East York Mirror

The hot long week that has just passed was a good time to stop and reflect on the current events taking place in the city.

Yes, yet again that deadly mix of alcohol, testosterone, egos and guns came together and yet another tragic shooting resulted.

It was not soon after that the United States experienced its own tragic shooting in Colorado.

It is far too easy to allow ourselves to get caught up in these outbreaks of insanity and miss the positive.

There are a lot of things happening in the community that show the area is alive and well.

Woodbine Heights has seen some new businesses move in, and a specialty restaurant has opened recently.

East York Village and the Donlands area are both seeing a good flow of customers on a daily basis.

Pape Avenue has new housing and no lack of customers in cars and on foot on the street.

Shopping along Bayview Avenue and Laird Drive are booming.

These are all good things that keep a community vibrant, alive, and interesting.

The question now, though, is how to keep this economic momentum going.

Is it a bubble that will burst, or is this how the east end of the city will continue to be for many years to come? I am old enough to remember how East York and Leaside looked before the trendy shops and restaurants moved in. Back when people began to use their cars to go elsewhere to spend their money.

Likewise, I can also remember when Danforth and Woodbine avenues was one of the best places to shop in the old city of Toronto. Unfortunately, today this same area is what people politely term as being “in transition”. The point here is that the city, and our community, is in a constant state of change. It is next to impossible to predict the way things will change for one particular neighbourhood at any time.

The key thing is that while our community has had a large degree of political power taken away from it through amalgamation, people can still make a local influence with their pocket books.

How often do you buy a product or a service from a local business?

It really is tempting to jump into the car, if you have one, and head out to a large shopping plaza.

Or even still, when you look up a service or trade, do you choose one from the local area.

We have a great number of small and large businesses that you may see on a day-to-day basis, but are you really using them when a need comes along.

Even though we may work outside of our home area, it’s not wise to spend outside our community.

We need good local businesses as much as we need our city provided with good local services.

Both provide us with that much-needed sense of small town comfort and local prosperity that is required for a sense of healthy community life.