Predicting the future is usually not very rewarding but as 2014 wanes and the weather stays nice, The South Bayview will stay optimistic and chance a guess on three items. The spacious Second Cup shop at 1585 Bayview Ave. will “go corporate” in 2015 as popular former franchisee Hong Ngo will depart for other fields. No doubt there is a major face-lift coming for this location as head office takes over. A Bulldog flashback link summarizes the fortunes of three local Second Cup shops. The year 2015 will see political boundaries re-drawn that may rattle a few cages. They are quite historic. For the first time in maybe 150 years, Bayview Ave. will cease to be the federal dividing line between Leaside (and East York) and that part of the the city known as Davisville Village. This decision by the federal redistribution committee eliminates the federal riding of Don Valley West and lumps most of it into the riding of Toronto North. Equally ground-breaking, the riding of Toronto Centre will be broken up, detaching Rosedale and Moore Park. The riding name will survive however for those parts to the south of Rosedale Valley Rd. Moore Park and Rosedale will find their way into what will surely a political unknown to be called University Rosedale. U-R, as the new riding is being called, seems to be a compromise place. It was created when opposition to a proposed new riding of Mount Pleasant was revealed. Among the ferocious opponents of that idea was St. Paul’s MP Carolyn Bennett. It is important to keep in mind that these are federal changes and it remains to be seen whether they will be adopted for provincial and municipal boundaries. The Mike Harris government unified the Ontario and municipal boundaries along the same lines as federal boundaries as an efficiency. And finally the LRT. By the end of 2015, it is the undertaking of Metrolinx that the Eglinton Ave. E. tunneling will be at least half way from Brentcliffe Rd. to Yonge Street. Construction may begin on some of the stations.
