Towered
Superstar
What's "modern Canadian"?
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xmyth_
Senior Member
A cross between minimalist and manliest - wood grain, chic updated flannel and sans serif fonts. Plenty of barbers with $60 beard trims have this aesthetic.
CityPainter
Active Member
It's maple syrup on beavertails, served on a photogenic red and white plate. It costs $100 and everyone except you is on TikTok.
Towered
Superstar
christiesplits
Senior Member
From Matt Elliot's City Watcher newsletter.
After traffic and crowd concerns from the neighbourhood association during last year's Christmas Market, it appears that the Distillery is on the defense as it looks to next year. A familiar face is lobbying on behalf of the Distillery.
After traffic and crowd concerns from the neighbourhood association during last year's Christmas Market, it appears that the Distillery is on the defense as it looks to next year. A familiar face is lobbying on behalf of the Distillery.
Richard White
Senior Member
To be fair, the Christmas Market is nothing special anymore. A few years ago it turned from a European style market into a Social Media highlight.
I work in the area and I feel bad for the local residents, they need to control traffic much like they do in and around Rogers Centre/Scotiabank arena. They need to close off the area to everyone but resident vehicles.
rdaner
Senior Member
Any resident who is really bothered by the Xmas Market now needs to either book holidays in December or move because it is going to be getting much bigger.
PL1
Senior Member
How so? It is already very packed, especially on weekends.
rdaner
Senior Member
JasonParis
Moderator
Perhaps another reason to extend the King Street transitway to cover the interlined section between Dufferin Gate and Distillery.
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xmyth_
Senior Member
Retail has been super mixed on the Winter Village. Talking to the folks at the Ordinary, they hate it because they have to block off their exterior exit, and customers have to do a gauntlet to get in. There may be an increase in sales based on traffic alone, but nobody shows up at a Xmas market for skincare. And I’ve never seen them do a promotion.
Palgong Tea also locked their exterior door to prevent pass through, and I’d love to ask how they felt about that but they’re no longer in operation there.
My question is, why tf does the distillery feel like they need to get a lobbyist on their behalf? It’s not like they’re not given everything and get away with not following through on promises.
Residents at Goode and 31 will undoubtedly hate the market, which will be a lot more voices than whomever starts up the $80 tapas joint or minimalist furniture store with two white couches that setup shop below.
gabe
Senior Member
Yep. This market brings in dollars for all neighboring retail shops and restaurants. European cities with Christmas markets and loads of other events scattered through the year seem to survive the chaos. I'm sure the Distillery folks can survive a month of noise and crowds.
xmyth_
Senior Member
I think you’ve also gotta consider that European Christmas markets work best in Europe because they’re denser with far better transit and walkability.
Toronto is a playground for the GTA who are built for big box stores and giant parking lots. We are not the same as Vienna.
When I check the location of one of the biggest markets in Vienna there isn’t a highway or expressway in sight. We aren’t Vienna.
CityPainter
Active Member
The Christmas market affects not just the residents of the Distillery, but those who live in the surrounding blocks and on connecting arterial roads, in a radius that extends a kilometre or more into the St. Lawrence Market, Corktown and Canary districts. The primary issue is not that there are crowds inside the Distillery, or that they make noise: it is the traffic people generate getting there. The vast majority of attendees arrive by private car and SUV, but parking is extremely limited and traffic in the area is already very badly congested. This is not a typical European city centre serviced by multiple metro lines: there are only a few streetcar and bus lines that connect to the Distillery, and they are already inadequate for local use, with long waits and a tendency to get stuck in traffic when needed most.
The traffic causes inconvenience to local drivers and danger to local pedestrians as cars run lights, jam crosswalks, make right turns on red where forbidden, drive down the Cherry St transit right of way, park illegally, and so on. There is simply no excess road or transit capacity to absorb tens of thousands of visitors into an already dense and growing neighbourhood. Residents cannot be asked to avoid living their normal lives for a full month each year.
If the Distillery is going to continue expanding this event, they can't expect to horde the benefits while unloading the negative externalities onto the surrounding neighbourhoods. Real traffic solutions are required: better signage, clearly designated and managed pickup/drop-off zones, private shuttlebuses to and from external parking facilities, as well as MANY additional police officers who actually enforce laws. The handful I saw last year were simply standing uselessly, collecting $100/hour as they watched violation after violation happen in front of them. The token minimum effort to manage traffic is clearly not working, and the fact that a few people make some money from the event should not give them a carte blanche to operate as if they exist in a vacuum.
christiesplits
Senior Member
Yes, I was in Canary District last December and it was very noticeable how busy the roads were. Nearly bumper-to-bumper traffic. I reckon the businesses along Front were not happy.
I think the market organizers need to be more proactive in promoting non-car methods of visiting. It's reachable via the King streetcar or a 25 minute walk from Union for a comfortable walker.
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