The Local: Pushing boundaries up and out in Thornhill

Density stirs feelings of protectiveness

Thestar.com
April 10, 2015
By Vicky Sanderson

Street level snapshot: Valerie Burke, the three-term councillor from Thornhill, is very clear on where she stands on issues surrounding growth in the area.

Directness and confidence in her own opinion are, incidentally, trademark Burke. She’s the one who won a lawsuit launched by a local developer, argued over ward boundaries with another colourful councillor, and spoke out against using public funding for an NHL arena for Markham - a deal that was voted down at city council.

Burke’s not against development or density, which she thinks is an alternative to sprawl. She does feel protective of the “quiet, beautiful character of our heritage streets” and worries that infrastructure - specifically transportation - won’t be in place to support developments such as World on Yonge, which is going up north of Steeles Ave. on the west side.

“The province is telling Vaughan and Markham, ‘We want you to intensify,’ but they are not providing the infrastructure that’s necessary.”

Home decor hot spot: Traffic, growth, expansion - it’s all music to the ears of Ali Ghassemi, creative director of Weaver and Loom (88 Doncaster Ave.), which sells, repairs and cleans fine carpets, both old and new.

Ghassemi’s family landed in Thornhill after they fled Iran in 1986. With visas also in hand for Australia, they arrived thinking that if they didn’t like it here, they’d move.

“The reception my parents received changed that completely. They said, ‘This is where we want to raise our kids.’ They are still such proud Canadians,” says Ghassemi.

It was in Canada that the family returned to the business it had been in for a few generations - carpets.

Ghassemi himself first studied chemistry at university, thinking he’d pursue a career in medicine. A twist of fate saw him do a stint in custom home construction. Eventually, he started buying for the family business, with trips to India, China, Morocco, Turkey and Tibet, where he met many of the weavers with whom the elder Ghassemi had established connections.

The Doncaster studio opened in 2004 as Art of Persia - which remains the name of the arm of the business that manufactures, imports and exports rugs. Then, it acted as a warehouse for showrooms on Toronto’s Davenport Rd., and in Richmond Hill.

“As this neighbourhood started developing, we decided to make this the showroom, the focal point,” says Ghassemi, who launched Weaver and Loom as an “atelier space” in 2010.

These days, Ghassemi wants to influence the industry by connecting with Canadian designers.

He’s now manufacturing high-design rugs by local team Watson Soule, whom he jokes are his “indie line,” and has recently partnered with Toronto-based Meredith Heron, who designed a line of exceptionally handsome wool and silk carpets. Four of the designs are on the walls, and there are four more to come.

He wants to forge more links with artists of every discipline.

“My strength is manufacturing. I’m not looking to put myself forward as the designer. I want to be the person who people think of if they want to do a rug line.”

Where to play: Heather Wilgar has been watching both foot traffic and word-of-mouth advertising accelerate since opening Om Spaat 55 Glen Cameron Rd. in 2012, partnering with a Moksha Yoga Studio to offer extensive wellness and esthetic services.

Thornhill was chosen in part because a business study indicated enough locals would welcome a spa/yoga studio.

Many households, says Wilgar, bring in more than $100,000, and there’s a “high percentage of working women and stay-at-home moms” - both of whom appreciate the mix.

Their first year was very slow, says Wilgar. “We are on a side street and in a warehouse. You have to be looking for us or be driving past or know the area, or you’d miss us.”

She’s “very happy with where things are now,” however. She thinks business will continue to grow as more and more people discover the range of services on the strip, pointing to Chu’s Martial Arts and Sportball, a sports teaching facility with a mandate to use positive reinforcement.

Councillor Burke, meanwhile, likes to play in the green space of Pomona Mills Park, which is east of Yonge and north of Elgin St. It includes a pretty, pastoral Pomona Mills Meadow - also known as Thornhill Meadow. The park is also home to the Pomona Valley Tennis Club, which is typically open from May to September, weather permitting.

Where to live:There’s lots of buzz about the World on Yonge development, just north of Steeles Ave. It’s home to the Parkside Tower condo residences, with one- and two-bedroom suites that range from 530 square feet to 770 square feet, and start at $284,000. There’s also 30,000 square feet of green roof.

Where to eat: Go to Nino D’Aversa Bakery (7287 Yonge St.) for the bread and the porchetta; as well as Reesor’s and Carroll’s at the York Farmers Market (7509 Yonge St.) for the cheese and the meat. For Persian food, Ghassemi likes Zaffron just over the border in Toronto and in Vaughan, he favours North.

Street Numbers

$325M

Projected cost of the proposed (and voted-down) NHL arena in Markham

1813

The oldest burial in the Thornhill Cemetery: Matthias Sanders, who died in the battle of York

22

Percentage of Markham Ward 1 households with $150,000+ income in 2010

52

Percentage of Markham Ward 1 residents who are immigrants