Water repairs come back to Millwood

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Work has moved south as workers make yet more repairs to the water system on Millwood Road. Earlier this week when these pictures were taken, the street was fully blocked between Bayview and Donegall. Even the east lane way was blocked (upper right) by the contractors, Rabcon. The best information we have is that it remains only for natural gas lines to be installed on Millwood before it can be restored to its proper condition. But apparently there has also been a need for water connection repairs. Check previous.

RBC finds homeowners are confident

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The Royal Bank has injected what appears to be a bit of common sense into the worry about whether homeowners can afford their houses. We have seen many recent alarms about an impending collapse of the housing market because people won’t be able to carry the interest. It all seemed rather overdone and now the RBC’s annual outlook suggests that Canadians agree. The bank’s survey suggests 85 per cent of respondents think they are doing a good job of paying off their loan obligations, and 73 per cent think they are well positioned even if the housing market were to drop. Maybe homeowners are too optimistic but there can be no doubt that they are a good deal more serious than many U.S. buyers about holding their homes and paying off the mortgages. The ethic is different. History may be helpful too. The story of the housing market in Canada includes the 1980s when interest rates rose to astronomical levels. That certainly slowed down purchases and depressed prices but did not collapse the entire market.

Baby you’re the Top (Shop and Man)

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Word that The Bay will introduce both TOPSHOP and TOPMAN (see below) has been of great interest today. They are British chains of women’s (SHOP) and men’s (MAN) belonging to the Arcadia Group. Arcadia owns Burton, Miss Selfridge, Wallis, Evans, British Home Stores and Dorothy Perkins. The chain was founded in 1964 as Peter Robinson’s Top Shop, a young fashion brand within the Sheffield branch of the Peter Robinson Ltd ladies fashion store chain (former department store chain). The first standalone Topshop store was opened in 1974. In 1978, Topman was created as a spin-off brand to cater for male customers and is now run as a separate chain, although some stores are co-located. The British retailer is represented in 20 countries.

Police seek video in Aish smash and grab

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Police were going door to door on South Bayview today seeking any video which might show suspects in the smash and grab at Aish over the weekend. The little jewellery store had its window smashed in a clumsy attempt at robbery. The incident occurred overnight Saturday-Sunday and looks like an unplanned crime of opportunity. So PW Janet (inset) of the bicycle unit was busy surveying merchants, banks and others for any video of the street. Part of the rationale is that the culprit(s) walked the length of South Bayview and would be seen on any camera directed at the street. As we noted in our first post on this matter, the crime raises the question again of publicly owned surveillance cameras of the type widely used in Britain. These cameras are credited with catching thieves in the act and also acting as a powerful deterrent.

Gas main replacement on Bayview

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Notices have been delivered to businesses on South Bayview that the cast iron natural gas mains will be replaced this Spring beginning in April. There will be trenching necessary. The project supervisor, Jim Hutton, told The South Baview Bulldog that he thinks the work will occur mainly along the west side of the street. but it will be necessary to dig a smaller excavation in front of buildings to connect the new line. The old main will be replaced with plastic tubing. Gas service will be interrupted briefly but the contractor, Link Line, says there will be timely notice of disconnection. The contractor promises to keep sidewalks open and passable.