Sunday, April 22, 2012

How to make me hate a new condo in my neighbourhood

I've always been baffled by the trend of dissing condos, and enthusiastically embraced every condo they've built in my neighbourhood in the near-decade I've lived here. They're homes! For people! My neighbourhood is awesome, so I'm glad that more people will get to enjoy it. What makes my neighbourhood awesome is that its density allows all kinds of different businesses and amenities to thrive here, so more people will create more demand and lead to even more new and interesting businesses and amenities. And, on top of all this, one of those condos might end up being just right for me.

But I was rather pissed off when I saw signage today suggesting that this is actually getting built. So why does this one condo piss me off when all the other thrill me? Because of the following quote from the developer, taken from the article linked above:

“What a ratty block of what I consider to be one of the premier addresses in the city,” says Mr. Sonshine.

The architecture of that "ratty block" isn't particularly ratty. It's your standard 19th century Yonge St. lowrises and doesn't deserve to be maligned any more than any other part of the city does. But, more importantly, the content of that "ratty block" is an integral part of my neighbourhood. I use the businesses and amenities in that block all the time, and they're a key part of my sense of "I love this neighbourhood, it has everything!"

All the other condos, including the much-NIMBYed Minto towers, have presented the neighbourhood as a feature. But (as demonstrated by the article as a whole, not just that one quote), this developer seems to have less respect for the existing neighbourhood, seeing it as something to be knocked down and built over. And if they don't respect our neighbourhood, will they do anything to find a home for our local pub in the new development? Or the used bookstore? Or the kitchen store? Or that one video store that's actually good? Losing these businesses would make our neighbourhood less convenient, which is a major blow in a neighbourhood that we chose for its convenience. All of this makes me - a pro-condo neighbourhood resident - inclined to oppose the building.

And it also makes me - in the market for a condo in the neighbourhood - disinclined to even consider buying from this developer.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

My area is turning inito condo heaven as well. Several small stores/business that attracted me to the area have been run off because of them and it's making living here far less 'awesome'. Used to be able to see "stuff" when you looked around, now it's all condo's and cranes. SIGH.

impudent strumpet said...

None of the other ones in my neighbourhood have affected our businesses yet fortunately - a lot of infill and changing low-density residential to high-density residential. The one I'm complaining about here is the first. And, ironically, I wouldn't even be noticing it enough to complain if he had dissed my hood in the newspaper.