Author Archives: Parkdale Village BIA

Why Shopping Locally Matters

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In November residents and visitors across the GTA would have noticed the City wide November 30th campaign called “Shop The Hood” as well as Parkdale Village’s own campaign “Random Acts of Kindness” and “Shop Locally” which is still up & running. Although a majority of Torontonians prefer a highly walkable neighbourhood over an auto-oriented neighbourhood and although there are many proven personal and economic benefits to supporting local businesses, there still seems to be a gap between what Torontonians say and do. Random Acts of Kindness - Winter 2013Potentially, one of the culprits keeping us from actually shopping locally is habit. We understand how easy it is to head to the Mall during cold frigid temperatures or how gratifying it is to bargain for electronics at a super store, but the conscious effort in exploring your own neighbourhood and creating new local habits can be even more rewarding. As a continued effort to encourage residents to shop locally and support Parkdale Village businesses, below are links to some of our favourite benefits:

12 Reasons to Give the Gift of Local

5 Canadian Consumer Trends to Shape the Future of Retail

Top 10 Reasons to Support Locally Owned Businesses

 

Watch Our Gardens Grow – A Short Documentary from the Parkdale BIA

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The Parkdale Village BIA is delighted to share a short documentary illustrating the continued progress of the TD Green Streets program, part of the BIAs Urban Garden Development Project. Without the support of TD Friends of the
Environment Foundation (TD FEF), Tree Canada, TD Green Streets, residents, business owners, artists, historians, partners, community groups and City officials this project would not be possible. To learn more watch the short documentary below.

In 2012 the Parkdale Village BIA was selected by TD Friends of the Environment Foundation (TD FEF) and Tree Canada to receive a $15,000 grant from the TD Green Streets program for its 2012 urban reforestation program. The funding supports the creation and maintenance of the seven (7) BIA managed green spaces within Parkdale, along Queen Street West.

For more information on the 2012 TD Green Streets winning submissions, visit www.tdgreenstreets.ca.

About TD Green Streets
TD Green Streets is a national program that supports innovative practices in municipal forestry. Through this unique program, communities across Canada are eligible to receive matching grants of up to $15,000 to support local forestry projects. TD Green Streets is open to Canadian municipalities, Aboriginal communities and Business Improvement Associations (BIAs) in Montréal, Vancouver and Toronto.

Get to Know Parkdale’s Green Grocers

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Autumn is harvest season, and many of Parkdale’s businesses are bustling with fresh fruits, vegetables and local products!  The days of farmers markets may be coming to an end but these reliable, affordable grocers offer a great selection – at a great price – all year long. Here’s a snapshot to get you started!

Lucky SupermarketLucky Supermarket
This popular, reliable grocery store has been a hit on the Queen Street West sidewalk this summer with their fresh-pressed sugar cane juice stand! With a diverse offering of Canadian and International produce, Lucky Supermarket also has a large section of discount fruits and vegetables for the budget-conscious consumer. Visit them at Queen St. W. & West Lodge Ave.

JR's Health

JR’s Natural Health & Bulk
This Parkdale gem offers select organic produce alongside naturopathic remedies, vitamins and supplements, delicious freshly-made hummus, gluten-free products, milk alternatives, hearty nature bars and an array of bulk dry goods. They even have a home-brewing kit for making your own beer, and have recently added fresh, made-to-order juices and smoothies! Visit them at Queen St. W. & Cowan Ave.

Fullworths ProduceFullworth
The department store that has all your needs covered…under one roof! From clothing and appliances to dry goods and a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, including cultural favourites like plantains, aloe, cassava, eddoes and dasheen. Fullworth’s has it all, and at a value that’s well within your budget. Get lost in the aisles hunting through Parkdale’s one-stop-shop for everything on your list. Visit Kam at Queen St. W. & Clove Ave.

Queen SupermarketQueen Supermarket
This Queen and Jameson fixture is the place to go for all your spices and masalas. Queen Supermarket offers Indian and Canadian groceries, with an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables. With seasonal produce and year-round favourites, the variety is sure to satisfy any shopper. Visit them at Queen St. W. & Jameson Ave.

good catch
Good Catch General Store
Open seven days a week from 10am-10pm, Jola’s Good Catch General Store has something new every day including many Canadian products! With a buying club mentality, the more you purchase, the more you save. This general store is also a drop-off location for the organic fruits & veg “Good Food Box,” a non-profit produce distribution system created and operated by FoodShare. http://www.foodshare.net/good-food-box Good Catch also offers free neighbourhood delivery.

harvest fresh

Harvest Fresh Farms
At the west end of Parkdale Village sits Harvest Fresh Farms with its superb fruits and vegetables! There’s packaged and loose produce to choose from, a selection of local and seasonal items, plus flowers and dry goods too. Formerly the Odeon silent movie theatre, it’s a treat to shop in such a historical space. Visit them at Queen St. W. & Dowling Ave.

Bala Super Market
Bala Super Market
This grocer between Jameson and Lansdowne has an unassuming façade but within offers barrels of spices, bulk packages of West and East Indian Foods as well as fresh fruit and vegetables. Visit them at Queen St. W. & Lansdowne Ave.

Annual General Meeting: Parkdale Village BIA

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Parkdale Village Business Improvement Area (BIA)

As a member of the Parkdale Village BIA, you are invited to attend the Annual General Meeting: Monday, October 7, 2013, 7:00 p.m. (Registration starts at 6:30 p.m.) Saint John’s Polish National Catholic Church @ 186 Cowan Ave.

The purpose of this meeting is to decide on the BIA Budget for 2014 and general program. This program is paid for by a special levy charged to you as well as other commercial/industrial property owners and businesses in the BIA. The best way to participate in the decisions which your BIA is making on your behalf is to get involved. A detailed copy of the notice has been mailed to property owners and tenants.

For more information, contact Anna Bartula, Executive Director at 416-536-6918 or director@parkdalevillagebia.com.

Proof of membership will be required.  Please bring photo ID and either a business card, utility bill showing business name and address, or your City of Toronto property tax bill.

If you are unable to attend and wish to appoint a person to vote on your behalf, please complete a Designate Form which will be mailed to you with the notice.  Please note that no person in attendance shall have more than one vote.

We look forward to seeing you!

Spend the Night in Parkdale with QWAC!

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Join the Queen West Art Crawl’s Parkdale Nightcrawl 

On September 21st from 8pm-12am, the Parkdale Nightcrawl takes over Queen Street West from Dufferin to Roncesvalles! Part of the Queen West Art Crawl, this exciting night of innovative, immersive art exploration offers multiple levels of interaction for artists and patrons. Reflecting an ongoing commitment to events which allow visual arts and the performing arts to intersect, meld and inspire one another, the Parkdale Nightcrawl invites and encourages participation. At various venues along Queen West, you’ll be able to create or interact with art in a number of unique and memorable ways: enjoy a beverage, draw, paint, sing and dance your way through a unique art adventure!

Celebrating their 11th anniversary, the Queen West Art Crawl’s Parkdale Nightcrawl is consistently one of the most popular events held over the weekend of September 21-22. Participating venues include Goodfellas Gallery, The Baitshop, Elevator, Common Sort, Captain’s Treasures, Quinn West, West End Comics, Food & Liquor, Cambie Design, Crown Flora Studio, Shawn Skeir Gallery, North Standard Trading Post, Chartreuse Style, Where Design, My Roll Life, Go Lounge and more! 
The Nightcrawl Passports costs $10 and can be picked up in advance at Queen West Art Crawl headquarters (1313 Queen Street West) or on September 21st at Trinity Bellwoods, participating venues or 1313 Queen Street West.  Don’t forget to turn your stamped passport in for great prizes!

Follow the action live on Twitter @ParkdaleBIA and @QWAC2013
#Parkdale

For more information please email nightcrawl@queenwestartcrawl.com or visit www.queenwestartcrawl.com!

QWAC Nightcrawl Poster - 2013 REVISED

Get Date Ready in Parkdale

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Make the most of the end of summer by taking your special someone out for a night on the town! Not only does Parkdale have numerous award-winning restaurants and bars to choose from, but the neighbourhood can satisfy all your pre-date prep too. From hair stylists to high fashion, aestheticians to accessories, everything you need to get date ready is at your (newly polished) fingertips.

The only question that remains, ladies, is what kind of Parkdale date are you?

The Organic Romantic

She’s the girl who likes things au naturel. Dinner for her is a vegetarian buffet at Le Date 1Tibet followed by a stroll around Queen West’s vintage and antique shops with a mint tea at The Mascot. Her eco-friendly dress is from Chartreuse Style, and she does her own hair with organic shampoo from JR’s Natural Health & Bulk. Her date’s in comfy unisex TOMS from Boutique Café and a crewcut from Lionel’s Barber Shop. Bring her flowers from Coriander Girl and she’s yours!

 

The Canadiana Chick

O, Canada, this girl is true, strong and free. She’ll start the date with a Date 2terrarium workshop at Crown Flora Studio, then take you to Keriwa Café for bison and rutabaga, and whisk you to The Boreal Gelato Company for dessert. Keep the night going with Ontario craft beers at The Rhino Restaurant + Bar. Wearing her favourite tank from North Standard Trading Post, she had her hair done at Quinn West, and if you’re lucky, you may get to see the set of Hudson’s Bay items from Future of Frances Watson at her place later.

The Fabulous Girly Girl

This girly girl likes to go all out, and lucky for her, Parkdale can be Date 3fabulous too! Wine her and dine her at Maialino Enoteca Italiana, followed by a contemporary art gallery party at General Hardware. She’ll be wearing a slinky backless dress from Shopgirls Gallery Boutique with handcrafted jewellery from Made You Look. Her date prep includes a glamorous full makeover package at Red Carpet Queen that covers all the bases: facial, manicure & pedicure, eyebrow wax, eyelash extension and so much more!

 

The Hip Girl

Date 4Starting the night with tacos and bourbon at Grand Electric, the hip girl knows to line up early at this high-energy hotspot. She’s wearing a vintage chambray button-down from Philistine, and her long hair hangs loose with ombré highlights from Fringe. Her date’s got on a silk-screen printed tee from The Public Butter and tattoos from Fabrizio Divari. After dinner the couple heads to Wrongbar to catch a concert and dance the night away.

Find your own favourite place to get date ready with our resourceful Business Directory!

Message from Toronto Hydro on Power Outage Communications

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The following is a message from Toronto Hydro to Parkdale Village BIA members who have hydro-electric accounts

Dear Member,

In an effort to continuously improve our power outage communications and help you better manage your business operations, we are in the early stages of developing a new outage communication program for our commercial customers. This program would be activated during power outages caused by severe weather and storm situations and provide you with timely updates related to the progress of restoring outages affecting your business.

To gauge your interest in joining this new program and how you would prefer to receive future communications, we invite you or the appropriate contact at your company to complete the short registration form.

Simply visit www.bizoutageinfo.com today to provide us with your feedback. As we continue to develop this program over the next few months, we will provide you with updates related to our progress.

The registration form will be available until Thursday, October 31.

Once we have a launch date for the outage communication program, we will notify you in advance via the registration information you provide.

Sincerely,

Lauren Kirk
Manager, Customer Care
Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited

 

A Walk Down Main Street – Parkdale Edition

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Slide1There’s no denying that Parkdale is a storied community. From its early roots as a resort destination for Toronto’s wealthiest citizens, to its struggles coping with the Gardiner Expressway and other challenges, to its recent resurgence as a mecca for artists, foodies and worldly newcomers… our story is unique, poignant and colourful.

On April 20th and 21st at Spring Into Parkdale, professional theatre and media company FiXT POiNT offered tulips in exchange for stories from residents and business owners about their firsthand experiences in our eclectic neighbourhood. What resulted was hours upon hours of honest, moving and inspiring tales of a town that were edited into a podcast for The Walrus.

This exciting finished work premiered at Parkdale’s Lab Cab Festival on July 27th and 28th with great success. “A Walk Down Main Street – Parkdale Edition” includes true tales of “the hilarious, the touching and the flat-out weird.”

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Lab Cab guests preview the podcast!
Photo: Lab Cab Festival & Jeremy Mimnagh

To listen to the podcast in its entirety including memories from Belle Optical, Jola’s Good Catch General Store, Cattlemen’s Meat Market & Ali Roti, click here >

Here’s a few snippets:

“We used to go in all the deserted houses… they were a perfect place to play.”

“Cattlemen’s Meat Market… hotdogs were three pounds for a buck.”

“I have an optical store called Belle Optical and I’ve been here almost 35 years… there were a lot of Filipino nurses… so I thought why not open a Filipino optical?”

“It’s clear he sees a bright future for the neighbourhood he proudly calls home.”

“Parkdale Community Centre was doing a health awareness thing and they had me become Murphy the Molar… and all the kids came up and started kicking me!”

“Many stories loaded with tales of chaos on these streets… it was rough, rough, rough.”

“Stories of the barriers she encountered in Parkdale, but also the help.”

“I lived across the street and there was a sign that said ‘for rent’ and I had already started a food distribution business, Good Food… where I wanted to introduce better food to people.”

“The nose was more rodenty than a pig and it had a couple hairs poking out… we were kind of in awe of this thing. It was very mysterious. And then a few months later I was reading in the paper about Baldy the hairless raccoon that had been spotted in Parkdale!”

“That’s my story…”

Created by Dave Brennan and Charles Ketchabaw in collaboration with Lisa Marie DiLiberto and Zevon Albert, this incredible piece of performance art was supported by Parkdale Village BIA, Ontario Arts Council and Mammalian Diving Reflex.

The Parkdale edition is just part of FiXT POiNT’s larger picture: capturing “The Tale of a Town,” panoramic memories of Main Streets across the province of Ontario before they are lost forever.

To listen to the podcast in its entirety click here >

Lab Cab Festival Delights Parkdale Village!

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This past July the Parkdale Village BIA sponsored the first Lab Cab Festival & Sidewalk Sale in Parkdale Village!  Visitors had an opportunity to enjoy over 100 multi-arts performers within 80+ venues, to meet business owners, shop locally and participate in free activities! We want to thank all the artists and shop owners who participated, the organizations and community partners that supported the event, the residents and visitors who came out to support our community, the wonderful volunteers and the Lab Cab Festival! – Thank You!
Please enjoy additional event photos online at Lab Cab & Parkdale BIA!

Photos courtesy of Parkdale Village BIA, Lab Cab Festival and Jeremy Mimnagh.

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Tale of a Town Tells Parkdale’s Story this Weekend at Lab Cab Festival

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At Parkdale Village BIA’s Spring Festival this past April, residents, business owners and visitors alike shared their memories and experiences from Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood. These numerous interviews were recorded live on site by Tale of a Town, and will be presented as a podcast at the 2013 Lab Cab Festival, which takes place July 27th and 28th along Queen West from Roncesvalles to Dufferin.

Lab Cab is a free festival of music, dance, theatre, poetry, comedy, film, visual art, storytelling, crafts, kids’ stuff and more, and for the first time since 2006 it will take place entirely in the businesses, homes and on the streets within the Parkdale Village BIA. Taking part in this incredible festival is Tale of a Town, a site-specific theatre and documentary initiative produced by local Parkdale business FIXT POINT, that combines local stories to tell a tale through interactive live performance. The idea is built on a belief that in order to understand ourselves together, we must start first by focusing on the neighbourhoods that combine to form the whole picture. Parkdale is the perfect place for this project, with its storied history and passionate people.Slide1

Whether you’re a resident, business owner or visitor be sure to come down to FIXT POINT headquarters and get a sneak peek at the inspiring Tale of a Town production of  “A Walk Down Main Street – Parkdale”. For scheduling click here.

To find out more about Lab Cab or read its full schedule, visit www.labcab.ca.