Richard Silver

Cabbagetown: Rick McCarthy is Coming to the JetFuel Cafe’

Rick McCarthy was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1941. A 7th-Dan Black Belt in Shotokan Karate, McCarthy has trained for 25 years with both Kancho Takemasa Okuyama and Renshi Shah Franco at their Toronto dojos. While working with the renowned Franco, McCarthy discovered a correlation between Brazilian Ju-Jitsu and the evolution of his own half-century career as an artist. “I see my painting and my fighting as being one and the same,” McCarthy says, “a struggle for existence.” Rick McCarthy www.rickmccarthytheartist.com Rick...Continue Reading...

Toronto Real Estate: Neighbourhood in focus: the Beach

Beach, The Beaches or The Beach? To locals in the Queen and Woodbine area, it is The Beach. Only the uninitiated call it The Beaches. And that is only a part of the east-end snobbery that other Torontonians can only dream of. Among locals, one MUST live west of Woodbine. And God forbid if you live north of Gerrard. Shorts and T-shirts on fabulous bodies abound but so do beer bellies and strollers. The old watering holes and pubs are being replaced by...Continue Reading...

Toronto Neighborhoods: Liberty Village

One of the coolest areas for urban exploration these days is Liberty Village  (southeast of King and Dufferin). Its host of Victorian factories used to turn out everything from toys and billiard tables to bowling alley floors. The neighbourhood’s slow but steady development is getting ready to burst at the seams with new residential projects, restaurants and shops. Townhouses, lofts and apartments abound, but the community would not make it without the great watering holes and meeting places like The Academy...Continue Reading...

Downtown Toronto Neighborhoods: Leslieville

Years ago I lived south of Queen Street East .  Nights were noisy with police and fire trucks responding to parties or family squabbles gone wrong... but we were braving new worlds. Then Realtors began speaking of a hot new area they liked to call “Cabbagetown II ,” with Victorian homes in poor repair being gentrified. If you could not afford the real thing, then number two was not too bad. (more...)Continue Reading...

Toronto Neighborhoods: Kensington Market

To my mind the "Kings and Queens" of Kensington have got it all: Living in the centre of the city in Victorian houses, lofts and laneway housing. They can go from the AGO  to Chinatown , shop for bagels, thousands of vegetables and cheeses, run home and then head off to the Theatre district  in 30 minutes. Tour the alleys,dim sum restaurants and the incredible cultural diversity that has existed in Kensington Market  for years. You cannot beat the prices for clothes, food and...Continue Reading...

Toronto: Saturday Night on St. Clair Avenue West

Last Saturday night we dropped in on the new location of one of our favorite Italian restaurants: Acquolina Ristorante. They moved to 760 St. Clair Avenue West recently from their original on Mt. Pleasant Road. As usual, the food and service were great however... It has been a while since I drove the length of St. Clair Avenue West from Yonge Street to Christie Avenue without construction...and now we could truly experience the finished product of the past three years, including special...Continue Reading...

Great Annual Cabbagetown Fundraiser to Benefit the Riverdale Farm.

Riverdale Farm 2010 Calendar Is Back By Popular Demand! Produced by the Riverdale Farm Advisory Council, the Riverdale Farm 2010 Calendar features fabulous photographs of the Farm’s buildings, gardens and animals throughout the year and includes not-to-be-missed dates of events in the community. The Council is very grateful to all the local merchants who kindly sponsored the calendar and to all the visitors to the Farm who allowed us to use their photos.  Joel Rotstein and Associates Inc. volunteered their great design...Continue Reading...

BlogTO Post about the new City of Toronto Development Status Site

There is a great post out the by BlogTO. It is all about the launch on February 3rd of a Development Update Site by the City of Toronto. It gives you the Deveopment Status of projects around the City and is a great resource, long needed, for citizens to keep up with what is happening, or not, in their neighborhood. The City Site is quite cumbersome (more...)Continue Reading...

A Great Real Estate Shopping Accessory: HomeZilla.ca

Shopping for homes on the Internet is becoming easier and easier with interactive mapping, photos, virtual tours, floor plans, videos and more...and now there is Homezilla.ca. Once you've found your dream home you need to find out about the local Schools, local shopping and of course, the local STARBUCKS. (more...)Continue Reading...

Toronto Real Estate: Cabbagetown

It was Cabbagetown Festival, 30 years ago when I spent a Saturday touring around Parliament Street and the area to the East. At the end of the day, I bought my first house for $90,000. It was a great location and has just recently re-sold for over $700,000. Of course, in the interim, like a good REALTOR, I have moved a few times...it is a hazard of the business...you think you have found the perfect home and then you see...Continue Reading...