Gen Y wondering where the money will come from

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As the average price of a home in Canada soars past $400,000, the question often heard is how on earth Generation Y (those between 14 and 34) will ever be able to buy one. The answer, to a considerable extent, is the same way previous generations have. They will look to parents and grandparents to loan them much of the money.  It’s not so crazy when you realize, as a Vancouver analyst says, senior baby boomers and those even older are sitting on close to $175 billion in debt-free real estate. Those wonderful forbears also already provide deposits for 40% of today’s first-time home buyers.  It is also said that the “Y” people are earning more in standardized dollars than any generation before them. It should not be hard for hard-working couples to put away something. Many people are counting on a housing slowdown sparked mainly by an increase in interest rates. There is no hint from government however and the average price of a home in Canada has climbed 7.6 per cent in a year. If there is a near-term decline most are expecting a soft landing. One prediction is notable: properties in most markets are overvalued by 15 per cent or less, says Moody economist Mark Hopkins, whose view compares to the 10-per-cent over-valuation pegged by Toronto-Dominion Bank.

Teemu Selanne gets standing ovation at last game

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Somehow Teemu Selanne’s career has ended as a great hockey pro’s should. Honoured and respected for being a decent guy as well as a fabulous entertainer on the ice, the 43-year-old  Selanne called it a career last night (Friday, May 16, 2014) 22 seasons after breaking into the NHL with the original Winnipeg Jets (lower inset). The media is praising Selanne today as a class act whose stature commanded his friends on the Los Angeles Kings stay on the post-game ice to bid Selanne personal farewells. They beat his Anaheim Ducks 6-2. “There’s not many guys left in this league that have earned the respect and admiration of not only the fans but the players he played against,” said Kings winger Justin Williams. “We would have stood out there for 20 minutes if we could. If that is his last game, and I imagine it is, I don’t know, he has nothing to be upset about. He was an awesome player.” Selanne fought back tears on the ice as the crowd gave him a standing ovation. The Finnish Flash, as he was known, broke into the league as a 20-year-old with the Jets. “It’s sad, that guy has been an unbelievable player in this league for so long, everyone respects him,” said Kings defenceman Drew Doughty. “He deserves that respect. To see him go, to know that next year we’ll play Anaheim without him out there is going to feel weird. I couldn’t be more happy for him, he had an unbelievable career.”

Re-branded Lift Fitness now has two locations

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Bonnie Goldmacher’s re-branded fitness studio Lift Fitness is still super handy at 1675 Bayview Ave but Bonnie now also has a location at Myomedical at 145 Front Street East. Lift Fitness still offers the same great 30 minute small group vertical training sessions and monitoring system but has now added many other elements such as kettlebell training, barre, body wrench, yoga and pilates. Lift Fitness also offers one on one training now. There is a student summer pass available for $149. And here’s a great introductory chance: Lift Fitness will be open to the public for free on Saturday June 7th, National Health and Fitness Day. There will be four sessions at 9 10 11 and 12. Bonnie recommends that you book in advance because they are limited to 8 people per session.

P&P Hair Company open at 1660 Bayview Ave.

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Perri & Palmacci Hair Company on South Bayview is officially open. P&P Hair was previously Vescada Salon Leaside. The new and re-named salon opened today across the street from its former location. P&P is now in the storefront beside Originals, 1660 Bayview Ave. The phone number remains the same at (416) 484-4111. P&P will  continues o sell the popular Aveda products. Give them a call. 

John Parker bid to “preserve” whole of Leaside

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Bayview, Eglinton, Laird, tracks 

The City Committee responsible for Leaside has voted to request the “nomination” of nearly the whole of the former town to a status that would lay a new layer of legislation on external renovations and demolitions. The classification is known as the Heritage Conservation District (HCD) and is said to be intended to “preserve the streetscape of a broader community” according to John Parker (Ward 26). The motion to nominate Leaside to HCD status came from Mr Parker at North York Community Council where he explained his rationale to InsideToronto: “We regret that not everyone who builds a new house or everyone who carries out a renovation is sympathetic or alert to the distinctiveness (of Leaside). We have a lot of new construction that is quite sympathetic to the existing character of the community but we also have new construction that is entirely out of step with the character,” Mr. Parker is quoted in the online newspaper. In a memo to the Community Council Mr. Parker said: “Members of my community have nominated Leaside for consideration as a Heritage Conservation District, in accordance with nomination procedures outlined in the Council approved document, Heritage Conservation Districts in Toronto. Memo  The Committee approved a request that “the Acting Manager, Heritage Preservation Services, City Planning” review the nomination and bring forward a study authorization report should the area demonstrate sufficient cultural heritage value. The process seems fairly lengthy. Mr Parker notes that a nomination last year to declare Parkhurst Blvd an HCD is still pending. The boundaries of the preserved Leaside are stated in the nomination request as Eglinton Avenue on the north, the rail line on the south, Bayview Avenue on the west and Laird Drive on the east. It is added that city staff “will investigate if those borders are appropriate as part of the nomination process.” InsideToronto reports that Willowdale Councillor David Shiner questioned the rationale for an HCD in Leaside, arguing the community’s character has been improved by new and renovated homes in the area. Mr Parker replied that an HCD — in the words if the newspaper — “protects the property values of a distinctive community because people know its character will be preserved.”  It also noted that there is a money issue. Communities (neighborhoods) have been reluctant to nominate themselves because they would have to pay for the application and supporting documentation. Mr. Parker said the City has now agreed to fund some applications every year, meaning Leaside will be competing for designation as an HCD among other communities put forward for nomination, he said. 

Mayor Rob Ford on day pass in cottage country

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Rob Ford was seen in both Bracebridge and Gravenhurst as he patronized a dry cleaners (upper inset) and said hello to locals in a mall (lower). It certainly helped speculation that Ford is a patient at the GreenStone, an addictions treatment centre. The Muskoka rehab centre has not confirmed that Ford is a patient but the Toronto Star says it has been told her is there. These Twitter pictures seem to suggest that Mr. Ford is on a day pass, something that is  permitted at Greenstone. According to the Bracebridge Examiner it was contacted this afternoon by a woman she had just spoken to Ford outside of a branch of the local Bank of Montreal. She said he had been talking to passersby and saying rehab was going well. An employee at the nearby Pet Valu showed the Examiner a photo she had taken of Ford in which he is pictured “looking relatively fit and wearing a suit,” but also declined to give up a picture.  The Star and CP24 said Erin Strength, an employee at Fabricare in Gravenhurst, said Ford and what looked like to be an “assistant” in his 40s came in around 2 p.m. Friday to drop off a navy blue suit. She said it would be ready late next week. 

“Walmart Plaza” blazing ahead east of Laird Dr.

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The SmartCentre development between Wicksteed and Vanderhoof is known among detractors as Walmart Plaza.  That’s the case even though the landlord insists no decision has been taken as to who will anchor the huge box building underway at the extension of its commercial property across Wicksteed. Work goes on furiously at the site as these pictures taken this week show.  The vantage point is from the parking lot of the TD Bank on the corner of Laird Drive and Vanderhoof. As many as 1,200 signatures were said to have been collected when opposition to the  development was at its height last year. It was approved however and the Leaside Property Owners Association accepted payment from SmartCentres to help finance a traffic study of Leaside and to seed cash for the creation of a Business Improvement Area for South Bayview. The election campaign in Ward 26 has been quiet so far but as the field fleshes out, the Walmart Plaza may become more of an issue. Or maybe not, because no candidate can say he will halt the project. Those in the race as it is known are the incumbent John Parker, David Sparrow and John Burnside, a contender from the last election. 

Lashings, death for woman for being a Christian

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Many news agencies are reporting today (Friday, May 16, 2014) that  a judge in Khartoum, Soudan, has sentenced a pregnant 27 year old, Mariam Yahya Ibrahim, to death because she is a Christian. The technical term is  apostasy and his honour added 100 lashings for “adultery.” In the Soudan, adultery is  a little different than here. You are an adulterer if you marry anyone who isn’t Muslim. Heavily pregnant and the mother of a 2 year old, Mariam has been in prison, with her young son, for months. She was initially accused of adultery because she is married to a non-Muslim of South Sudanese origin — a marriage the court did not recognize. The court added the apostasy charge after the woman told the court she is Christian, according to reports by rights groups and lawyers involved in the case. These convictions and harsh sentences are said to defy Sudanese law but it’s clear they have got a problem. Actually, it’s clear that we have a problem too.

Ontario Election polls: Do doctors read x-rays?

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With respect to our friends at Toronto Life, the science of polling is not a game of charades. Oh ( they lament) pre-election polls are tricky. “C’est la vie.” Well, here’s a flash. There is nothing tricky about election polls except when someone is being intentionally tricky or is hopelessly inept. When polls produce wildly different results from the same period of time in the same jurisdiction it is because one of the pollsters is wrong.  Do doctors read x-rays? The easy-going folks at TL have responded to the stranger-than-strange contradiction in Ontario election polling with a shrug as if to say “Oh well, that’s polling for you.” The two firms now providing entirely opposite information about public support for the Liberals and PCs are Forum Research (Libs ahead) and Ipsos Reid (PCs out front).  Now we are sure that neither of these organizations is being “tricky”.  But you know what? One of them should go back to polling school. It’s true that election day is the poll that counts and that people change their loyalty as the campaign goes along. But when polls taken in the same period show completely different results,  voters have a right to demand an explanation. Toronto Life 

Mobile device theft industry at work downtown

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In the farthest corner of 53 Division a distance from South Bayview, an 18 year old woman was mugged at about 10.30p.m. on Friday, April 25, 2014. It’s not clear why the report is coming forward three weeks after the event. She was in the area of Queen Street West and Spadina Road when she was approached by a man. He grabbed her ipod and a struggle ensued. She was pushed to the ground and the man escaped with the ipod into an awaiting vehicle. No injuries were sustained by the victim. Police are requesting the assistance of the public in identifying the following described person in connection with this offence. Description of Suspect: Male, black, 17 to 18 years, 5’7”, 150 pounds, brown eyes, black hair, thin build. This is another example to all those with mobile devices that there is a criminal industry of considerable scope made up of people cruising the streets in the evenings looking for potential victims who are alone.