“I’m not going anywhere”: what West Don Lands residents are doing during the Pan Am Games

In July and August, the 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Games will descend upon Toronto, along with thousands of athletes from 41 countries. Most of these visitors will be housed at the Athletes’ Village in the West Don Lands—a warren of buildings built to act as temporary dormitories before being converted into condos and George Brown student residences after the event. For those living in the area, currently a relatively sleepy condo community, the unprecedented influx of activity will leave only two viable options: embrace it or flee. We asked some people in the neighbourhood which of those they’ll be choosing.

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<strong>Fayaz Usmani, 18 and Salim Faiz, 16</strong><br /> <br /> Fayaz: “I’ll be working as a security guard at the games, so I can’t really avoid it. I’ll probably go to some events, maybe to one of the basketball games.”<br /> <br /> Salim: “I hate that there’s going to be more traffic, but I’ll deal with it. I’m probably going to go out more and try to get some autographs from athletes.”

(Image: Giordano Ciampini)

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<strong>Trevor Davies, 62</strong><br /> <br /> “My wife and I live here, and our son lives nearby. The whole world is coming to our doorstep, so we’re just going to sit back and enjoy it.”

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<strong>Yusuf Hassani</strong><br /> <br /> “I’m not going anywhere. This place will be the best place in the city.”

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<strong>Stephen Hopkins, 42</strong><br /> <br /> “My kids and I won’t be using the parks in this area during the games, but as long as we can still access the Don Trail and go to a park nearby, we’ll be fine. We might even come back to see some events and athletes.”

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<strong>Robert Daley, 45 and Michele Blackwood, 45</strong><br /> <br /> Michelle: “We’re going to rent out our spare bedrooms to make some extra money for a vacation. I’m going to put up an ad on Kijiji today in both English and Spanish.”<br /> <br /> Robert: “On top of our regular jobs, we’ll also be doing some freelance catering at Ryerson, where they’re hosting the basketball events. We scheduled our vacation for right after the games, so we’ll have downtime then.”

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<strong>Linsey Denham, 53</strong><br /> <br /> “I’m not staying in Toronto. My family and I have already planned to go home to Scotland. It’s a bit of a lucky coincidence.”

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<strong>Keiichi Hirano</strong><br /> <br /> “I’m leaving for Alberta before the games start. I’m kind of sad about it. If I were here I wouldn’t change my routine at all. “

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<strong>Daniel Chudy</strong><br /> <br /> “I’m off in the summer, so I’m getting out of here.”

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<strong>Jen Scott, 34</strong><br /> <br /> “There won’t be too much change to my routine. I’m excited the place will more exciting and lively. I choose to be only optimistic."

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