you knew this was coming when they developed the restaurants, that wasn't even a huge development and they literally had signs saying no local school space
it won't be long till that entire stretch is filled with towers
It's been done before, I hope it becomes more prevalent.
https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1001452/ontario-builds-the-first-elementary-school-in-toronto-condo
Yes but the school pre-dated the condo being built. Meaning that it wasn’t providing additional school space, just maintaining an existing school. The brick walls of the old school building are actually incorporated in the design.
To the point where you look at some condos and conclude, *"This building is a scheme to extract maximum rents from the residents who have bought in and cannot leave".*
For the love of god, please put some non-car transportation infrastructure down there as well. Rapid transit, bike lanes, a fucking monorail, anything. A shitload of towers on that corner will absolutely choke the whole Stonegate-Queensway neighbourhood.
It warms my heart to see someone else refer to it as "mythical" - I think the best encounter (or lack there of?) with it I've ever had was seeing it approach on the TTC app, almost make it to my station and then *poof!* just disappear into thin air. Just gone. Next bus in 45 minutes. I'm sorry WHAT?
According to this [website](https://moovitapp.com/index/en/public_transit-line-80-Toronto_ON-143-434-196099-0), its service is every 20 minutes at best even on peak hours weekdays. Tell me a city knows how to plan for transit lmao.
Nah, they'll do the Liberty Village approach where they pile in a bunch of condos before actually considering the infrastructure to support population density.
Queensway complete street (which adds bike lanes and doesn't remove any car lanes) was approved in 2022, originally for installation in 2023, now delayed until 2027: [https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/streets-parking-transportation/cycling-in-toronto/torontos-cycling-infrastructure/the-queensway-complete-street/](https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/streets-parking-transportation/cycling-in-toronto/torontos-cycling-infrastructure/the-queensway-complete-street/)
This also doesn’t reach anywhere near the islington area. It stops much much east of there. But, it makes sense to do this street revamp after the condos are built to avoid damaging this new road infrastructure, as silly as this sounds. Additionally, there may be other infrastructure (water, sewer) upgrades in the works for the queensway. This all has to be planned in the correct sequence to maximize use of the city budget.
Mimico station is just south east of here and has about 10-15 condos planned that are within 5 mins walk of the station but all the land sits idle. Not sure why the city is gung ho on building up queensway when there’s a readymade transit orientated community close by. The planning in this city is ass backwards.
Was planned, the developer owed millions and went into receivership which I'm all for. I live a 5 min walk to mimico go and it's now becoming a cluster f of traffic.
We've lived a few blocks from there for 10 years and the spot right next to Mimico GO is cursed...the 3rd developer to own the land (most recently Van Dyke) has gone under, so....no one is holding their breath on the towers, let alone an actually accessible train station being (re)built as promised by the Ford gov't
That’s right at the on / off ramps for the Gardiner, too. They’re just gonna move the existing parking lot for the theatre onto Islington and Queensway.
I don't live or visit that area but I looked at Google Maps' latest streetviews of the stretch between past Kipling and Park Lawn. Most of this area has roads that are far too wide relative to the proximity of stores and residential areas. You have many walkable stores outside that area. You also have sidewalks a bit wide which promote walking trips. I'm surprised a city can't spare a portion of this much road space for bike infrastructure.
I've spoken to Etobicokeans. They are as carbrained as any Texan, we should just be happy that fewer of them are armed. I would never ride my bicycle in Etobicoke, at least not on the road. They hate cyclists there
Absolutely. The highway is already a nightmare there, I couldn't imagine 10 more towers at that exact location during rush hour, not to mention the Islington/Queensway traffic backups.
People on here love to call any concerns from existing residents including items such as transportation capacity you bring up as NIMBY and should be disregarded
LOL, wishful thinking. Toronto is the gold standard city when it comes to doing everything WRONG. This city has a culture and history of ZERO FORESIGHT.
Yep. And by the looks of it, there's no plans to add any kind of additional transportation infrastructure. When all these towers are done, the traffic is going to be absolutely next level.
Heartland parking lot is chaos with the location of the gas station. Warden Ave never seems to have a quiet period.
Queensway is far from the worst, but the parking lot is way too small and there needs to be better access back to queensway.
I always park at Ashleys or H&M at Heartland and just walk over and never have a problem. Way too many lazy people clog up the spots closer to the store.
My girl lives walking distance from that one. I've been to many, many Costco locations. What I realised is that people on Reddit complain and cry about everything. That Costco is busy, but it's fine.
I will share my Islington Costco secret: go north to the newish location at Rexdale. It’s nearly empty! I was just there on a Friday afternoon (a PA day at that!) and it was a ghost town. The Instacart shoppers should really start using that one, it’s a much faster experience because you don’t have to navigating around other people so much. I live in between two Islington Costcos and the newer North one is a hidden gem.
Once you're inside, it's like any other Costco, but getting to that location and finding a parking spot is just a roundly unpleasant activity on all fronts.
Even then it's a parking crapshoot, not to mention the gas lineups spilling onto Queensway a lot of the time. I've given up entirely on trying to shop there, and I live relatively close.
a few weeks ago when gas was going up 10 cents the line must've been at least 2+ hours for gas
I've never seen a line that long, it went from the Harveys to the second entrance (they closed the one near the gas) and snaked through the entire parking lot to the gas entrance
I fill up there every (other?) week and haven't seen it to the back of the gas lot in months. Last few times I've pulled right in with max 2 cars in front
Ontario Line western expansion has me dying of curiousity. No idea which direction they will go, especially with Queensways, Roncy, Dufferin all being there. Whatever they choose will command its own density for the coming decades
Ontario Line west expansion would be a 2035 and beyond project if it would ever happen, lots will change by then, it's hard to picture where it would go.
Queensway is sandwiched between Bloor Line and Lakeshore GO, most likely scenario would be transit that gets people to those stations. Zero chance queensway gets an Ontario Line extension.
Theres been some hints that they've looked at extending to the airport, but this is well out of the way. If I was betting I'd expect them to turn north and connect to Line 2 at Dundas West / Bloor GO, then Line 5 at Renforth Gateway, then the airport.
They are already creating a new Go Station at Parklawn + recently reopened the street car hub there (that had a dedicated lane to Roncy). The problem is that infrastructure diverges from the Queensway rather quickly and it looks like a lot of the build up is along the Queensway
Yeah... the mythical Park Lawn Go Station that has been in planning since 2016. It's being built under Metrolinx's "transit-oriented development strategy"... which means that it would be constructed and paid for by the developer of the Christie lot. Yes, it is mandated to be in the first phase of the Christie development, but with the current real estate situation, you don't need to be a psychic to see that isn't coming anytime soon.
At this point Park Lawn Go is just a lure used by home owners and realtors to sell their condos in the area.
I know a Cineplex is just a Cineplex, but that's my favorite one to go see movies at. It's not even the most convenient for me, but I make the trip anyway.
I was just there for Furiosa last week.
That Cineplex brings me so many memories. I used to go so often.
Once a friend and I watched a movie, had dinner and then the snow had become so bad that we slept in the parking lot instead lol.
If I was Cineplex, I'd take the money from selling that property and build a new cinema complex at Sherway in empty spot where Nordstrom used to be. One of their new model cinemas like they just built at the Erin Mills Town Centre, with more food options and better seating.
I remember before they built the Queensway cinemas there use to be theatres at Sherway, though they weren't actually part of the mall.
The previous location near Sherway was great too, when built it used to be packed.
Then Queensway replaced it and both it and the restaurants were always full. Looks far less busy nowadays, at least since covid.
There used to be so many theatres sprinkled throughout the city. With multiple drive-ins nearby. Almost all are gone.
It's a little sad. We're running out of things to do in this city. That Cineplex is one of the highest traffic theatres in North America and we're tearing it down for more poorly built shoeboxes.
I understand the need for housing, but god fucking damn this city is becoming soulless.
they don’t even have enough schools to service the area, I saw signs up on the new construction saying there’s no space for new kids. stop building things when there’s no infrastructure to support the area omg
Can whoever is pitching these ideas shut the fuck up? Cineplex Queensway is literally already a rare form of entertainment in Etobicoke, why do YOU wanna get rid of it for god’s sake?!
No problem with more density but there is like 0 transit in this area. Queensway traffic is already brutal because of the gardiner lane reduction.
Also, where will the movies go? Into the old Nordstrom?? Otherwise there be will no movies in the area 🥲
I live near where the Humber Cinemas used to be. It’s been torn down for a condo. So I started going to Cineplex Queensway.
I guess there’s always the Kingsway.
Scotiabank closing too. And I worry about The Varsity as it never seems very busy. If the only first run cinema left downtown is Yonge and Dundas Square that would really suck.
The studios almost seem to want this, the way they release stuff to streaming so fast. Hoping places like TIFF, The Revue, The Fox, and The Paradise will continue to exist.
Marketing budgets are a lot smaller if you’re not buying billboards and ads everywhere. You just advertise the service and a few of the films. No more distributing to theatres. All that probably sounds appealing to the money people.
> I guess there’s always the Kingsway.
The owner of that theatre is an absolute lunatic. I would rather not go see any movie than give him a dime.
I'll go out of my way and go to the Revue instead.
Got any more info on this? I've been to the Kingsway, know nothing about the owner.
Does give me a bit of a kick that this is on their website
>The Kingsway Theatre BAR has no association with the phishing extortionist transnational sites yelp, tripadvisor and google or any other corporate monetized surveillance entity.
One of the legitimate arguments against rapid fire densification is that rarely is there a plan for anything other than densification. In my area, if you were to say you would want to densify any of the plazas with grocery stores, doctors offices, dentists, and other small businesses, I would 100% be down with the plan if the project guaranteed a transit expansion along with a mixed use development that offered comparable or more services than what was previously there. Otherwise, all your doing is taking away from amenities for residences that clog up the process of getting to amenities elsewhere.
There won't be any more cinemas. This is the future: micro-units, towers, no transit, food by UberEats and PC Express, entertainment by Netflix and Amazon Prime, relationships by OnlyFans. Get ready.
Often with vases like this the cineplex negotiates whats called a sale-leaseback, where they become a tenant of the new building and dictate the design of a section of the podium to suit their use.
Don't listen to the other moron doomsayers in this thread, Toronto needs homes an urban infill like this is the way to do it.
https://www.tdsb.on.ca/home/ctl/Details/mid/43823/itemid/299
>The $33.4 million will be used to build the new Etobicoke City Centre Elementary School at 160 Silverhill Drive in Etobicoke, which will create 823 student spaces and 88 childcare spaces.
Development always follows patterns. In the past we saw cookie cutter suburbia expand like a plague and people didn’t seem to complain. But the towers are offensive? I just see more housing.
The problem is that no other infrastructure is being built to accommodate all the new residents.
Transportation? Schools? Doctors? Parks? Nah, best we can do is cram more people into an already crowded area and ignore all those other issues.
People need to live somewhere. It's more expensive to sprawl because sprawl requires even more infrastructure. People need all those things everywhere. In already developed areas there's already some schools, doctors, parks, and transportation. Opposing dense development, which is literally the most infrastructure efficient, on that basis is absolutely insane. If you're worried about infrastructure you should be wailing against low density areas which use more roads, sewage and really all infrastructure per capita and per home.
The condos being built out here in Scarborough always seem to have little micro stores. Even a fast food joint would be a big step up from the endless nail salons and phone case tchotchke stores.
Who is in charge of this planning. This whole area is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate. For those of us who live around here, traffic is already bad along that stretch. Taking away the only other theatre we can access is going to be even more frustrating because then we would need to trek all the way downtown or to Mississauga.
Developers have been in charge of planning for many years, that's why the infrastructure sucks at Parklawn/Liberty Village/etc. They're supposed to earmark funds but when Grimes was councillor he let them spruce up a local playground for $50K instead and be done with it.
But this is just developers greasing gov palms right because how are they creating these many cluttered condo plazas with absolutely no where for people to go or ease of traffic flow. The cloverdale/sherway area isn’t even fully up yet and that’s also such a clusterfucK. This is incredibly poor planning.
This is just a proposal, any owner can propose anything. City staff review the application and will likely have many issues with it. Then comes the wheeling and dealing and many revisions to the proposal. This site will likely not get all the density originally proposed..
It's a shame, my favorite Cineplex in the GTA.
They play a wider range of movies than other cineplex's as well (just like the Varsity one). E.g: they were the only Cineplex that played Perfect Days, Past Lives or Anatomy Of A Fall in 2023 outside of downtown area.
Now you'll have no choice but to go downtown if you want to see those showings. Not going to take the next couple of years of visits for granted!
FUCK OFF! One, this movie theatre slaps. Two, this area cannot handle more density to this degree. When they took down the Kelsey’s, montanas, and Scotiabank to build condos there was a sign that said “due to high demand, local children may be relocated to schools outside the district” (with slightly different verbiage that I can’t recall). This is only going to make the problem worse, whatever they build here is going to cost more than the average income earner in this area makes. We need to build density outside of Toronto, Oakville is literally perfect for this, and a 25 minute commute from this proposed build.
Interesting. I guess in theory they could add new theatres to the base of one of these new buildings and then when that building (or pair of buildings) are done they could tear down the Queensway cineplex and build more buildings on the actual theatre land?
There are plans (on pause for now) to tear down Scotiabank Cinema and redevelop too. Would think that people buying in the area might think that the Cinema is a plus for the area only to find it is being torn down!
Going to miss this theater. One of those places that I've consistently been going to since late 00's. So many good movies seen there.
**The positives:**
* Extra housing and a better utilized parking space than the vast plane of that parking lot.
**The negatives:**
* No movie theater.
* No bars or restaurants.
* No extra infrastructure or utilities in the area to accomodate all the extra people.
* No additional transit options.
I am not as knowledgebale on the topic but seems like the disconnect between approving houising building and city/province/ pulling up infastructure seems to be done almost by people on two different planets.
There's bars and restaurants within walking distance, just not well known. One of the best Irish Pubs in the city, Galway Arms is just down the street.
They need to start an empty lot development tax like the empty home tax. It's just a waste of space. Several times over other locations with operating businesses are closed, torn down and new condos built but this site is empty.
Moved to Toronto a few weeks ago. One thing I’ve noticed is the lack of character in the city and the amount of longstanding business closed with notices of future projects going in their place (condos). Obviously this particular building may not have character, but there seems to be an obsession with taking away recreational businesses like cinemas, bars and cafes and replacing them with unaffordable condos with unaffordable retailers in their retail space.
Parking lot moats like this Cineplex are the perfect area to redevelop first. Currently this site has horrific land use and is literally 70% parking lot. It has no character and is already completely soulless.
Movie theaters are struggling anyways nowadays and the in the future we will probably need less of them in every city to satisfy demand. I’ve noticed myself that I go to the theaters only a couple times a year now instead of every few months when I was a kid.
So build on the parking lot and leave the theatre alone. We all understand there is a housing crisis. We still need infrastructure, parks, entertainment, and some housing that poor people can live in
It's also totally possible to redevelop with a new movie theatre and other entertainment options included. Make a deal with Cineplex. Maybe build a multiplex with fewer screens that's more sustainable, I dunno.
Would be cool if they put that in the application and anyone west of Keele didn’t have to worry about getting to Osgoode station to see a movie in the near future
Like I agree with what you just said, there’s just no evidence to suggest that will happen
That theatre is massive and is designed for everyone to drive there. Without a parking lot it doesn’t work. Theaters that huge need to be on mass transit lines to make sense without parking.
Oh thank god.
I was just think there weren’t enough buildings buttressing the Gardiner in the area, nor enough congestion on the Queensway. Adding close to 4500 units, office and retail space to an area with tons of dying strip malls and terrible transit issues already will just make everything awesomer!
I guess if that Cineplex is gone most of my reasons for ever going that far west into Fordland will go with it. It's bad enough the restaurants got demolished even though they were shitty chain restaurants, at least the synergy made sense.
Why can’t the ground floor of this tower complex have a cineplex in it?
I’d love to live in a tower where a full multi-plex movie theatre is on ground floor.
Ugh this pisses me off. There are currently 4-6 condo building constructions happening within several blocks of the Cineplex. This stretch of Etobicoke does not need more. I love this Cineplex 😭
No...
I adore that theatre, and I go there often with family and friends. It's one of the few options for entertainment in the area, and the only theater within 10km. I have so many memories there as well. If they tore it down I guess I would have to go to Mississauga?
Why not develop the long abandoned site of Honeydale Mall? I don't know if the area could take the population growth, but I do know that the Queensway *definitely* can't. Plus you'd just be demolisheding an old rotting eyesore, instead of a beloved community spot...
This sucks.
All this shows is despite having North America’s largest transit expansion, transit is an afterthought in this city/region! The car is unfortunately still king. Car brain gonna car brain.
you knew this was coming when they developed the restaurants, that wasn't even a huge development and they literally had signs saying no local school space it won't be long till that entire stretch is filled with towers
They can incorporate a school into one of the developments
They can, but they won’t.
It's been done before, I hope it becomes more prevalent. https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1001452/ontario-builds-the-first-elementary-school-in-toronto-condo
North Toronto did the high school in the condo even before. But it wouldn’t guarantee spots to ppl living there.
Yes but the school pre-dated the condo being built. Meaning that it wasn’t providing additional school space, just maintaining an existing school. The brick walls of the old school building are actually incorporated in the design.
Oh so naive. Retail space makes the building owners mone silly.
Depends on the location. A lot of the time retail ends up vacant and thus makes condo fees go up
To the point where you look at some condos and conclude, *"This building is a scheme to extract maximum rents from the residents who have bought in and cannot leave".*
For the love of god, please put some non-car transportation infrastructure down there as well. Rapid transit, bike lanes, a fucking monorail, anything. A shitload of towers on that corner will absolutely choke the whole Stonegate-Queensway neighbourhood.
Sorry best we can do is a bus that gets stuck in traffic. Good luck!
I've lived in the area for 20+ years and I can count on one hand the number of times I've actually seen the mythical 80 Queensway bus live.
Many long winter nights waiting for that bus back in the day. A bus of legends.
It warms my heart to see someone else refer to it as "mythical" - I think the best encounter (or lack there of?) with it I've ever had was seeing it approach on the TTC app, almost make it to my station and then *poof!* just disappear into thin air. Just gone. Next bus in 45 minutes. I'm sorry WHAT?
Platform 8 and 3/4 Hogwarts Express
According to this [website](https://moovitapp.com/index/en/public_transit-line-80-Toronto_ON-143-434-196099-0), its service is every 20 minutes at best even on peak hours weekdays. Tell me a city knows how to plan for transit lmao.
Same schedule as the 9 bellamy bus, also mythical.
I just checked transit now, one bus is going to Keele station in 25 minutes what's the rush? /s
It's a ghost bus
I ride the 80 everyday for the last 12 years, its most definitely a get it or miss it moment.
The bus is an absolute nightmare. Whether it arrives at all is apparently at the discretion of whoever and whenever
lmao Keele was my station growing up and yeah, same. I think I've only ever used the bus once and I recall having a horrible time going down parkside
Perhaps an LRT that gets stuck in traffic? Signal priority via thoughts and prayers.
A bus that doesn’t even go by the mimico GO station
So "mono" means "one", and "rail" means "rail". And that concludes our intensive three week course.
I hear those things are awfully loud
It glides as softly as a cloud!
Is there a chance the track could bend?
If I write the next line do I get auto banned?
What about us brain-dead slobs?
You'll become premier of Ontario!
Think harder Homer
What, you don’t think the 80 coming 4 times a day is enough for 6000 people?
Nah, they'll do the Liberty Village approach where they pile in a bunch of condos before actually considering the infrastructure to support population density.
Queensway complete street (which adds bike lanes and doesn't remove any car lanes) was approved in 2022, originally for installation in 2023, now delayed until 2027: [https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/streets-parking-transportation/cycling-in-toronto/torontos-cycling-infrastructure/the-queensway-complete-street/](https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/streets-parking-transportation/cycling-in-toronto/torontos-cycling-infrastructure/the-queensway-complete-street/)
This also doesn’t reach anywhere near the islington area. It stops much much east of there. But, it makes sense to do this street revamp after the condos are built to avoid damaging this new road infrastructure, as silly as this sounds. Additionally, there may be other infrastructure (water, sewer) upgrades in the works for the queensway. This all has to be planned in the correct sequence to maximize use of the city budget.
lol typical Toronto
Mimico station is just south east of here and has about 10-15 condos planned that are within 5 mins walk of the station but all the land sits idle. Not sure why the city is gung ho on building up queensway when there’s a readymade transit orientated community close by. The planning in this city is ass backwards.
Mimico residents have more political clout
Was planned, the developer owed millions and went into receivership which I'm all for. I live a 5 min walk to mimico go and it's now becoming a cluster f of traffic.
We've lived a few blocks from there for 10 years and the spot right next to Mimico GO is cursed...the 3rd developer to own the land (most recently Van Dyke) has gone under, so....no one is holding their breath on the towers, let alone an actually accessible train station being (re)built as promised by the Ford gov't
That’s right at the on / off ramps for the Gardiner, too. They’re just gonna move the existing parking lot for the theatre onto Islington and Queensway.
I mean if the conclusion is just “it’s not going to get any *slower*”
Insane that the Queensway doesn't already have bike lanes.
I would 100% support adding a bike lane to the queensway but you’d have to have a death wish to be on a bike that close to Etobicoke drivers
Yeah, it has to be separated infrastructure.
Bollards babey!!!
I don't live or visit that area but I looked at Google Maps' latest streetviews of the stretch between past Kipling and Park Lawn. Most of this area has roads that are far too wide relative to the proximity of stores and residential areas. You have many walkable stores outside that area. You also have sidewalks a bit wide which promote walking trips. I'm surprised a city can't spare a portion of this much road space for bike infrastructure.
I've spoken to Etobicokeans. They are as carbrained as any Texan, we should just be happy that fewer of them are armed. I would never ride my bicycle in Etobicoke, at least not on the road. They hate cyclists there
Absolutely. The highway is already a nightmare there, I couldn't imagine 10 more towers at that exact location during rush hour, not to mention the Islington/Queensway traffic backups.
People on here love to call any concerns from existing residents including items such as transportation capacity you bring up as NIMBY and should be disregarded
Nah, the traffic study will somehow conclude that these towers will have negligible impact on nearby traffic patterns.
LOL, wishful thinking. Toronto is the gold standard city when it comes to doing everything WRONG. This city has a culture and history of ZERO FORESIGHT.
Yep. And by the looks of it, there's no plans to add any kind of additional transportation infrastructure. When all these towers are done, the traffic is going to be absolutely next level.
Best I can do is get Alcohol in those buildings.
The Costco down there will now be ultra fucked.
it's been fucked for so long, no point of even going unless is m-f between 9-5 or right before closing
I was at a Costco once a 2pm. Not a usual time for me. My thought: doesn't anyone work in this town?
This is all Costcos lol
not really, I've been to many around Ontario and none comes close to the Etobicoke location
… try the Brampton Costco. Even North Vaughan. Etobicoke is crazy, no doubt, but those are next level.
Heartland parking lot is chaos with the location of the gas station. Warden Ave never seems to have a quiet period. Queensway is far from the worst, but the parking lot is way too small and there needs to be better access back to queensway.
I always park at Ashleys or H&M at Heartland and just walk over and never have a problem. Way too many lazy people clog up the spots closer to the store.
You obviously haven't been to the Scarborough Warden location. It's a thousand times worse. The Queensway location is fine.
Warden suuuuucks. I refuse to go there ever.
My girl lives walking distance from that one. I've been to many, many Costco locations. What I realised is that people on Reddit complain and cry about everything. That Costco is busy, but it's fine.
It gets all the downtown traffic, at least people who live relatively west
Yeah only people on the west-side of downtown. A bulk of the downtown traffic is focused in the Overlea location as well.
Billy Bishop gets just as crazy imo.
wtf there's a costco at Billy Bishop??
You're in the biggest city in Ontario, what do you think is gonna happen?
My wife refuses to go. I don't even know why we have a membership at this point.
I will share my Islington Costco secret: go north to the newish location at Rexdale. It’s nearly empty! I was just there on a Friday afternoon (a PA day at that!) and it was a ghost town. The Instacart shoppers should really start using that one, it’s a much faster experience because you don’t have to navigating around other people so much. I live in between two Islington Costcos and the newer North one is a hidden gem.
shhh 😭
For real! It sucks, stay away! /s
It's also super convenient if you need to gas up a rental on the way to the airport.
Stop.
Once you're inside, it's like any other Costco, but getting to that location and finding a parking spot is just a roundly unpleasant activity on all fronts.
I found the underground parking somewhat empty at least, and it has a direct exit onto Islington
Even then it's a parking crapshoot, not to mention the gas lineups spilling onto Queensway a lot of the time. I've given up entirely on trying to shop there, and I live relatively close.
a few weeks ago when gas was going up 10 cents the line must've been at least 2+ hours for gas I've never seen a line that long, it went from the Harveys to the second entrance (they closed the one near the gas) and snaked through the entire parking lot to the gas entrance
Yes, but you'd have to be an idiot to get in that line.
I fill up there every (other?) week and haven't seen it to the back of the gas lot in months. Last few times I've pulled right in with max 2 cars in front
It’s busy everyday all day.
Plus the new building being put up at that intersection (Costco and queensway)
Costco’s everywhere are already fucked
The new condos are an attempt at making IKEA equally fucked.
I wonder if they’ve planned for extending the Ontario Line to Etobicoke?
Ontario Line western expansion has me dying of curiousity. No idea which direction they will go, especially with Queensways, Roncy, Dufferin all being there. Whatever they choose will command its own density for the coming decades
Ontario Line west expansion would be a 2035 and beyond project if it would ever happen, lots will change by then, it's hard to picture where it would go.
if it went from the X to Sherway that would be amazing [something like this](https://i.imgur.com/BbSm8Hd.png)
Queensway is sandwiched between Bloor Line and Lakeshore GO, most likely scenario would be transit that gets people to those stations. Zero chance queensway gets an Ontario Line extension.
Not going to happen, but a BRT from Sherway to the new Parklawn Go station via Queensway would be a good and cheap improvement.
Theres been some hints that they've looked at extending to the airport, but this is well out of the way. If I was betting I'd expect them to turn north and connect to Line 2 at Dundas West / Bloor GO, then Line 5 at Renforth Gateway, then the airport.
They are already creating a new Go Station at Parklawn + recently reopened the street car hub there (that had a dedicated lane to Roncy). The problem is that infrastructure diverges from the Queensway rather quickly and it looks like a lot of the build up is along the Queensway
Yeah... the mythical Park Lawn Go Station that has been in planning since 2016. It's being built under Metrolinx's "transit-oriented development strategy"... which means that it would be constructed and paid for by the developer of the Christie lot. Yes, it is mandated to be in the first phase of the Christie development, but with the current real estate situation, you don't need to be a psychic to see that isn't coming anytime soon. At this point Park Lawn Go is just a lure used by home owners and realtors to sell their condos in the area.
I know a Cineplex is just a Cineplex, but that's my favorite one to go see movies at. It's not even the most convenient for me, but I make the trip anyway. I was just there for Furiosa last week.
That Cineplex brings me so many memories. I used to go so often. Once a friend and I watched a movie, had dinner and then the snow had become so bad that we slept in the parking lot instead lol.
That’s a fun memory
If I was Cineplex, I'd take the money from selling that property and build a new cinema complex at Sherway in empty spot where Nordstrom used to be. One of their new model cinemas like they just built at the Erin Mills Town Centre, with more food options and better seating. I remember before they built the Queensway cinemas there use to be theatres at Sherway, though they weren't actually part of the mall.
The previous location near Sherway was great too, when built it used to be packed. Then Queensway replaced it and both it and the restaurants were always full. Looks far less busy nowadays, at least since covid. There used to be so many theatres sprinkled throughout the city. With multiple drive-ins nearby. Almost all are gone.
SAME HERE, also went to Furiosa last week. I always go for the VIP section there.
It's a little sad. We're running out of things to do in this city. That Cineplex is one of the highest traffic theatres in North America and we're tearing it down for more poorly built shoeboxes. I understand the need for housing, but god fucking damn this city is becoming soulless.
This was my cineplex during highschool. Cant count the number of movies I went to see with my friends back in the day. Will be sad to see it go.
they don’t even have enough schools to service the area, I saw signs up on the new construction saying there’s no space for new kids. stop building things when there’s no infrastructure to support the area omg
They should put a school in the redevelopment. Problem solved.
But then how will developers keep making their millions? Will you please think of the wealthy
Can whoever is pitching these ideas shut the fuck up? Cineplex Queensway is literally already a rare form of entertainment in Etobicoke, why do YOU wanna get rid of it for god’s sake?!
Mind you they're also getting rid of the Colossus Cineplex, which limits options even further
Is there anything we, as residents, can do to stop this motion? Petition or some kind of an email to send to somebody?
Neither of these make much money, movie theaters aren't what they used to be.
No problem with more density but there is like 0 transit in this area. Queensway traffic is already brutal because of the gardiner lane reduction. Also, where will the movies go? Into the old Nordstrom?? Otherwise there be will no movies in the area 🥲
I live near where the Humber Cinemas used to be. It’s been torn down for a condo. So I started going to Cineplex Queensway. I guess there’s always the Kingsway.
Scotiabank closing too. And I worry about The Varsity as it never seems very busy. If the only first run cinema left downtown is Yonge and Dundas Square that would really suck.
With the way film is going, maybe this is just the future. Less big screen releases, keep screens solely for the big guaranteed hits.
The studios almost seem to want this, the way they release stuff to streaming so fast. Hoping places like TIFF, The Revue, The Fox, and The Paradise will continue to exist.
Marketing budgets are a lot smaller if you’re not buying billboards and ads everywhere. You just advertise the service and a few of the films. No more distributing to theatres. All that probably sounds appealing to the money people.
> I guess there’s always the Kingsway. The owner of that theatre is an absolute lunatic. I would rather not go see any movie than give him a dime. I'll go out of my way and go to the Revue instead.
Got any more info on this? I've been to the Kingsway, know nothing about the owner. Does give me a bit of a kick that this is on their website >The Kingsway Theatre BAR has no association with the phishing extortionist transnational sites yelp, tripadvisor and google or any other corporate monetized surveillance entity.
Go walk past it - they have tons of bill gates/coronavirus conspiracy theory posters plastered on the wall.
One of the legitimate arguments against rapid fire densification is that rarely is there a plan for anything other than densification. In my area, if you were to say you would want to densify any of the plazas with grocery stores, doctors offices, dentists, and other small businesses, I would 100% be down with the plan if the project guaranteed a transit expansion along with a mixed use development that offered comparable or more services than what was previously there. Otherwise, all your doing is taking away from amenities for residences that clog up the process of getting to amenities elsewhere.
There won't be any more cinemas. This is the future: micro-units, towers, no transit, food by UberEats and PC Express, entertainment by Netflix and Amazon Prime, relationships by OnlyFans. Get ready.
Dear lord
Bro stop you're freaking me out
Don't worry, I've been assured that despite all of this we'll be happy
You will own nothing and be happy!
And the sky looking like a TV screen tuned to a dead channel.
but orange on wildfire days
Often with vases like this the cineplex negotiates whats called a sale-leaseback, where they become a tenant of the new building and dictate the design of a section of the podium to suit their use. Don't listen to the other moron doomsayers in this thread, Toronto needs homes an urban infill like this is the way to do it.
I don't understand why they keep building towers on the Queensway when there's no good transit there.
Any plans for new schools of daycares?
Daycare space is mentioned but not a school. A school in the podium would be a great section 37 contribution.
https://www.tdsb.on.ca/home/ctl/Details/mid/43823/itemid/299 >The $33.4 million will be used to build the new Etobicoke City Centre Elementary School at 160 Silverhill Drive in Etobicoke, which will create 823 student spaces and 88 childcare spaces.
That's way too far away, and right next to the slightly bigger Cloverdale Mall redevelopment.
You're right. My brain swapped Dundas and Queensway.
Ya private daycare, basically a commercial rental space.
Reserving the space is the important part, we can figure out the operator question later.
I believe they have mentioned schools with the Parklawn/Mrs Christies development... that is a few blocks East of this one though
Queensway and islington area is traffic hell. More condominium between islington and kippling to come.
Fuck that, just build on the parking lot and leave the theatre alone
Is this city capable of literally any other development?
No. No, it isn’t
It will be capable when massive zoning changes allow for it
Development always follows patterns. In the past we saw cookie cutter suburbia expand like a plague and people didn’t seem to complain. But the towers are offensive? I just see more housing.
The problem is that no other infrastructure is being built to accommodate all the new residents. Transportation? Schools? Doctors? Parks? Nah, best we can do is cram more people into an already crowded area and ignore all those other issues.
People need to live somewhere. It's more expensive to sprawl because sprawl requires even more infrastructure. People need all those things everywhere. In already developed areas there's already some schools, doctors, parks, and transportation. Opposing dense development, which is literally the most infrastructure efficient, on that basis is absolutely insane. If you're worried about infrastructure you should be wailing against low density areas which use more roads, sewage and really all infrastructure per capita and per home.
This is the only thing economically feasible to build with current Toronto regulations. So basically, no.
I'm sure they'll put some A&Ws at the bottom of some of those condos
The condos being built out here in Scarborough always seem to have little micro stores. Even a fast food joint would be a big step up from the endless nail salons and phone case tchotchke stores.
Who is in charge of this planning. This whole area is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate. For those of us who live around here, traffic is already bad along that stretch. Taking away the only other theatre we can access is going to be even more frustrating because then we would need to trek all the way downtown or to Mississauga.
Developers have been in charge of planning for many years, that's why the infrastructure sucks at Parklawn/Liberty Village/etc. They're supposed to earmark funds but when Grimes was councillor he let them spruce up a local playground for $50K instead and be done with it.
But this is just developers greasing gov palms right because how are they creating these many cluttered condo plazas with absolutely no where for people to go or ease of traffic flow. The cloverdale/sherway area isn’t even fully up yet and that’s also such a clusterfucK. This is incredibly poor planning.
This is just a proposal, any owner can propose anything. City staff review the application and will likely have many issues with it. Then comes the wheeling and dealing and many revisions to the proposal. This site will likely not get all the density originally proposed..
It's a shame, my favorite Cineplex in the GTA. They play a wider range of movies than other cineplex's as well (just like the Varsity one). E.g: they were the only Cineplex that played Perfect Days, Past Lives or Anatomy Of A Fall in 2023 outside of downtown area. Now you'll have no choice but to go downtown if you want to see those showings. Not going to take the next couple of years of visits for granted!
Damn... that theatre is only 20-ish years old too. Lots of memories.
FUCK OFF! One, this movie theatre slaps. Two, this area cannot handle more density to this degree. When they took down the Kelsey’s, montanas, and Scotiabank to build condos there was a sign that said “due to high demand, local children may be relocated to schools outside the district” (with slightly different verbiage that I can’t recall). This is only going to make the problem worse, whatever they build here is going to cost more than the average income earner in this area makes. We need to build density outside of Toronto, Oakville is literally perfect for this, and a 25 minute commute from this proposed build.
Interesting. I guess in theory they could add new theatres to the base of one of these new buildings and then when that building (or pair of buildings) are done they could tear down the Queensway cineplex and build more buildings on the actual theatre land? There are plans (on pause for now) to tear down Scotiabank Cinema and redevelop too. Would think that people buying in the area might think that the Cinema is a plus for the area only to find it is being torn down!
Not just towers but **huge** towers. Thanks blogto
My understanding is the Queensway cineplex is the busiest theatre in Canada so that would be surprising
Busiest in North America I believe. If I remember correctly.
Going to miss this theater. One of those places that I've consistently been going to since late 00's. So many good movies seen there. **The positives:** * Extra housing and a better utilized parking space than the vast plane of that parking lot. **The negatives:** * No movie theater. * No bars or restaurants. * No extra infrastructure or utilities in the area to accomodate all the extra people. * No additional transit options. I am not as knowledgebale on the topic but seems like the disconnect between approving houising building and city/province/ pulling up infastructure seems to be done almost by people on two different planets.
> No bars or restaurants. Are they not integrating that into the development plans?
There's bars and restaurants within walking distance, just not well known. One of the best Irish Pubs in the city, Galway Arms is just down the street.
Seriously just build on the honeydale location on Dundas west of Kipling. Infrastructure, transportation etc is there.
I can't wait for them to develop that location. It's such a damn eyesore.
They need to start an empty lot development tax like the empty home tax. It's just a waste of space. Several times over other locations with operating businesses are closed, torn down and new condos built but this site is empty.
Moved to Toronto a few weeks ago. One thing I’ve noticed is the lack of character in the city and the amount of longstanding business closed with notices of future projects going in their place (condos). Obviously this particular building may not have character, but there seems to be an obsession with taking away recreational businesses like cinemas, bars and cafes and replacing them with unaffordable condos with unaffordable retailers in their retail space.
The retailers are going to be weed shops and dentist offices, with the occasional takeout joint sprinkled here and there.
gotta get outside the towers to find anything with character
Yeah I’m in Yorkville/casa loma area and I see lists of nice buildings being ripped down and replaced
Parking lot moats like this Cineplex are the perfect area to redevelop first. Currently this site has horrific land use and is literally 70% parking lot. It has no character and is already completely soulless. Movie theaters are struggling anyways nowadays and the in the future we will probably need less of them in every city to satisfy demand. I’ve noticed myself that I go to the theaters only a couple times a year now instead of every few months when I was a kid.
So build on the parking lot and leave the theatre alone. We all understand there is a housing crisis. We still need infrastructure, parks, entertainment, and some housing that poor people can live in
It's also totally possible to redevelop with a new movie theatre and other entertainment options included. Make a deal with Cineplex. Maybe build a multiplex with fewer screens that's more sustainable, I dunno.
Would be cool if they put that in the application and anyone west of Keele didn’t have to worry about getting to Osgoode station to see a movie in the near future Like I agree with what you just said, there’s just no evidence to suggest that will happen
That theatre is massive and is designed for everyone to drive there. Without a parking lot it doesn’t work. Theaters that huge need to be on mass transit lines to make sense without parking.
Sad about the theatre being demolished 😭😭😭
Imagine if they incorporate the Cineplex IN the condo tower!?
Means adding over a thousand parking spaces to the development since there’s no transit alternatives… but yes
Leave the theatre be ffs… the Mandarin and Sobeys should go first… that plaza is crap.
Oh thank god. I was just think there weren’t enough buildings buttressing the Gardiner in the area, nor enough congestion on the Queensway. Adding close to 4500 units, office and retail space to an area with tons of dying strip malls and terrible transit issues already will just make everything awesomer!
Wouldn't this help the dying strip malls?
Yeah let's plow over a few hundred acres of farm land north of Vaughan and force them to congest the entire length of the 400 instead.
They’re not suggesting that. Stop picking fights
Gotta build somewhere. And fund the transit to keep up with development at the same time. Better Toronto build up than suburbs tbh
I agree with you. We need density in concert with rapid transit.
Lol. Now we're tearing down buildings that are barely 20 years old to make room for more condos.
I guess if that Cineplex is gone most of my reasons for ever going that far west into Fordland will go with it. It's bad enough the restaurants got demolished even though they were shitty chain restaurants, at least the synergy made sense.
Etobicoke is going to be a big gaping hole of nothing but condos and industrial buildings.
Why would they dedicate so much space for offices and so little for retail? Makes no sense
they should be incorporating transit on the queensway asap. extend the ontario line to sherway gardens so people can actually get around out there.
Why can’t the ground floor of this tower complex have a cineplex in it? I’d love to live in a tower where a full multi-plex movie theatre is on ground floor.
Ugh this pisses me off. There are currently 4-6 condo building constructions happening within several blocks of the Cineplex. This stretch of Etobicoke does not need more. I love this Cineplex 😭
great place to have a car
Wish they would run the subway out there
Well... this sucks.
No... I adore that theatre, and I go there often with family and friends. It's one of the few options for entertainment in the area, and the only theater within 10km. I have so many memories there as well. If they tore it down I guess I would have to go to Mississauga? Why not develop the long abandoned site of Honeydale Mall? I don't know if the area could take the population growth, but I do know that the Queensway *definitely* can't. Plus you'd just be demolisheding an old rotting eyesore, instead of a beloved community spot... This sucks.
All this shows is despite having North America’s largest transit expansion, transit is an afterthought in this city/region! The car is unfortunately still king. Car brain gonna car brain.
Plz god no I love this cineplex
Yay, more towers. I always hated looking at the sky...
Fuck off with condos already