Early Saturday morning, I had to go use a local laundromat. From online reviews, Pasodaje has been around close to 10 years. But the machines looked new and well-maintained. It had a large number of washers (4 sizes) and dryers (2 sizes). With Korean owners, it reminded me of my old spot Jumbo Laundry at College and Gladstone, even with a few out-of-order signs. The Italian proprietor of Angela's Laundry (my regular spot across from Jumbo over the last 10 years) told me Jumbo finally folded (and became a day-care) because they didn't know how to do basic repair. Those contractor fees will kill you.
After I finished laundry, I went to Supercoffee at Eglinton and Weston. This was the first trendy business in this area per my friend. It felt similar to The Common in the Dufferin Grove area: a spot for both locals and gentrifiers. During my hour there, a parade of folks came through but only a handful lingered. Numerous dogs entered the shop with their owners which was cute and fun but not exactly up to the health code.
I ordered a medium English Breakfast ($2.61), lemon cranberry scone ($2.90), and a butter croissant ($2.95). The baked goods were probably ordered elsewhere and didn't stand out. I noticed the proprietress brought in her own goods (muffins?) so next time I'll try something more home-made. The server knew "the usual" for almost everyone.
Afterwards, I explored a few side streets . During my morning runs this week, mostly north of Eglinton, I found tidy and attractive homes surrounded by large parks with cricket fields and tennis courts. On my stroll this morning, some of the houses south of Eglinton were even more spacious and wouldn't look out of place in Dufferin Grove. The courts and cricket grounds were packed with players for the week-end.
So probably some of the gentrifiers were actually well-off locals who have lived in the Mount Dennis area for a long time. Main streets like Weston Road were likely to have always been commercial. But were they more pleasant before industrialization and heavy traffic?
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