Some of the businesses on Ossington are well connected to social media including our Dani Elwell of Jaiden’s Petals, who blogs from her site and is very active on Twitter. Opera Bobs keeps people up to date on Facebook. And don’t forget to be tempted by the tweets from Pizzaria Libretto, Union Restaurant and Bohmer who let everyone know their specials in the twitter stream. Want Tattoo advice? There’s even Imperial Tattoo on Twitter. There’s lots more examples on our street and you can check out our Ossington Places twitter stream here. But there are places on Ossington that don’t even have a website including the Crooked Stars and Sweaty Bettys. Are they losing out?

Luckily, without leaving our home of Ossington we can find out, or at least have a good discussion about, the efficacy of the medium. HomeStars (disclosure – my employer – and no, it wasn’t by coincidence it is hosted here – Thanks Shaun!), a social media site designed for contractors and homeowners looking for those contractors, is hosting an event for Social Media Week called Is Social Media Your Prize Winning Pig – Think Again where we’ll debate the effectiveness of social media. It should be entertaining, and could even get hostile.   The event will be tomorrow, Tuesday, night from 6:30 to 8:30 at the Garrison, on Dundas just west of Ossington. If there are tickets still available you can register on the Social Media Week site here. Or you can just come by and see whether you can slip in and get on a side of this debate. Because the week may be full of people who are ‘social media strategists’ it’ll be good to have some social media cynics. Are you one? Want to share your opinion? Come out and have some fun, get in on the debate, and join in this global conference on the future of social media.

Take a look through the entire schedule of Social Media Week and try and check out some of the other events. The week will end at a great event close by at the Gladstone Hotel where there will be an evening of Powerpoint Karaoke, which if you’ve never seen, definitely has to be experienced.

This year brought a lot of new businesses and faces to Ossington, all of which we welcomed, and many of which we covered. We look forward to frequenting many new shops, galleries, restaurants and more to the strip in the year ahead.

Let’s start with February 2010 – Angell Gallery moved from Queen Street West onto Dundas. Angell took over the space of Lennox Contemporary in February 2010, and has hosted a plethora of exhibits ever since.

There was a bustle of activity and then Bohmer launched in March 2010. The beautiful space and delicious food has led more people to Toronto’s new “Restaurant Row.”  March also saw the opening of “Oz Boutique,” an art and design hub which has housed Evan Biddell’s clothing line, but focuses on photographer Joe Fuda’s work and curated exhibits.

We started April with City Store Grocery opening on Dundas, and Crepes and More on Ossington. 8 months later, both are still open and catering to the daytime crowd in our area. That month’s other opening was the weekend-only bar, OurHouse.

May brought pop-ups to Ossington with the short-lived but fun launch of 1st Run Art Gallery, which featured the work of it’s creators. In June, LAB Consignment opened with a splash, sharing space with Silver Falls Vintage on Ossington near Queen. In other just as popular fashion news, TOPSHOP came to Toronto by way of London, and opened within Jonathan + Olivia’s space.

The lazy days of summer were anything but for entrepreneurs on Ossington when several businesses opened their doors, starting with Crafted by Te Aro, a coffee shop from Leslieville branching out. Another import from within Toronto was Goed Eten, which started serving coffee, waffles, poutine and more this July.

For a very short time this summer, Salt opened, then closed. Now it is finally open again for good, serving Portuguese wines and tapas.

This fall we supported the opening of Beau Lieu Bistro at 59 Ossington and also Telegramme Prints and Framing at 194 Ossington. O’born Contemporary is also a new gallery to the strip.

We don’t want to forget all the new openings on Dundas (part of that “Ossington triangle” mentioned earlier) that we covered a couple of months ago about Dundas’ evolution: Bunda Lounge, Churchill, Brockton General, Academy of Lions, Port, and Enoteca Sociale.

Finally, let’s look forward to the continuing growth with new places set to open soon: Pasta and More, Fish Bar, Lakeview Convenience and The Saint are the ones we know about, but we’re sure there’ll be more. Here’s to a happy and healthy Ossington Village in 2011.

One of the reasons people don’t get involved in local politics is they don’t know what’s going on. Karen Sun pointed out in our meeting and discussion, and on stage at the debate, that many of the people that she talked to in the neighbourhood knew that there was something going on with the moratorium on Ossington, but didn’t exactly know what. And, I’d have to admit that I’m still not sure I fully understand how the laws work, because it was my understanding – which was obviously wrong – that the moratorium ended but the new laws they passed back in the spring are now in effect. However, this doesn’t seem to be the case, as Salt Wine Bar fights to find a way to open their already complete and fully ready restaurant.

In the Toronto Sun, Rachel writes for the broader audience, not specifically about the particular issues in the riding, because in the end, most Sun readers don’t care what goes on in Ward 19 – and rightly so on both her and the paper’s part.  She writes about the lack of turnout, which is prevalent no matter which ward you live in in Toronto. Most areas in the city have incumbent councilors which make it even harder to get voters out, because it’s very difficult in City of Toronto voting rules to unseat an incumbent, so most residents just don’t bother to try.

In January of this year I got an email from a local business owner who had received an email from Joe Pantalone telling him about his great work “that will greatly enhance the neighbourhood.  At the Toronto East York Community Council on January 12, 2010, a recommendation was presented to remove the pedestrian crossing at Ossington Ave & Argyle St in order to install traffic control signals at this intersection and I fully expect it to be passed at City Council on January 26, 2010.” This was clearly Joe targeting his marketing for his own purposes. In this case it didn’t work because in fact this business owner didn’t agree with Joe on this, and sent him a strong note back pointing this out. We didn’t get a copy of this note, and Joe’s office definitely knows we write about the neighbourhood. He didn’t want local commentary.

But where was the local involvement? Where was the consultation? And where was the news that this was going on? All these get no press because there is no press to cover it, or at least that’s what we’re led to believe. How do locals find out what’s going on in their community? There are a few scattered old-media print publications we do receive now and then at our doorstep, including the Gleaner, although most things that come on newsprint on our doorstep are full of ads and they end up where the Yellow Pages goes – in the blue bin.

That’s where we come in, and people like us – and there are other folks like us. Maybe not many, and maybe some don’t do quite the job we do, but they are out there. And with very little work and almost no money (this blog costs us ~$50 a year in hosting costs, and we enjoy walking the area and writing) democracy can take hold. We leave our comments open and let people put in their 2¢, as long as it’s inclusive and respectful. We also have a Facebook page where people can place their comments, and let us and other people in the neighbourhood know what’s going on.

The new candidate for Ward 19 should make it a priority to set up and importantly to promote an online place, whether it be a Facebook page, or some other platform where people can find out what’s going on in their area – whether as local as the street, or the Ward. We can’t leave it up to the Toronto Star or the Sun (and face it, local flyers don’t work any more), because those papers aren’t going to cover the issues in this area the same way a local blogger or platform can get people involved.

If people in the neighbourhood know what’s going on, whether it’s a new stoplight, a new zoning restriction, speedbumps, or even are aware that there are complaints about local businesses, maybe they will get involved and take more action locally. Perhaps the local businesses will react quicker to meet the demands of their neighbours (and potential customers) rather than receiving a citation from city hall. But most importantly, citizens will get involved and vote.

So get involved locally. Know your candidates and the issues – we’ve posted all the links of the sites on the sidebar of the blog until elections day. Vote on election day! and if there’s something going on in the Ossington area that you like or don’t like, comment on the blog, write to us and let us know, or start your own blog and start making changes in the area. This is what democracy is, and it’s enabled by technology.

I finally got to meet with Mike Layton, both over a coffee at I Deal and drink at Reposado. We talked about many of the issues of the neighbourhood, which, from his canvassing, he is learning quickly.

He’s a resident of the area, and obviously, through his father, he’s well connected. His clear passion is the environment, and he knows a lot about the politics of it, which is obviously a good skill and passion to have in this city. He currently works for an environmental organization doing research and communications work on issues related to renewable energy.

One of the great characteristics I thought he brought to the table was the ability to listen. He is very personable and friendly, and will lend an ear to all the local residents. People talk about the characteristic of “a politician you’d want to have a drink with” – and Mike fits right in that category.

His endorsement by Joe Pantalone, who we’re not a fan of on this blog, may help him, and may hinder him. In our conversations he was careful not to criticize his potential predecessor but stressed the importance of good communication within the community, something that didn’t happen with the restaurant moratorium.

We are happy that there will be a new and eager councilor for our ward, whoever is chosen. We encourage you to stay informed about who is running, we have been interviewing the candidates, and plan to do more in the next few weeks.

The Cardboard Brains - by Vincent Carlucci

Vince Carlucci is a long-time Toronto musician, having co-founded the band Cardboard Brains back in 1976. Back then he was also taking pictures of his favourite bands, Iggy Pop, The Ugly, The Ramones, Blondie and others. Toronto, along with New York and London, was pivotal in the late 70s punk movement and many of the best musicians the the time came and played.

There are shots from Patti Smith’s show at Seneca College in 1976, (price of entry: $7.50) as well as Lou Reed playing Massey Hall.

Recently Joe Fuda connected with Vince and put together an expo of some of the shots he took which went up recently at the Oz Studios at 134 Ossington. It’s a cool little show to walk around and remember the era.

It was one year ago that Joe Pantalone, our current mayoral candidate, annoyed me so much by blocking new restaurant openings on Ossington without consultation from the neighbours that I went home and started writing.

90 Posts later we are still going – and an example of Hyper-local blogging.

A lot has happened this year on Ossington.

• The opening of Bohmer, Paramour and Union restaurants.
• The launch of City Store, Crepes & More & Our House.
• Evan Bidell, of Project Runway Canada fame, showed his wares in the location next to Reposado.
• Angell Gallery moved up from Queen Street.
• There were the closings of Bar au Soup, Get Real, Rolly’s Garage and the final demise of the never-opened The Saint.
• Pizzeria Libretto not only got certified by VPN, but also got named by En Route Magazine as a Best restaurant of 2008

We launched our Twitter account only 2 months ago and are keeping the neighbourhood up to date with our shorter updates. Follow us on Twitter here.

We thought we’d celebrate with a new look! The fantastic graphic design of Ananuku Kolar and Better Art Design & Direction put together our first logo, and I spent a beautiful May afternoon in the backyard putting together a new format for the blog. It will continue to evolve and grow as will the neighbourhood.

We’ve had a great time getting to know all our neighbours in Ossington Village and hearing from you our readers. We appreciate everyone who commented and sent us feedback – even if we disagreed.

We love the way this neighbourhood keeps changing and love documenting the evolution of Ossington Village. Keep commenting, sending us feedback, story ideas, and other happenings in the area.

Robert Washburn, a journalism professor, asked me to write a piece about what we are doing here, which is, essentially, hyper-local blogging. We’re writing about a small piece of the city – of the world – and giving our perspective on the area.

Today that was published in J-Source, and online Journal of Journalism. (doesn’t that sound cool?)

Check it out here.

(read the whole thing- it’s how we got here)

It looks like he’s just getting his campaign going and he doesn’t have much online, but here’s what we know now:

Joshua works as a business analyst for a wealth management software company and grew up on College Street where his parents owned and operated a restaurant. So he’s a local guy.
For high-school he went to Jarvis Collegiate and then took economics at the University of Toronto.
After spending some time in Pennsylvania as a consultant for Vanguard – a U.S investment and pension company – he returned to Canada and now lives close to Ossington on Strachan Ave.

He outlined in an email his first platform planks, clearly focussed on his specialty, economics:

• Closing the fiscal gap between spending and revenue.
• Raising property taxes annually by approximately 3 % (which essentially has happened over the last 4 years) is not a sustainable model.
• Moderate spending.  There are expenses that this city has taken on that aren’t immediate or necessary.

Joshua says:

“I believe in bringing people together and helping them understand both sides.”

“In terms of the ossington strip, I’m sure we can come to a better resolution than the status quo (which I’ve read, and experienced first hand) that both sides are not happy with.”

Amen to that!

Joshua promises to continue to expand his platform in the next little while, and we’ll keep you up to date.

A recent Toronto Star article has also mentioned a few other candidates who have thrown their hat in the ring including Jack Layton’s son, Mike Layton, bike shop owner Derek Chadbourne, Karen Sun, executive director of the Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter, local activist and repeat candidate Himy Syed, and recently profiled Jim Likourezos. We’ll try and have some profiles of the other candidates up soon.

Who’s up for a candidate’s debate in the Ossington Village?

His webpage says he’s for “responsible government”, which really doesn’t help us out much. (not that we don’t like responsible government, but give us some more!).

So, to help us get to know him he’s holding a couple of meet and greets in the area, although unfortunately none on Ossington… yet.

The first of his meetups is at Victory Cafe on Monday the 22nd at 7pm

The second meeting takes place at one of my faves, the Wheat Sheaf Tavern the next night at 7pm also.

I’m sure he’ll be heading and meeting up with us here on Ossington soon. Reposado, Sweaty Betty’s and The Painted Lady make for good meet-up locales, and the local business owners would love to find out more about him.