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Albion Skyline

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We’ve watched the day pass by from the parking lot of the Albion Centre. A group of about 100 birds, mostly seagulls, have been pecking at the pavement the whole time. A few wandered over to check the trailer out, giving us a nice few of their noble filth. This is Rob Ford country, but nobody I’ve met today a> talks like Rob Ford b> deserves Rob Ford.

Albion Centre is a mall just about in the middle of Rexdale. There’s quite a skyline out here of apartment buildings. Ali and Muhamed, who work in the mall at the Rexdale Youth Resource Centre are originally from Somalia and came by for an interview with us. Both like Toronto, and Ali said it’s beautiful out here. With me today is Brendan, who’s about to do his master’s degree in planning. He says when he looks around here all he sees is planning mistakes and problems, but it’s hard to argue with people about aesthetics, he says. So I think it’s beautiful out here too, now, I think.

Later Princess came into the trailer and talked about growing up at Jane and Finch. She says the north of Finch doesn’t get alone with the south of Finch, but that the Italians in the neighbourhood gave away the best candy at Halloween. She will be a famous fashion designer one day.

Albion Centre is officially ugly though. It’s a mall done in the Price Club style — steel ceilings and nothing very pretty. Though there are these pastel “waves” hanging everywhere, to sort of dress it up, but this ain’t Sherway Gardens for certain. It’s more interesting. There are many kinds of belts here, and a surfeit of those double holed rock-and-roll belts, in all the colours you’d ever need a rock-and-roll belt to be. Also inside is the Albion Cinema, playing all Bollywood stuff. I ate lunch at the Taco Villa (not as good as the Taco Villa at Yorkdale), and Brendan ate at Mega-Wraps (his first time).

England won today, but I didn’t hear any horns honk out here for them, nor did I see any of their flags. Lots of Trinidad flags though, and a big white cube van with an Italian flag just pulled up next to us playing some really loud dance song that repeats “I’m gonna get your ass baby, I’m gonna get your ass.”

Upcoming T.Ode locations:

June 16 Taste of Little Italy, College Street 6pm-12
June 17 Driftwood Community Centre 4401 Jane 11am-6
June 18 East Scarborogh Boys and Girls Club, 100 Galloway Rd
7:30am-11:30
June 18 Scarborough Historical Museum, 1007 Brimley
12-5pm

Recommended

7 comments

  1. Actually, Albion is Suzan Hall’s turf–Rob Ford’s south of the Humber River West Branch…

  2. EDIT> That’s right! She was supposed to come by the airstream today, but didn’t.

    I apologize to all of north Etobicoke for the unintentional slight — I looked at the map on the City’s website, and it looked like we were in there. A case of shoulda-clicked-on-the-thumbnail.

  3. I’m in Rob Ford land, but the Albion Centre is just up the street. It may be an ugly place, but there’s a huge sense of community around the area. Kids work on projects at the library across the street, teams go to work out at the health club and pool, and my grandma and her friends go to watch Bollywood films at the cinema.

    Urban Noise will be hosting their festival at the Albion Centre parking lot in two weeks. Definitely worth checking out. http://www.urbannoise.ca

  4. That’t what the people we met said — sense of community and all that. When I think back to my similar suburb (in form, not content) i don’t know if i’d ever use the word “community.”

    I wish Urban Noise was earlier, and we could have brought the trailer there – but it’s over in a little over a week.

  5. Yeah, it was Nawfal from Urban Noise that recommended Albion Centre for our Rexdale location.

    Wish I coulda been there, guys.