In Sanitizing Toronto of its Grit, Are We Washing Away its Character?

[NorthernDancer]

http://torontoist.com/2017/05/saniti...way-character/

Jilly’s—which closed in 2015 after a 34-year run—is just one of the dozens of strip clubs to disappear in recent years. There were 63 strip clubs in Toronto a decade ago; now there are only 14. Sex stores like the ones that used to line Yonge Street have met a similar fate. The Metro Theatre—Toronto’s last porn theatre—closed its doors in 2013 to make way for a climbing gym.

At a time when soaring real estate prices mean we’re increasingly raising children in condos in the city’s core, the sanitization of the city is undoubtedly a positive thing for a large portion of Torontonians who don’t want sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll to be part of the walk home from school.

But a little grit is what gives the city character and gives urbanites that distinct edginess.

The neighbourhood’s gentrification, however, has also resulted in the purchase of establishments, like The Real Jerk, by developers and rent increases that have pushed some businesses to close their doors—like the infamous Dangerous Dan’s, which was slapped with an 80-per-cent rent increase and will be closing down this month after 18 years.

[NorthernDancer]

One of Toronto's most notorious strip clubs is closing

http://www.blogto.com/city/2017/05/h...osing-toronto/

Strip clubs in Toronto may soon be going the way of the dodo as the number of adult entertainment venues in the city continues to drop.

The notorious House of Lancaster on the Queensway has been sold, according to City Councillor Justin DiCiano of Ward 5, Etobicoke-Lakeshore. On his website, DiCiano writes that he's "pleased to announce" the gentlemen's club will be closing in the coming months.

[pdxtex]

Originally Posted by NorthernDancer

http://torontoist.com/2017/05/saniti...way-character/

bouldering gyms?? good bye boners, hello boulders! stupid fit yuppies. i guess the internet killed the porno theater industry too....i don't think people have become less sanitized though. they probably just watch that #$%^ on their couch....well come to oregon if that's your bag. our last remaining adult theater has indoor bike parking! rly..

[dc_denizen]

good riddance.

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by pdxtex

bouldering gyms?? good bye boners, hello boulders! stupid fit yuppies. i guess the internet killed the porno theater industry too....i don't think people have become less sanitized though. they probably just watch that #$%^ on their couch....well come to oregon if that's your bag. our last remaining adult theater has indoor bike parking! rly..

This is why I think the internet was partly behind the urban renaissance. Rough neighbourhoods used to be marred by strip clubs and porn theatres, which no one wants to have children near. Internet drove many of those out of business and made those neighbourhoods more palpable.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Meh. If you gave me a choice between a spotless, neat and tidy city, or one with graffiti all over the place (no matter how artistic), I'd choose the neat and tidy one in a second.

[ChargerCarl]

A moment of silence for all the insufferable white hipsters whose "street cred" is being irreparably harmed.

[photoLith]

And... I don't care. Strip Clubs suck anyways, they're expensive as hell and all that happens is you get to see sexy nude women but can't jerk off, touch them, or have sex with them so what's the point?

[tech12]

Internet porn has undoubtedly taken a toll on porn shops and strip clubs. They'd be dying out even if gentrification wasn't a thing.

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

Meh. If you gave me a choice between a spotless, neat and tidy city, or one with graffiti all over the place (no matter how artistic), I'd choose the neat and tidy one in a second.

I'd say the opposite. A completely spotless city would feel unnatural.

[xzmattzx]

Why do you need strip clubs and pron theaters to have character?

If that was the case, Las Vegas wins for most character!

[Steely Dan]

first of all, grit is not solely defined by the presence of sex shops, strip clubs, and porno theaters.

as others have said, the internet has killed those kinds of businesses in cities around the world, it's not a toronto thing.

and toronto, just like all other cities everywhere, will be just fine with ever-decreasing amounts of such businesses.

[10023]

Was Toronto ever that gritty? I mean it's Canada.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

Meh. If you gave me a choice between a spotless, neat and tidy city, or one with graffiti all over the place (no matter how artistic), I'd choose the neat and tidy one in a second.

How about somewhere in between? A city that is in good shape and taken care of but looks like it has been lived in. A spotless, neat and tidy city seems like something out of a dystopian novel and a city with graffiti all over the place...is the Bronx in 1973.

[pdxtex]

lots of downtown had that kind of Camden market feel in the 80s and 90s. Queen St, Spadina, all of Younge. Toronto is grittyish just because it has a large immigrant population. Its all spiffy and shiny downtown now, but the neighborhoods still feel pretty working class in a lot of parts...

[Crawford]

Yonge Street downtown, heck most of the downtown commercial streets, have a veneer of semi-grit.

Not grit like in tough, dangerous, but grit like in working class, kinda rundown, immigrant businesses. Bangladeshi-owned dollar stores or whatever.

Also, the public realm in Toronto is, um, lacking. So, even with all these impressive glass towers going up everywhere, the sidewalks and public spaces kinda contribute to a quasi-ramshackle appearance.

[softee]

Originally Posted by 10023

Was Toronto ever that gritty? I mean it's Canada.

You'd be surprised how gritty looking Toronto and Montreal are -- Hamilton and Winnipeg, too.

Even without the strip clubs and sex shops, most of the buildings and neighbourhoods that those establishments used to be located in still look gritty.

[ssiguy]

This is not unique to Toronto, strip clubs and porn theatres are things of a by gone era which has been replaced by internet porn and match making sites of every possible genre.

What has declined greatly however which can effect a city's after-hours scene is the precipitious decline of bars and clubs. In the gay community most gay bars are frequented mostly by tourists, men over 50, and alchoholics. In the general sphere bars nd clubs are closing as there are relatively feewer young people than there were 30 years ago as people are changing how they socialize {or probably more so how they don't by just keying into the IPADS all night} and frankly the music today is horrid compared to what it once was which is why most radio stations and public places still play stuff from the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

This is not at all unique to Toronto in fact if it wasn't happening in Toronto then that would be something unique.

[hipster duck]

The Yonge street strip used to be the city's place to go for porn shops, record stores and book stores. Talk about a bad trio of bricks and mortar businesses to enter the 21st century with!

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

frankly the music today is horrid compared to what it once was which is why most radio stations and public places still play stuff from the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

That theory, while obviously very biased, is actually quite defensible. New music does suck, even when I try to keep an open mind about it. When I get a chance to talk to younger people about music, they usually talk about how great bands that predate them are, more so than young people did 15-20 years ago.

Music doesn't really anchor a generation as much as it used to, and it's much easier for youth to explore old music through the internet.

Whether bad contemporary music compels people to revisit old favorites, or whether the fact that the subset of youth who care about good music just explore old music, depriving good new artists of an audience and favoring the creation of bad stuff, is a bit of a chicken or egg question.

[pdxtex]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

The Yonge street strip used to be the city's place to go for porn shops, record stores and book stores. Talk about a bad trio of bricks and mortar businesses to enter the 21st century with!

R.I.P. sam the record man......best street signage ever.....