The Beach earns a spot among Toronto’s most anti-condo neighbourhoods

The Beach isn’t immune to the city’s condo boom—five buildings are proposed or under construction in the neighbourhood—but it’s fighting development harder than most. Last Monday, a vocal and well-organized group of residents gathered for a tense meeting about Reserve Properties’ plan to build a six-storey condo on Queen Street East (a city staffer’s hands reportedly even shook as she faced them) and another homeowner is refusing developers’ offer of more than $1 million for her house, which sits between the sites of two planned condos. However, a small contingent of locals welcomes development, saying that the lakeside community is getting too expensive and that more density would combat sprawl and fill retail vacancies. Others also think buildings could bring some much-needed diversity to the ’hood (8.5 per cent of Beach residents are members of visible minorities, compared to 42.8 per cent citywide). Some (small) changes could be good, according to one condo-sympathetic Beach dad: “Why not have some single young professionals? Maybe a hipster or two — not too many.” [Toronto Star]