[URBAN NOTE] "City cracks down on notorious Parkdale apartments"

[rfmcdonald]

Geoffrey Vendeville's Toronto Star article outlines the terrible state of some of the most notable apartment towers in Parkdale, the neighbourhood that even now may be one of the most affordable in the downtown core. How long will any of this last?

Tenzin has a bundle of pink maintenance requests documenting all the complaints he’s made about the drafty doorway leading to his 11th floor balcony at 103 West Lodge Ave., in Parkdale.

The 77-year-old former factory worker from Tibet, who goes by just one name, says the door still hasn’t been fixed — five years since he made his first complaint.

“You feel really disappointed. You pay your rent in a timely fashion and they don’t do the repairs, so you feel powerless,” he told the Star through an interpreter from Parkdale Community and Legal Services, a free legal aid clinic for low-income residents.

He was one of the first tenants to air his grievances with city building inspectors during an audit of his building and the twin 19-storey apartment tower at 105 West Lodge Ave. in February.

The Municipal, Licensing and Standards department recently released the results of the audit. At 103, inspectors found 50 defects in the interior common elements, including cracked ceilings, broken tiles and graffiti. In 105, they identified 69 violations in the interior common areas.

Pat Burke, a district manager with the department, said conditions in 103 were particularly bad. “The stairwells were dirty. There were feces on the wall by the second-floor door. The garbage rooms were filthy: they smelled, they were dirty,” he said.