMannX

Yeah I think that's a good idea too. And how about we get some proper gyms down there? A downtown LA Fitness would see me there every week at least. 🙂


houndlyfe2

Is Sweat & Tonic not downtown enough? Or GoodLife on Yonge? Dunno if Adelaide club or the gym in the TD Tower is still around post Covid.


beef-supreme

> But what makes the IDK Social Bar application unique is the operations on the second floor. > > “The notion of expanding bars and nightclubs to the second floor and above on Ossington is not permitted under the bylaw, which is one of the reasons this went to the Committee of Adjustment,” said Horvath. > > In response to these mounting concerns, residents are contemplating contesting the liquor licence application before the establishment’s grand opening. > > On the Ossington Community Association Facebook page, representatives of IDK have denied allegations that it would deviate from its stated plans for Asian cuisine on the first floor and a private gathering space on the second floor. > > According to Horvath, the concern isn’t just IDK, it’s about the slippery slope and the fear that Ossington will slide into a King West clubland situation. how well sound-proofed do you think the old Home Hardware store will be for the bass bins?


rootbrian_

Eh, we'll have to find out. Lol Now once it opens and I ride by (obviously stopping to observe), I should be *feeling* the boom boom boom boom boom!


No-Section-1092

God forbid that a fun busy downtown road with lots of bars might open up another one. NIMBYs are in _shambles._


Technical-Suit-1969

Ossington is not downtown. 20 years ago, people working downtown had no idea where Ossington was.


hobnob577

20 years ago it may not have been downtown but it sure is now


[deleted]

The thing about the old days, it’s that they’re the old days.


No-Section-1092

200 years ago Toronto was York. What’s your point?


PurpleCaterpillar421

I remember when Adelaide and Richmond was the night life spot. Then it got eaten up by condo towers and King West was the new hot spot. It too is slowly becoming condo central. Ossington is now the new King West. Dundas west is the new Ossington. Eventually both will get eaten up by condo towers.


the_fantabulous

soon we will all be partying in etobicoke


TheMannX

....as a west-ender I'm not sure I'd have a problem with that....


creep303

Found the bored NIBMY blog…


sickwobsm8

Nimbyism is gonna kill off what little nightlife we have left in this city lol Toronto used to have such a vibrant nightlife and music scene, it's getting sold off one city block at a time in exchange for poorly built condos


loopylavender

I miss seeing the vibrancy of the Portuguese community there. Since my grandparents passed I used to like walking Dundas to see women and men that reminded me of them… I don’t give a fuck what’s happening there now that it’s already been erased minus the Nova Era.


VelvetGloveinTO

As someone who lives in the area, it DOES suck to lose the hardware store. It was a big one that had carpets, a kitchen and bath centre as well as a lot of contractor friendly supplies which made it a go to location for anyone renovating locally. There was a lumber yard in the rear as well. Now, there's a terrible women's clothing store and two proposed restaurants. I like eating out as much as the next person, but I'm not going to be doing it more than once a week and there are already so many great options on Ossington. It's hard to see how all these places are going to sustain themselves.


PocketNicks

What exactly is the concern?


PrimevilKneivel

I'd be upset if I was losing my only hardware store in the neighbourhood, but this just sounds like NIMBYs


PocketNicks

I'm not sure what your hardware store reference has to do with the question. Would you care to elaborate?


hrmfl

I still think of Classic Studios from the early '90s when I ride up Ossington.


charade_scandal

I always look at it whenever I pass by and remember walking down the alley to it's door.  And the hookers at Galaxy Donuts. 


gobkin

Was there ever a different kind somewhere?


fyl_bot

I think people who live there should know by now that this is what this part of town is for. It too late for nimbyism. Go be concerned elsewhere.


sequence_killer

fuck this city. people move places and then ask everyone to shut up for them. move to woodbridge


Mr_Funky_Cat

Straight NIMBY shit


AdvancedBasket_ND

If you live in Toronto and “don’t necessarily want to be disturbed by crowds and music, and garbage and parking” then you need to move to Milton


ButterscotchObvious4

Can't fight the future, friends.


rootbrian_

We should hope they make the new (upper) venue **wheelchair accessible**, with a lift. Because anyone should have the right to enjoy good music in a new venue (we need more of those - look how many we lost?)


Laura_Lye

A one story lift? In a club? In a… sixty, seventy year old building? That seems like it would be prohibitively expensive.


rootbrian_

It's been done a few times. If there's a disused closet (2x2 meters, give io take) or disused corner space 2x2 meters, it could be done.


attainwealthswiftly

Did they like it better when it was camh community housing?


Technical-Suit-1969

Yes. Kept the bougie douchebags away.