Downtown Yonge BIA’s domination plans continue apace
The Downtown Yonge Business Improvement Area, the group that helped boost the not-quite-NYC-no-matter-how-hard-it-tries Yonge-Dundas Square, is looking to expand its territory as far south as Adelaide and as far north as Charles. The proposal is opposed by some local business owners who would prefer not to face the annual fee of 14.5 cents per square foot and who are worried that expansion would spell corporate gentrification for the area. “If we get too big and too slick, we turn into a Gap,” John Anderson, the long-time owner of Morningstar at Yonge and Isabella, told the National Post. “We turn into Queen Street between Beverley and Spadina, where there isn’t a Canadian operation on the street.”
We assume he means with the exception of Steve’s Music Store, Lululemon, Black Market, Silver Snail, Active Surplus, The Rivoli, Black Bull, Ultra, Show Room, The Horseshoe, Peter Pan, CIBC, BQM, Le Château, David’s Tea, Fashion Crimes, Bell, Fido, Your Good Health, C Squared, Roots, Little Burgundy, Due West and Lettieri.
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The Downtown Yonge Business Improvement Area, the group that helped boost the not-quite-NYC-no-matter-how-hard-it-tries Yonge-Dundas Square, is looking to expand its territory as far south as Adelaide and as far north as Charles. The proposal is opposed by some local business owners who would prefer not to face the annual fee of 14.5 cents per square foot and who are worried that expansion would spell corporate gentrification for the area. “If we get too big and too slick, we turn into a Gap,” John Anderson, the long-time owner of Morningstar at Yonge and Isabella, told the National Post. "We turn into Queen Street between Beverley and Spadina, where there isn't a Canadian operation on the street."
We assume he means with the exception of Steve’s Music Store, Lululemon, Black Market, Silver Snail, Active Surplus, The Rivoli, Black Bull, Ultra, Show Room, The Horseshoe, Peter Pan, CIBC, BQM, Le Château, David’s Tea, Fashion Crimes, Bell, Fido, Your Good Health, C Squared, Roots, Little Burgundy, Due West and Lettieri.
• Yonge businesses to BIA: Get lost [National Post] ){kind=link}
Yonge Street is tired and shabby looking. The visual pollution of all those black poles, lights and “Yonge Street downtown” signs put up by the BIA do not help either. They look crowded and clumsy. What Yonge Street really needs is a good cleaning and some sort of signage policy. Imagine all those lovely historic brick shops lining Yonge Street with their bricks cleaned up and the hideous paint removed ..how about some money to restore facades? Anybody been to Chicago lately and walked down State Street? (Chicago’s main street) …It is lined with beautiful planters and in the spring thre are tulips and daffodils, in the winter there are Christmas decorations and in the fall kayle and mums and in the summer there are lovely summer flowers…why can’t we do simple things like that to improve our main street here in Toronto? Why can’t we also learn how to properly plant a tree (even small ones) Yonge Street could use some greening as well. We shoudl treat it likew it is our Main Street and seriously throw some money at it to improve its tired look.
I agree with Glenn!
The BIA “Downtown Yonge” signs do not help the area aesthetically. And they are cringe-worthy too; major cities don’t have to brand their downtown area — “oh, look, there are “restaurants” in this area, and “hotels”!”
The street needs a landscaping renovation. And some sort of inventive for business owners to clean up their facades. It would be great if the designers who re-did St. George St. could get their hands on Yonge.