Looking Back
I took this pic a few years ago during one of our Open Streets events when parts of Yonge St & Bloor St were closed to cars. These 4 shops were the typical storefronts found along some of the older parts of Yonge St south of Bloor. Many have now been torn down and the small independent businesses are disappearing but a look on google showed me that the Cuban cigar shop and the Persian restaurant are still there (at least a few months ago). The 2 buildings on the right have been newly painted and fixed up while the 2 on the left are still in need of a facelift.
Taking part in Signs 2. Click HERE to see more signs from around the world.
And so the human scale disappears from the shopping streets.
ReplyDeleteIt makes me think of growing up in Illinois. All the stores were along the street like this. I loved shopping that way.
ReplyDeleteWe have sections in our downtown that are like this. I like the old buildings.
ReplyDeleteI hope the book shop survived too Pat, love those old buildings 💙
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteWe have some shops and similar signs here too. Lots of signs there, I see the Physic Reader and Spa above the book shop. Enjoy your day!
Fun to look at when different colored houses are stuck together;-)
ReplyDeleteYonge Street is changing forever. Take lots of photos before it's gone.
ReplyDeleteToo bad there is a loss of small shops, but gentrifying urban neighborhoods will do that. Real Estate just becomes too expensive. Good at least some of them are still there.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of the shops when I was growing up. My great grandmother used to live in a building like those with a shop underneath the apartments.
ReplyDelete...there still are numerous building like these here. The pressure to build new isn't as great locally. Thanks for sharing, enjoy your week.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that a cigar shop has survived; I haven't seen anyone smoking one for years. My father always used to smoke one on Christmas day but rolled his own cigarettes for the rest of the year.
ReplyDeleteThese are the sorts of shops that give a place character, and allow small entrepreneurs to have a chance.
ReplyDeleteThe Cuban cigar store reminds me of the book I just read about Churchill and how much he enjoyed a good cigar.
ReplyDeleteSad to see older businesses close. Here some of our older buildings are still standing, but with new owners. I hate to see old buildings torn down instead of being renovated and repurposed.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting stretch of shops.
ReplyDeleteLove these old buildings!
ReplyDeleteThe loss of the bookstore would grieve me.
ReplyDeleteI love the old buildings.
ReplyDeleteLove old buildings and store fronts, in a down-street section.
ReplyDeleteSo sad, to see them, disappear.