Category Archives: Local Interest

Repair Café Toronto Troubleshooting Workshop – Nov. 13

Announcement, Local Interest

The Parkdale Free School is proud to host a troubleshooting workshop by Repair Café Toronto:

Have you ever wondered why your toaster or DVD player just stopped working? Don’t know where to begin? Come to this free troubleshooting workshop and learn some simple steps to solving the mystery of broken stuff. Troubleshooting is a method for determining what caused your electrical or electronic equipment (or almost anything) to break.

This workshop will go through the logical process step by step. Bring a broken home appliance or some broken home electronic equipment to practice the troubleshooting method. If you can’t fix it then and there you will know why it isn’t working and if it can be fixed.

Register HERE for this FREE event or drop by.

Date: Tuesday, Nov. 13th, 2018
Time: 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Place: 1499 Queen St W – 2nd Floor (PARC)

Exhibition Place Cultural Heritage Landscape Assessment – Nov. 28

Announcement, Community, Local Interest

The City of Toronto, City Planning Division, is undertaking a Cultural Heritage Landscape Assessment of the land and buildings at Exhibition Place. This is an assessment of whether the interaction of humans and the natural environment on a geographic location has resulted in an identified cultural heritage value or interest by a community.

To speak to the planner directly, contact Nathaniel Baker, at (416) 338- 2073 or nathaniel.baker@toronto.ca or alternatively John Duncan, at (416) 392-1530 or john.duncan@toronot.ca. You may mail your comments to the planner at Toronto and East York District, 100 Queen St W Floor 18 E Toronto On, M5H 2N2.

You may also contact Councillor Mike Layton, Ward 19, at (416) 392- 4009 by email at Councillor_layton@toronto.ca. Or Councillor Joe Cressy, Ward 20, at (416) 392-4044 by email at Councillor_cressy@toronto.ca

Make your opinions known about how you feel Exhibition Place lands should be managed and maintained for today and into the future.

Date: Wednesday, Nov. 28th, 2018
Time: 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Place: 100 Princes’ Blvd., Salon 103 (Enercare Centre)

PRA Vulnerable Road Users Survey

Community, Local Interest

Parkdale Residents Association (PRA) wants your feedback.

The PRA is conducting a brief, informal survey on movement around Parkdale. We would like to hear from you to know how you move within the boundaries of our neighbourhood and how safe you feel. Depending on the responses, the survey may lead to the formation of a Working Group that will tackle issues of safety for vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists, mobility users, rollerbladers, skateboarders, e-bikes) in Parkdale.

Please share with anyone that lives or spends time in Parkdale. The survey is open until October 6th.

Take the SURVEY…we’ll publish the results shortly.

New Ward Boundaries

Announcement, Community, Local Interest

With the reduction in size of Toronto’s city council, our ward boundaries have been redrawn. We are now in Ward 4, Parkdale-HighPark (details HERE).

It is more important than ever to learn about what is going on in your community, so please join us at the PRA’s up-coming Municipal All-Candidates’ Meeting to hear from and ask questions of the candidates running for city council in our ward. Stay tuned!

Since 2005 your neighbours have been building a better community through their work for the Parkdale Residents Association. Help carry on the tradition! There is interesting work to be done and YOU can help.
Become an active member of the PRA.

 

Roncesvalles Polish Festival – Sept. 15 & 16

Announcement, Community, Local Interest

The 2018 Roncesvalles Polish Festival, North America’s largest celebration of Polish culture in one of Toronto’s best neighbourhoods, Roncesvalles Village! Just steps from Parkdale.

Enjoy great local and international music, including Polish folklore, Polka and Euro dance bands, and entertainment from near and far on multiple stages. Saturday night enjoy the ever-popular Dance Under The Stars. Come out and sample fantastic cuisine from over 40 renowned restaurants, cafes, bakeries, and bistros, along Roncesvalles, and of course, lots of traditional Polish fare, including pierogi, kielbasa, bigos, cabbage rolls, and much much more!

This year will be celebrating 100 years of Poland’s Independence!

Date: Saturday & Sunday, September 15th & 16th, 2018
 Time: Sat. 11:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m. & Sun. 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Place: for 18-blocks along Roncesvalles Ave.

Reversing One-way Traffic on Dowling Ave. and Beatty Ave.

Announcement, Community, Local Interest

As part of the City’s Ten-Year Cycling Network Plan, there will be changes on Beaty Avenue and Dowling Avenue in mid-late September. One-way traffic directions will be reversed on both streets. Permit parking on Beaty Avenue between Queen Street West and King Street West will be permanently on the west side. Shared lane markings (sharrows) will be installed on both streets to clearly identify where cyclists should ride in regular traffic lanes and to remind drivers to share the road.

This new cycling router will provide a safe connection between Sorauren Avenue and the Waterfront Trail and create a gateway to green-space for the Parkdale neighbourhood.

West Toronto Railpath Extension Drop-in – Sept. 13

Announcement, Community, Local Interest

The City of Toronto is working on the design details for extending the West Toronto Railpath multi-use trail South, from Dundas Street West and Sterling Road to Abell Street and Sudbury Street, offering Parkdalians and others another active transportation/ movement option.

Learn more about the progress of this project, discuss and provide feedback on design elements of the trail, view information material and speak to the project team. To find out more click HERE or contact Maogosha Pyjor at 416-338-2850, westrailpath@toronto.ca.

Date: Thursday, September 13th, 2018
 Time: 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Place: 1140 Bloor St. West at Dufferin (New Horizons Tower, Auditorium)

EXcluded – Exhibition Place & Ontario Place

Announcement, Community, Local Interest

Exhibition Place is 192 acres of City-owned lakeside land, whose historical mandate was for public parks and exhibition grounds, and Ontario Place comprises another 155 acres of Province-owned lakeside land and water. Toronto, desperate for public green space, could sure take advantage of these already-owned lands.

But recently, under-the-radar initiatives have been operating to put these public lands in private hands.

In 2006, most of Exhibition Place was converted from ‘Parks and Open Space’ lands to ‘Regeneration’ lands, encouraging private development and allowing leases of longer than 21 years.

And in 2010, a memorandum of agreement between the City and the Exhibition Place Board of Governors directed the Board to ‘maximize revenue from all sources’; and similarly for Ontario Place.

A community group—the West Side Community Council, comprising ten community associations—has launched a public education and advocacy campaign to call on local government to act immediately to stop the effective privatization of these lands, and rather direct resources to fulfilling the potential of these lands as public and community parkland assets.

Find out more at www.EXcluded.ca, a website dedicated to raising awareness about this issue.

The campaign will be launching at the Princes’ Gates on August 17th at 10am.