Crescent Town Toronto | Exploring the Isolated Neighbourhood (May 2024)

An east end Toronto walk to the Crescent Town neighbourhood.
0:01 - TTC Main Street Station
1:15 - South on Main Street / East on Danforth Ave
3:45 - North on Barrington Ave / East on Coleman Ave
9:07 - North on Dawes Road
11:30 - East on Dentonia Park Ave
13:30 - Dentonia Park
18:10 - Exploring Crescent Town
33:40 - Pedestrian Bridge & TTC Victoria Park Station
Recorded in 4K at 60 FPS on Tuesday, May 14, 2024.
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[@anthonyshowrock]

Johnny doesnt know it yet but he will be a legend down the road when these become the archives for our city!

[@user-wb1qo6ol4h]

That is actually very, very true!

[@u263a3]

100 years from now

[@Flashback_Jack]

That's right. Kiss a photographer. We understand the value of documentation and archiving. History ought to be preserved, one way or the other.

[@nononsenseBennett]

I agree. Citizen journalism is very important and also entertaining.

[@pauljackson8282]

I lived in # 9 Crescent Town apt. 1807 in 1978/1979 and was paying $325 per month for the one bedroom apt. which was actually a bit pricy at the time but that included all utilities and membership in the Crescent Town Club which had great facilities and a great pool. The grocery store at the time was a Dominion, as was the store at Vic Park and Danforth as well. I was 21 at the time and this was my first home on my own. I now am a retired electrician and live in a small town on the coast of BC and wouldn't move back to Toronto for all the money in the world!

[@nononsenseBennett]

I, too, "escaped" the wrath of Toronto to BC. Big cities are unnatural and bad for the psyche. Give me open space, tall trees, mountains and clean air!

[@iseemelanie]

I grew up in Crescent Town. I spent the first 8.5 years of my life there. My aunts, uncle, and grandparents also lived there. We moved from there in 1990 for the suburbs (Durham region). I loved it there as a child. It’s changed a lot since then, but it’s still has a sense of community. I live downtown now and haven’t been back there in a while. Thanks for posting this video and reminding me of my childhood.

[@sirxavior1583]

My Grandparents followed a similar story. They lived there in the 80's when they first arrived to Canada then the rest of my aunt and uncles also lived there. As soon as my aunts and uncles became established they all started purchasing homes throughout the GTA, mostly York and Durham region. I joke that I was most likely conceived at Crescent Town before my parents left to purchase a home in Ajax. Times have changed, I think most immigrants that arrive now will end up getting stuck in Crescent Town and not be able to move on.

[@iseemelanie]

@@sirxavior1583 yep, our stories are very similar! Ajax is where I moved to. I agree though - with the market as crazy as it is now, it will be very tough for people to move away from a place like Crescent Town.

[@JohnnyStrides]

Neat, thanks for sharing!

[@carolyncalhoun7555]

Lived in crescent town in late 80's when rent was less than 400 a month for a one bedroom apartment overlooking the golf course. Was very convenient having the subway right there to get to work in downtown core. They had a great restaurant on the ground level and a great karate club. Enjoyed living there except for the time elevators went down and had to walk up 22 flights while very pregnant.

[@exkalibur25ca]

I lived there back in '05-ish. $793/mo for a HUGE 1 bedroom. Prices have gone insane! Very safe place to live (at least back then) and everyone was friendly. No bed bugs or roaches. Location is incredible too.

[@ellenniemer2185]

Thanks for this video, Johnny. My aunt and uncle moved into Crescent Town when it was first built. It was beautiful then. I lived in the triangular building beside Victoria Park Station in the 80s. It was a handy location but I moved because rent got too high. I can't believe those prices now! I was told that when Alice Cooper was in town recording with Bob Ezrin back in the day that Alice played golf at the small golf course beside Victoria Park Station.

[@detroitdale]

One time I asked you to do a suburb video these old neighborhoods that’s more what I was talking about. They’re so beautiful Main Street to Victoria station that was beautiful.

[@hyeripark5390]

Glad to see again the neighbourhood near main street station! Thank you Johnny :)

[@TheFilthy13]

Great video, I am glad you did this little walk from Main stn. to Victoria Park stn. You really captured the charm of the neighborhood during this summer walk. You walked right by my house on Dentonia Park Ave. on your way to Vic Park. Keep the videos coming and thanks again !

[@azamyahmad]

Great job Jhonny .. and as always beautiful sharing .. thanks again

[@theresadoll5374]

Dude! As a “public service” I wish you had known or mentioned that the Shawarma place on the corner of Main and Danforth is the BEST in the city. And that just over the bridge there is a smokehouse with the best BBQ ribs in the city. Small businesses need this kind of social media boost so I hope you consider incorporating some local promotions as you do your shoots slash uploads. No idea how you came into my “feed” today but I will likely check out a few more.

[@pierreturner7084]

thanks Johnny thumbs up for beautiful day east end vid

[@MsDebbyWebby]

Decent video, Bro!!! I live in this area. Walk through those parks everyday! First time I seen the inners of Crescent town. I Really enjoy watching your Videos!!

[@JohnnyStrides]

Thanks!

[@martym61]

Thanks for another great walk.

[@lisadeeyoung]

Charmed by this one - think I'll be walking this route soon. Thanks, JS.

[@JohnnyStrides]

You're most welcome.

[@robertarmstrong968]

The sneakers 👟 tied to the overhead wires originated from Compton in south central L.A. as a means for crack dealers to signify the availability of drugs supply in the area. Sadly 😥 it spread north years ago & is now common. I always phone 📱 Toronto Hydro to have them removed.

[@hhhhhh-vj2uc]

It also means someone has died. The same way you see flowers on light poles.

[@gabriellen.2886]

It's also like your ghost bike tradition (which I had never seen here in STL even though this is where it apparently began). The shoes mark a death at that site.

[@ellenniemer2185]

My son and his skateboarding friends used to throw their worn out skate shoes over the hydro wires.

[@goldenretriever6261]

Also means someone just decided to throw some shoes up on the wires.

[@PeBoVision]

I was among the first Crescent Town residents (Building 11 facing Victoria Park Ave, in a massive two-story 3 bedroom unit). It was a VERY different complex back then... clean and modern with community spaces, like the Marketplace, being fully occupied and bustling. The maze of courtyards between the buildings have become quite frightening to walk through at night whereas they were once a key feature of the place - a self-contained city with the city. The buildings at Dawes Rd were among the first condos in the City of Toronto, and stand as monuments for why I would never buy a condo. Imagine waking up one mornign and realizing the neighbourhood in which you now live, compared to the one you bought into. 1960's and 70's high density residential housing was ill-conceived and ill-advised beyong the decades in which they were conceived. Crescent Town is not as bad as St James Town is not as bad as Thorncliffe Park, but they all end up being poorly maintained concrete ghettos like the city of Brazilia on which they were all modelled. (community spaces that are planned, rather than developed organically by the community, never do well. Then again, considering that these high-density complexes are among Toronto's worst neighbourhoods, we are still doing relatively well compared to most American cities. (they are still liveable spaces if you don't mind sharing with tens of millions of cockroaches that infest ALL high-density housing in Toronto.)

[@Squisky]

Heyo! I was born in Bangladesh. Grew up here though. So when we first moved to Canada we were in and around that area. I used to work at Zellers at Shopper's World as a teen. We moved away from there oretty quickly though. Bit o' insight about the monument thing. We'll keep it VERY short. 14th Feb is celebrated as international mother language day cause Bangladesh used to be east pakistan after the Brits left the subcontinent. Pakistan imposed urdu as the official language even though Bangla is 3000 plus years old (in one form or another). A bunch of university kids and professors for shot and killed for speaking Bangla. 14th Feb is to commemorate those language martyrs.

[@brianduffy1338]

Joan here. I lived in Crescent Town from 1978-90. In Bldg.#11 which is the small one near the subway and basically aligned with the school and almost directly across from the golf course. You didn't show much of this one. The building runs parallel to Vic Park all the way across to the walkway that accesses the subway. The area has changed lots, I must say. Some of it I just don't recognize. The landscaping both on the Ring Road and in the interior space closer to the subway access is all new (to me). The baseball diamond was a lot closer to my building then and the area surrounding was largely just green space. No splash pad. Back then the inner circle of the complex had the store (much smaller than it is now, pricey then as well and definitely no furniture on offer), rental office, hairdresser, a restaurant and some other businesses. The access to all of the big buildings were a bit more confusing and definitely dimly lit. I did not venture far from my end of things frankly. And I see that Victoria Park Station has had a major facelift. Thank you for this trip down memory lane!!! FYI, when I left in 1990 I believe my rent was around $420 for a junior one-bedroom. And I believe the population is way higher than 10,000.

[@dylanreynolds8264]

good morning everyone

[@stephenbryant7189]

I did a ninth or tenth-grade report on Crescent Town for my urban geography class before the buildings were fully populated. At the time, it was (like everything since) being marketed as an innovation in urban planning for the future. I'm glad it turned out to be simply a development that has not been replicated, rather than a misfire.

[@editsbyshira]

I’m in this video! I was joking in my mind thinking imagine I’d end up on one of these videos since I live here and the time you mentioned I was outside and turns out I’m literally in it! Can’t believe I lowkey met you without even knowing 🤣

[@javedakhtar]

I lived in 7 Crescent Place unit 1802 for my first two years in Toronto, back in 2001 and 2002. I paid $875/month for the 1-bedroom apartment. I haven't really been back in the area since, so it was fun to watch this walkthrough. Everything still mostly looks and feels the same!

[@forbeshutton5487]

I was security there in 94-95. Three of the towers and the low rise buildings are condos (YCC 76), the first two buildings, beside the subway are rentals. The builder had meant to have it all rentals but had to sell of the majority of the project (as condos) in order to finish the project. Up until about 2012 the store was a Hasty Market. The place was in decline when I worked there, and seems to have slowly continued to decline since. Kiefer Sutherland lived in the rental side, not the condos. In the mid 90s many of the original owners were dying off, and welfare checks were common when family didn't hear from them. Police were the only ones able to perform a welfare check, but security went with them to provide access (keys). One or two a month resulted in the discover of a body. People would go 3 months without hearing from grandma, and then suddenly panic, demanding that security let them into the unit, but if they weren't on the title, they had to call the police and wait for them, as we could not let anyone into a unit who didn't live there. If you have any elderly relative, have them give you extra keys... Sometimes you only had to crack the front door of the unit and the smell would tell you grandma had passed several weeks before, millions of blowflies buzzing around were another clue that there was no point in looking, just step out and call the coroner.

[@JohnnyStrides]

Thanks for sharing.

[@theresadoll5374]

I’m prompted to say “thank you for your service”.

[@wowzieee]

Whoa, you Don t catch the buses in the bays above. We had to go up stairs and there where only 4 bus bays. Kingston road, Victoria Park, Pharmacy and the Danforth East buses. It s been awhile.

[@Pooja_lather]

Johny why didn't you ring the bell? I live at 94 Dawes road,, this house is 100 years old, you just passed by my house without saying HI,, I always watch your videos ,,that's not nice😂

[@DonKnight-qi4tu]

Grew up Main and Danny. There was a restaurant in Crescent Town 1982 where I had some wobbly pops watching the World Cup of Soccer. Also played ball at Dentonia, used to have an outdoor rink in the winter on the soccer field.

[@michelvanderwall8710]

Exciting urban

[@Sheppard87]

Very nice videos. When it looks green again the city looks really great 🥰. Here it looks mostly dry 😒.

[@m1t2a1]

Delivered pizza after school for whatever the nearest Pizza Pizza was in about 80. The first place that stiffed me was in Crescent Town. The place that gave the biggest tips was there too. That guy knew how to party.

[@Ryan.Hannah]

I used to live in 11 Crescent Place. It was right under the bridge to the subway station. A two-story unit with a basement. Three bedrooms upstairs and two in the lower level. The unit also had three bathrooms but only one with an actual shower. Two of the bathrooms were two piece. There was five of us roommates - the total rent was $1400 in 2002-2005. It actually wasn't a bad place to live.

[@lisadeeyoung]

A+ thumbnail, KZbinr.

[@inlaymansterms...9303]

It was beautiful in the 1980s...nothing like it is now.

[@forbeshutton5487]

It was in decline by the mid 90s, most of the original (condo) owners had moved or passed on, the rental building tenants dragged the condos down. When the condos started being rented out by the owners the decline increased as people just don't care about something unless they own it.

[@essgee4225]

HI JOHNNY THIS IS ONE THE BEST AREAS IN TORONTO

[@whitefield4]

Thanks for this great video Johnny reminds me and look likes the British housing estates with the walkways in the sky. Toronto is a Very Expensive city to live in and problay the most expensive in Canada now.

[@BlueHeron654]

Wow, I took my dance classes at Main and Danforth where that new condo tower is! Back in the 80's! Anyone remember Vince Parrell's Dance Centre?

[@KP-oe8sk]

Keiffer Sutherland lived at Crescent town with his mom!!

[@JohnnyStrides]

As mentioned in the video.

[@johnmckenzie4639]

It's great to see a cricket game being played in Toronto.

[@VladislavBabbitt]

Toronto has no identity.

[@Neville60001]

@@VladislavBabbitt, that's bullshit and you know it.

[@cyberpleb2472]

@@VladislavBabbitt What should Toronto identify as?

[@VladislavBabbitt]

@@cyberpleb2472 Well, 52% of the people there were not born in Canada, so this is hard to say.

[@VladislavBabbitt]

Although Canada is a Commonwealth country, cricket is not very popular here. I have met a few people who play it here. They were from Guyana, where it is of course widely played, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and so forth. Canadians are more like the USA in terms of everyday popular culture.

[@bluetocop]

how is Cresc Town isolated bike paths in ravine you can pedal to downtown, subway to downtown shopping a block away walk to golf course

[@SweatySockGaming]

I LOVE CRESECENT TOWN 🥰

[@jodythomas1858]

Cricket is quickly becoming Canada's new national sport

[@bskinny9009]

A condo was less than $300K there a few years ago.

[@neilwhitaker6284]

You couldn't pay me enough to walk through that neighbourhood with the apartment buildings lol.

[@susanb4816]

I was homeless in that area in 1980-83. Worked at Marina’s overnight then at Little Louie’s but never could get a place to live. I was 18-23 when i was homeless after ageing out of CAS. They just dumped me on the street on my 18th bday

[@shari9721]

It is absolutely sickening the way kids are "aged" out of the CAS on their 18th birthday and dumped onto the streets with their few belongings with nowhere to live , no support staff , no financial help etc . For those who have spent any time in the foster "care" system they have higher rates of school drop out , homelessness , joblessness , stability issues , mental health issues , drug/alcohol use/addiction ,, suicide , depression , trust issues , problems forming and maintaining friendships and intimate relationships , having a record and incarceration etc . Despite what people think the CAS is not some warm , fuzzy , safe place that saves and protects and looks after children giving them a great chance of a bright future , instead the numerous forms of abuse (physical , sexual , mental , emotional , financial , educational , medical etc) , the damages caused and the effects of all of it and of being bounced around house to house , school to school , and being in the system affect every part and aspect of you and your life and last a lifetime .

[@davidedmunds5696]

Congrats Johnny, if you played in the Beaches League then you were a pretty good ballplayer. I come from NL and we have some fine ballplayers down there. Stephen Mullaly is from my hometown.

[@salmanalibhai9148]

Do a walk along Victoria Park Ave and Eglington

[@jussayinmipeece1069]

i find it interesting these high rise high density buildings haven't deteoriated into slums like they did in the US. Instead, they seem to be really decent well groomed and well maintained living environments to live

[@iCipher]

glad i got out of the area when i did, I had my car broken into 3 times within a year 2022-2023, after dark heaps of crime going on

[@AD-Dom]

That's where I live! Only place in Toronto with affordable / purchasable property.

[@zodiacair]

Do the cockroaches still live there?

[@glennjarvis2672]

With a population of around 10k in a concentrated area, it's no wonder there is several shootings a year. In between those rentals is an actual condo building. Sadly this area has a bad reputation for many years now.

[@Neville60001]

A tragedy that the rest of the city going north on Victoria Park wasn't all apartments like in New York City, but was all houses instead.

[@dallasgeorgie7901]

I grew up on chisholm Ave and all the jobs I had as a kid were on Danforth. I love East York, is it still a borough?

[@theresadoll5374]

I believe East York is the ONLY Borough in Canada.

[@KardiFan2000]

It is no longer an official borough with its own municipal government. Since amalgamation in 1998, it has been considered a part of the City of Toronto.

[@MrDigitalman78]

Nice walk through crescent park neighborhood in the east side of Town. My yearly income is $20,950 which is extremely low and cannot afford to live by myself in this city

[@froggerc625]

Used to golf at Dentonia Park golf club (and Tam O'Shanter etc) as a kid. Lost interest in golf and its expense for the most part as a young adult.

[@EvelynSaungikar]

Have you done a video on Underpass Park?

[@JohnnyStrides]

Several times yes.

[@bobsobie678]

2:32 I see Giffen Mack has installed iron gates to keep the dreck off it's property. Imagine going to a funeral, the parking lot reeks of urine and seeing the occasional junkie.

[@mreppen1]

In California shoes hung over City Wires means “Drugs are available and in town”. Establishing Territory.

[@quentinsavage2103]

What is the date and the year? Soon we will forget. It is good for historical reasons.

[@JohnnyStrides]

It's in the description of every video...

[@jade_mouseydark0077]

Do they have low income housing or apartments available there ?....nice neighborhood well I don't know I probably can't afford it ??

[@MsKleinlaut]

Further east, between Vic Pk&Pharmacy are subsidized bldgs. 14 year waiting list for a 1 b-room. 10 yr waiting list for a studio.

[@MisterMister5893]

Interesting exploration. Watching all the usual tours of this bustling city can get a little monotonous and repetitive, if I'm honest. These parts of our town seem like a foreign country.

[@entertain402]

the toll booth on your left at 35:52 is the spot where the only murder of a ttc ticket seller took place; the perp was living in teesdale, and was raping woman in the vpark underground parking lot late at night; he decided one night to rob the ticket booth and stabbed the victim; the perp was the cousin of a man who killed his teenage girlfriend and sister in scarborough (the ttc killer was present with the cousin when he killed the 2 teen girls) before she went off on a track scholarship in the usa; the cousin was caught in florida, and the ttc killer was caught in jamaica...

[@JohnnyStrides]

Yikes

[@Shambles99]

Rohan Ranger

[@nononsenseBennett]

Rents are too high everywhere. Something's got to give.

[@wjkwjk3484]

The design of these buildings seems a bit old. Right???

[@Davebee]

The description should be “Toronto hood”

[@Metryingatlife]

Who can afford these rents now? It’s heartbreaking.

[@michelvanderwall8710]

16:55 i assume this person died there, these shoes belonged to this person, but maybe i'm wrong

[@mrryencoke]

WTF is Banglatown? Is that like Bramptanistan? Or Bramladesh?

[@WilhelmFreidrich]

Good thing you didn't walk along Danforth. Across from Canadian Tire is a homeless shelter and you're very likely to get harassed there.

[@JohnnyStrides]

I did that in the next video... and have several times in the past with no issue.

[@dashcan8479]

Full Islamic Burkha in Crescent Town. I grew up there from 1968 era to 1988. Sad SAD SAD and expensive with 155 countries FMI destruction you didnt show half of it. 30,000 live in Crescent Town alone.

[@je-freenorman7787]

ist all by design. Nothing new

[@dunsbroccoli2588]

One day all the kids will be desperately trying to dress like some random guy from 2024.

[@zodiacair]

I grew up on Coleman Ave between 1976 and 1988. I know this area blindfolded. I AM REALLY ANGRY right now seeing the "Language Monument" at Dentonia Park (14:10) and it being about the Indian's and Pakistani's. This area WAS predominantly European. With a few Blacks and Asians. NO respect for the people that helped build this city. SCREW Toronto.

[@r50559]

Guess racism and colorism will never prevail 😂🎉

[@bo-rale584]

A disingenuous developer.....you don't say!

[@achimkrull7165]

He does not seem to know that half of what he shows is actually condominiums. Rather superficial commentary.

[@FerganaValleyBarlas]

Pesky KZbinrs 😂

[@Billymays618]

Those first amendment auditors on KZbin who like to get a reaction out of people for views, clicks and likes are much more pesky than any other KZbinr that makes casual vlogs like he does!

[@dudeguy7812]

have u ever explored a woman

[@je-freenorman7787]

whats with the crazy Muslims and their faces covered ?

[@bobsobie678]

2 cyclists in the bike lanes, ugh Get rid of the stupid under-utilized bikes, they contribute to Toronto's traffic congestion.

[@PSNDonutDude]

Not more than the car drivers do though. Try riding a bike and reduce congestion.

[@bobsobie678]

@@PSNDonutDude I walk everywhere and take the subway. The bike lanes on Yonge north of Bloor are totally retarded and should be removed. I saw a few ambulances get stuck in traffic on Yonge and Roxborough because of the stupid underused bike lane. They're impeding emergency vehicles.

[@010416182027]

you've got some bad drivers there