Thanks Johnny! I haven't been to Cumberland Terrace in years. At least in the early 2000s it was a little more lively but now it's a shell of its former self. I hope it can be revived but it looks doubtful 😔
Very sad to see the Cumberland Terrace like this. I have many fond memories of my Nana taking me there as a kid way back in the ‘80s. It holds a special place in my heart.
Some History: The Dollarama that you passed in 2 Bloor East was originally a big nightclub called Rock and Roll Heaven back in the early 80s. It's where Q107 radio used to do their final "Homegrown" band competition concert. We videotaped the band Honeymoon Suite there in 1983 as they performed after winning that year.
I used to like it too, many years ago. But when you travel around, you realise that there are many places out there that are much nicer, AND many are way cheaper. Milano, Wien, Graz, Firenze, Munich, Zagreb, Paris...to name just a few are much "better". Toronto has also gone downhill over the last few years. I went to school there, and worked there for nearly 40 years; Toronto is not what it once was. It's not the same place.
Yes I cling to Hopes you are right-Toronto is Beautiful and easy to Love for all it offers!! Let's hope it's not going in the wrong direction as it has been dealt some awful blows!!!
I used to work north of the Bay & Bloor intersection a long time ago - almost 20 years ago. I commented about this on the same visit & video you did last year. So I wont go into details again. But I did used to visit the Cumberland terrace food court for lunch almost every day. It is sad to see it so empty. There used to be way more chairs and tables. They seem to have all gone now.
Cumberland terrace is one of those malls that was decimated by covid and never recovered from the loss of the business crowd. it had already shrunk majorly before that over the years.
Lovely captured camera work and another spectacular beautiful shooting filming footage compilation walk away tour and thanks again from Montreal QC ! ..
I've worked from home for almost 10 years now, but prior to that, I worked mostly in downtown Toronto for 25 years. Oh the times I walked that Path section from Yonge/Bloor to Bay/Bloor. I loved that food court and specifically the kiosk you stuck your camera in at around 11 minutes. If I had a nickel for every lunch I bought from them, I'd have enough to buy at least one lunch, even at today's prices. Sad to see they are closed. This section has, since I can remember, always been under construction and always had underwhelming customer population. It is a wonder these stores stay in business. OMG, I just noticed, they removed almost all the seats. WOW!!!
I had no idea the Cumberland terrace mall is basically empty! I remember the days when it was full of activity. This city is dying a painful slow death.
Don't take how empty Cumberland Terrace as a sign for how downtown is like. I've been living downtown since the late 2000s and the mall has always been empty. It hasn't been updated since it was built in the 70s, so it's no surprise it's losing tenants. I've always just used it as a go-between Manulife Centre and Bloor-Yonge station. The area surrounding it is very much alive.
Thank you Johnny. It’s been 30 years since I last saw that mall, but I used to be there every work day to catch the subway. Except for the empty stores, it sure hasn’t changed.
The Cumberland Mall used to be thriving until prices got outrageously high, the other thing that killed it was the closer of the Famous Players Movie Theater.
High cost of renting these units is the reason why all the tenants moved out. The cost the the commercial units is ridiculously expensive. Which says lots because Cumberland Terrace is in a major foot traffic area.
Those were the days. In the early 1980s, the 2 Bloor West shopping mall had massive, clean, and spacious restroom facilities I had very oily skin then, and I used to wash my face and refresh my makeup comfortably inside. When I returned to Toronto in 1991, the area had been converted into shops selling handbags, luggage, flowers, etc. From a civilized shopping mall to hot commercial space shortages to a totally different scenario today!
I used to work at The Source at both Cumberland Terrace and at Hudson Bay Centre. Plenty of memories. Even then (in 2006) Cumberland Terrace was very dead. The upper level was quite dead in the 90s as well. I remember years ago the subway entrance area was terribly smoky from some dingy looking restaurant/bar in the passageway to Holt Renfrew. Not sure what it was called, but I always gagged when I went by it. I think it closed sometime around 2000.
There used to be a deep stairway connection under Cumberland St. Tk the village arcade across the street. they closed off sometime prob 2014 or so. Used to also link into the parking lot. Do you remember the pub/bar across the street? They always used to advertise the wing specials.
Thanks Johnny, I like your video walking tours of Toronto, it's interesting, you add a lots of information, and it makes me learn more about Toronto. Have a good week!
Winter time is the best time for the PATH. Sadly, not many people take advantage of the PATH. So much potential for other use, like education centres, offices, etc.
Used to walk through that mall from the Yorkville parking garage across the street to the office at Bloor and Church. Was a nice shortcut when the weather was crappy.
I saw your Cumberland Terrace walk last time - and it was good, because I got myself a diecast Concorde model for my collection at that toy store, which is now closed. Thanks for the revisit!
Sadly, there are many areas in this city that have that odour permanently. Some of them are outdoors in public, some are indoors. Most of them shock you just how Johnny was shocked. What's worse is the shock of the scent is equal to the shock of the fact that it exists in that space in the first place. For example, last year I walked over the train tracks via a structure that was built for just that purpose that consisted of stairs, walkways, and elevators. It's fairly new and in a busy area near Liberty Village (fact check me, I don't know how old it is but Id bet it's less than 10 years old). I was kind of enthused to use the structure for the first time, having just stumbled upon it en route to my destination. However, the fact it smelled like it did in that area with that much foot traffic and that type of foot traffic left me with such a negative feeling thinking about what was and what is.
Was Cumberland Terrace empty like this before the pandemic? It breaks my heart. When I first started working in Toronto I was at Bay and Bloor. It was our go-to at lunch, and hopping with life! Thanks for the walkthrough, Johnny.
I don’t think the mall was very healthy even before the pandemic. Some of that expensive, downtown retail space was being used by tenants for storage even then. And I didn’t know (or maybe I just forgot) that the mall had a second floor, and I used to go there regularly. What shops could survive up there? The main reason I would ever go to this mall would be for the food court, but there aren’t enough office workers to support a food court any more.
Yes it was kinda dead before the pandemic. Not as dead but lacking any direction and the shops were all like one offs. There was a cafe there also on the main level with chairs.
I moved downtown in the late 2000s and it's never been too busy, and it's gotten even less busy in recent years. I mostly use it to walk between Manulife Centre and Bloor-Yonge. The only other reason I went there was to eat at the Roasty Jacks in the food court but they closed down years ago. I'm surprised the sign is still up, tbh.
That Dollarama used to be an underground performance venue for rock bands. If you walk around the Dollarma and you footfalls go from sounding like you are walking on concrete to wood, you are walking over the remnants of the mosh pit. Saw voivod there in 91 (I think). I worked in both the Bay and the Cantire at 839 Younge. Wild times.
Johnny I've never been to Cumberland Terrace. I've only been to 2 malls this year Albion Mall and Sheridan Mall. Would love you to do a walk through The Shops at Don Mills again. I've never been there since they revamped it. I enjoyed your walk at Jane and Finch Mall and Yorkgate Mall.
I remember going to that Indigo to line up for Jamie Oliver's book signing. The line stretched all inside and out through the underground complex to past where those escalators were. I wasn't even close enough to catch a peak. But one thing I did notice was that I was the only guy in line. Everyone in front were middle-aged women, everyone behind me was middle-aged women. I felt a little out of place.
Thanks for the video -you cover a lot of ground and when I got watching it only re-inforced how much Toronto has so much to offer-everything looked clean and orderly-I wish I had more time and money to be able to come back on the weekends at least!-but as a commuter I just don't have the time, energy, or money!!!
I was there at Cumberland Terrace last week, its dead, its been dead for a long time. I was there when it was newer in the 80’s and it was livelier. There is something planned for that space but its taking for ever to develop.
This is so sad, I was through there last week. I had sunner jobs in the area back when it was new. It was the place to shop. Had my first drink in a bar at the Pilot.😊
So sad to see so much closed. I liked some of the independant stores there. I worked at a Tibetan gift shop on the ground floor about 20 years ago. It was pretty busy back then and really safe.
4:30 - Dollarama - Location of a former Famous Players cinema called The Plaza 1 & 2, which closed in April 2001. (It was also previously a Fabricland store after the cinema closed).
The Salon/Hairdresser outlived the Anti Aging Shop in that dead area of Cumberland. I used to walk here often many years ago. My parents used to buy groceries at Mr Grocer which then changed Valu-Mart. It looks like it change again now to Loblaw City Market.
Longo's used to have a nice salad bar. Dunno if they still have it. Would get my lunch there sometimes. 3:28 on the right, there used to be a good Italian-lady owned take-out food bar. Her spaggetti and meat balls were awesome, and cheap.
I have a feeling that if that mall were in Japan, it wouldn't be as dead. There's so many niche things in Japan that the outer stores of a mall would attract people and lure them inside. People would continue to venture deeper into the mall and wander around for hours because the inner stores of the mall offer something unique and interesting from each other. The store spaces in this mall are hidden away from the public eye, so they would default wouldn't get much foot traffic unless by accident or people already know about it. There should be conscious planning on how to arrange the stores relative to each other so that people would be lured in from the outside more consistently.
I used to work at the intersection where you were standing at the start of the video more than 20 years ago. So much has changed since then. So sad to see it has changed for the worse.
Toronto of the recent past was so much more vibrant -more money around-more bustling - as things became more expensive and then throw in the pandemic which ripped the heart out of many cities it was like one of the final blows/now ultra expensive to live in Toronto-not as much dispoable income average people have today 2 throw around!! So if your well healed well no problems! It feels horrible to say I don't think it's as safe as it once was and of course the developers just keep building and adding congestion so when Toronto has 8-10 million people and 10-12 buildings that are over 1000 feet tall it'll be more like Manhattan/Chicago-I'm not saying that's a bad thing but somehow I yearn for the times when Toronto was not such a victim of it's success!!!
I can't believe the cheap discount stores that are in that space 1974 The Bay opened at that location and I worked in The Bay in the scarf department. I had cosmetic experience but I applied too late to be hired in the cosmetic department. This mall was the place to be seen and shop.. There were always a lot of classy people with money walking around the mall, dining and buying clothes, cosmetics cosmetics, jewelry etc.. On the second floor was a huge disco. People would line up an hour to get inside. These were extremely fun times and prosperous times in that location! I'm so sad to see it get rundown with these cheap shops!😢
I wandered in here thanks to Google Maps looking for A&W and wound up in the abandoned food court and very confused and like I'd gone back in time, such a strange place to exist. Can't believe some of those businesses sre still going.
You should visit Woodbine Mall next, it’s another partially dead mall with an amusement park. In fact, Tshods did a video exploring this mall along with other “failing” malls.
Lots of for lease signs. Many of those businesses are closed because the rent is probably too high. The ones that are closed for the day, it’s because they close when the offices around them close after 5 or 6.
The city and retail real estate developers will have to incorporate more residential into these vacant commercial spaces. Online shopping and big box stores have changed the retail landscape forever.
There isn't much traffic in this area once the offices are closed and the workers go home. They need to get more things for people to do in the area, to attract more people after office hours. Even the stores (and food court) close in the Hudson Bay center by 6pm because of this.
I used to shop there on my lunch hour when I worked for IBM in the TD Tower..back in the day that mall was Bustling...high end boutiques...SILK blouses were plentiful...we are in a completely different era....RETAIL cannot survive down there now...high earning office employees work from home so they shop in Yorkdale or the Eaton Center
Sad to see all the shops close down. But something better should come in the mall. I walk thrsough the mall to get to the subway every other day. Maybe some nice cafe's should come. Something interesting to hang around.
used to be busy years ago with traffic. and the Bay. perhaps work at home reduced workers in that area. also online shopping. sad in a way. used to enjoy the bustle walking thru. thanks.
Lived in Toronto for the past 54 years. No longer see police enforce any traffic infractions such as running red lights, illegal turns, making left turns from the middle lane instead of waiting in line in the left, stopping at stop signs, making lane changes at pedestrian crosswalks, etc… The only time I see them give tickets is for speeding on roads that have no pedestrians such as Bayview Ave. in the Don Valley. Places where there are minimal safety benefits. The end result is half the people disregard the rules since they can with impunity. What do they do all day that they’re too busy to enforce traffic laws?
@@EvelynSaungikar The stupidest waste of money ever. Requiring police to be by construction sites. For what?! They don’t even bother directing traffic. That’s one of many reasons public (and private) projects are so overpriced here.
@@JohnnyStrides Maybe it’s time to try New York City’s 1990’s "broken windows" approach to law enforcement where they started enforcement for minor crimes. That also had some effect in reducing major crimes.
Here's an idea for new content, just in time for Halloween's. A walk through haunted buildings alone, e.g. malls, apartments, houses, etc. just after midnight on Halloween's. LOL
i love your underground shopping malls i always did perfect for a cold city they should have more here in the USA sad if they are getting of them just to get more money pure greed
The “mall” in general has been dying for years now. All over North America, it’s the same. Retail is circling the drain. Sign of the times…you want someone to blame? Internet.
This is the saddest video I think you have made. I lived around this area from 2010-2018. The Cumberland Terrace was already well on the decline at that point but now it looks completely dead. We'd mostly use it as a walkway to get to and from Manulife center so that we wouldn't have to walk above ground during the cold winter months. They need to put that area out of its misery, its glory days are well behind it.
When I hear Indian accent on phone, I hang up. Especially when they introduce themselves as Special Federal Agent Terry Worthlington. Also, I had no idea there is a special washroom dedicated to East Indian men only. Is it clean?
It’s happening worldwide! Crime up, rent up, all costs up. So many stores can not operate with only 3 customers a day. Great tribulation has come we are in end times.
All these empty places should turn into apartments so all these people that cannot find place to live can have a roof over their heads .it is so sad that that empty store can just sit for a long time ,the city need to take a look at these places and put them into housing ..
