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A place I've never been to. A place I'll never go

jacobfilipp.com

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Re: A place I've never been to. A place I'll never go

#81

Post by defrost »

jfil wrote: post #78
acchow wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The place where construction has to stop because you’re not allowed to uproot Strange take for Toronto where houses are being torn down and rebuilt as larger houses or high rises everywhere

My understanding of what's happening here in Toronto: it is such a hassle to fight for any new construction, that the only projects that are "worth it" are highrises. This means that 4-5 storey residential condos/rentals are not being built. Only the biggest buildings.

I might be out of touch, my read on Toronto some 14 years ago was that the city was dominated (at arms length) by the Toronto TSX - the single largest mineral resources exchange on the globe.

Mining mining was behind large law and accounting firms, underpinning the professional service layers, and driving the demand for high end mansions, out of town el ranchos, tax write off hobby projects for spouses etc.

On a pie chart for cash flow I'm guessing minerals and energy are still the big tickets there?

Re: A place I've never been to. A place I'll never go

#82

Post by jfil »

underlipton wrote: post #2

I think there is a strong argument for the Library of Congress or some other public/quasi-public entity to archive Google Maps/StreetView data. Redevelopment has been an ongoing fact of life for much of the time I've lived in my area, and huge swathes of the landscape are nigh unrecognizable from when I was a kid. However, a lot of the way things were is preserved in that map and image data. I think this is valuable…

As a stopgap, you can download Streetview spheres to your computer. Start with one place that's nostalgic/important to you. For one-at-a-time downloads, use a set of bookmarklets [1] I created for this purpose. For downloading an entire area in bulk, I'd like to shout out Street View Download 360 [2] from young up-and-comer Thomas Orlita.

[1] https://jacobfilipp.com/streetviewsave/ [2] https://svd360.istreetview.com/

Re: A place I've never been to. A place I'll never go

#83

Post by brailsafe »

Maxatar wrote: post #37
joemaller1 wrote: post #26

> The good thing is that, after 5 years of > construction, a beautiful new mall stan… just kidding! > > This is Canada. The place where construction > has to stop because you’re not allowed to uproot > a tree on your own property. Or a vindictive neighbour > holds up your project in Committee of Adjustments, until > you build them a new deck as a bribe. Or construction > is blocked by a surprise Heritage Listing on y…

Yeah it's an exaggerated rant, including the idea that you can't uproot a tree on your property which is only somewhat true, but it's not much different than most developed countries including the U.S. With little exception, there is a heck of a lot of construction in Canada. Canada has among the highest construction per capita in the world.

It may be a little exaggerated, but not by much.

> With little exception, there is a heck of a lot of construction in Canada. Canada has among the highest construction per capita in the world.

Construction of what and where and what does highest mean? If we're talking residential, we're mostly talking about McMansion style new suburbs where there wasn't anything to complain except nesting waterfowl. Vancouver is only barely an exception, and I'm sure others do exist, but it's hardly characteristic of the nation

Re: A place I've never been to. A place I'll never go

#84

Post by lioeters »

jfil wrote: post #80
morkalork wrote: post #17

I can empathize with the author after moving away from Toronto almost 20 years ago, so much from when I was a teenager is gone. I'm not "from" where I live now, and where I'm "from" no longer exists, I just feel perpetually detached from everywhere now.

When I first moved out on my own, I went to live in a very hip neighbourhood in Toronto - West Queen West. It was gentrifying, and had a lot of artsy spots, cafes, hole-in-the-wall nightclubs. It was an amazing time living there. A little bit of grit, a little bit of hip. Electro music. Coffee culture. But, looking back, I was the gentrifier. I've seen what it was a few years before moving in there: prostitutes on th…

> your "from" .. was somebody else's "to"

That's beautifully put. Every city I've lived in, there were stories of the good old days. "You should have seen this place ten years ago." As I grew older and lived in more places, I would hear stories about a city where I was "from". How it's changed now with all the new people moving in, how it used to be in the glory days. And I was there, living those glory days that they're reminiscing about, a place in the past that no longer exists.

As I'm getting ready to move from yet another city, I reflect on how it's changed. She's no longer the city I used to know - and I'm no longer the person I was when I moved here. It's time to go find my next "to". Others will move in and make where I'm "from" theirs.

I loved your story and the pictures. The rebirth was satisfying to see, how the merchants were able to find a new home for their village.

Re: A place I've never been to. A place I'll never go

#85

Post by anal_reactor »

netsharc wrote: post #29
morkalork wrote: post #17

I can empathize with the author after moving away from Toronto almost 20 years ago, so much from when I was a teenager is gone. I'm not "from" where I live now, and where I'm "from" no longer exists, I just feel perpetually detached from everywhere now.

Apparently people who grew up in East Germany have this but worse. Their "home culture" (TV shows, snacks made by the state snack factories) got "demolished" when East Germany got absorbed into Germany...

I happened to grow up during the age of my country's rapid development, both financially and culturally. I was too young to truly experience "the old times", but I got a lick of them and now I feel this weird nostalgia towards the entire esthetic. Things will just never be the same, modern world is completely different.

Re: A place I've never been to. A place I'll never go

#86

Post by ElFitz »

em-bee wrote: post #70
ElFitz wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a kid we never lived in a country more than a few years. Now, everywhere feels a bit off. And I feel a bit off everywhere. Which, you are right, isn’t bad. Just odd. Unmoored is adequate.

interesting. i moved around as a kid a lot too, and later as an adult as well. but i have the totally opposite reaction. as a kid i didn't have any friends because of the frequent moving. but i love exploring, and now i feel at home everywhere i go. every place creates new memories, and i make new friends. especially going back to any place a second time always feels like coming home to me. whereas getting to a new p…

I get the "the whole planet is my home". It’s just that to me there’s no reciprocity. It’s a one-way thing. And no matter where I am, I know I’m just passing through.

Re: A place I've never been to. A place I'll never go

#87

Post by em-bee »

ElFitz wrote: post #86
em-bee wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

interesting. i moved around as a kid a lot too, and later as an adult as well. but i have the totally opposite reaction. as a kid i didn't have any friends because of the frequent moving. but i love exploring, and now i feel at home everywhere i go. every place creates new memories, and i make new friends. especially going back to any place a second time always feels like coming home to me. whereas getting to a new p…

I get the "the whole planet is my home". It’s just that to me there’s no reciprocity. It’s a one-way thing. And no matter where I am, I know I’m just passing through.

what kind of reciprocity are you looking for? i made friends in most places, and outside of europe i generally felt more welcome too. but then, i grew up pretty disconnected from family, so i probably just don't know any better and what makes me feel at home is different from what you might expect.

Re: A place I've never been to. A place I'll never go

#88

Post by jfil »

defrost wrote: post #81
jfil wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My understanding of what's happening here in Toronto: it is such a hassle to fight for any new construction, that the only projects that are "worth it" are highrises. This means that 4-5 storey residential condos/rentals are not being built. Only the biggest buildings.

I might be out of touch, my read on Toronto some 14 years ago was that the city was dominated (at arms length) by the Toronto TSX - the single largest mineral resources exchange on the globe. Mining mining was behind large law and accounting firms, underpinning the professional service layers, and driving the demand for high end mansions, out of town el ranchos, tax write off hobby projects for spouses etc. On a pie…

My original comment was only focused on construction approvals and the challenges with the City' Committee of Adjustments. Things are changing, where power to approve projects is moving more towards the Provincial level (which has pros: a saner, faster process. And cons: less ways for you to shape your local community, industrial-strength corruption)

In terms of economics, I'm not an expert. It looks like much of the local economy is based on reselling the same houses to each other at ever increasing prices.

Re: A place I've never been to. A place I'll never go

#89

Post by david-gpu »

VHRanger wrote: post #77
acchow wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The place where construction has to stop because you’re not allowed to uproot Strange take for Toronto where houses are being torn down and rebuilt as larger houses or high rises everywhere

The reason this happens is that effectively anything except a single family home is banned. So when a multifamily project is approved on a lit, developpers are thrilled to put a high rise - there's so much pent up demand they know it'll sell out. On the other end, the ultra rich want bigger mcmansions. What's still lacking is sane 2-8 unit zoning.

I would argue that what is missing is mixed-use medium-density buildings. Blocks of exclusively residential buildings discourage people from walking to do their daily errands, because shops are too far from their home. This in turn increases the amount of car traffic in our neighborhoods, which sucks for everybody but especially for people outside of the vehicles that are causing that traffic.

Re: A place I've never been to. A place I'll never go

#90

Post by brianjacobss »

jfil wrote: post #80
morkalork wrote: post #17

I can empathize with the author after moving away from Toronto almost 20 years ago, so much from when I was a teenager is gone. I'm not "from" where I live now, and where I'm "from" no longer exists, I just feel perpetually detached from everywhere now.

When I first moved out on my own, I went to live in a very hip neighbourhood in Toronto - West Queen West. It was gentrifying, and had a lot of artsy spots, cafes, hole-in-the-wall nightclubs. It was an amazing time living there. A little bit of grit, a little bit of hip. Electro music. Coffee culture. But, looking back, I was the gentrifier. I've seen what it was a few years before moving in there: prostitutes on th…

Yeah, it's this constant cycle of change, where what's new and exciting for one person might be tinged with loss for someone else. And yeah, that feeling of nostalgia and longing, it's like this shared thread that ties us all together in the cityscape. We're all part of this ongoing story, adding our own chapter and feeling the echoes of those who came before us.
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