The South Bayview Bulldog

Gasoline prices in Canada are climbing to near-record highs, and financial speculators betting on the closing of a Philadelphia refinery are partly to blame Pump prices shot up in several major cities Wednesday – topping $1.40 a litre at many Toronto gas stations – as motorists across the country feel the pinch of steadily rising prices in recent weeks, even as crude oil costs have remained relatively stable. Shawn McCarthy in the Globe and Mail

The Mad Italian is about to expand its network of Gelato shops by way of franchise operators. The owner, Joel Friedman, says the sophisticated concept of Italian ice cream, fine coffee, sweets and mealtime entrees is ready to move into other high class street in Toronto. He suggests such neighborhoods as The Danforth, Bloor West Village and possibly downtown. As South Bayviewites will recall, the Mad Italian was founded by Alessandro Settimi and his family in early 2010. He soon expanded to a second location on College Street in Little Italy to make the present network. The Mad Italian has grown in the variety of services offered in just  two years and now is also licensed to offers beer and wine. 

The estimable economist Sherry Cooper is back in the news with her carefully considered concerns for the value of Toronto homes. Like others, she warns of too much household debt and is wary of an overheated market, mainly in condominiums.  These concerns are cast against the U.S. where in many places conditions are still quite bad. Will the infection cross the border?  The essential factor of any catastrophic drop in prices is a glut of units. In the U.S. people with means  still want houses, but there are just too many units left over from the insane construction of the past 20 years to push prices up much.  The building was fuelled by the determination of certain American legislators like Representative Barney Frank to funnel billions of dollars into mortgages for people who had no chance whatsoever of paying them off. In many cases, they had no intention of paying the money back. In Canada, the banks, including Ms Cooper’s employer, Bank of Montreal, have applied basic principles which protect the market. In other words, to borrow money for a house in Toronto you have to be more than simply poor. This is not as callous as many will say because when the housing market collapses, everyone suffers.   Carolyn Ireland, Globe and Mail   

A pop-up store has moved into the former Surf Paradise location downstairs on Bayview just north of Belsize. A pop-up has become  a more and more popular way  to grab some publicity (like Target) or as in this case, unload out of season goods. The Sign Pop-Up Blowout is moving out winter coats and other cool weather wear. Seems to be getting lots of interest. It is apparently all over at Easter. Check out the rack of brightly coloured toques for $5 each just outside the front door. 

South Bayview area native Martha McCabe will be swimming for Canada at the London Olympics this July. She is part of a 31-member swim team who have booked their tickets to fly. As reported by Norm Nelson in InsideToronto, Martha, 22, pre-qualified by virtue of her bronze medal at last year’s world championships in the 200m breaststroke — one of only four medals picked up by the Canadian contingent. Martha now lives in Vancouver where she trains with the B.C. Dolphins team . InsideToronto. Previous story from The South Bayview Bulldog.

Among the many road projects scheduled for this summer is the rehabilitation of the Mt. Pleasant Bridge over Rosedale Valley Road. This is the overpass just south of Branksome Hall and north of Bloor Street. The Works Department has no estimate of the time required for this job but it will be extensive. The challenge of finding alternative routes doesn’t seem too rewarding either.