Sean O’Donovan Joined the board of the CRA in the Fall of 2019 and currently heads up communications for the Association. He and his wife, Amanda, moved from Markham to Cabbagetown in 2013. 

Recently retired, Sean worked for many years in marketing leadership roles at various technology firms around Markham and the GTA.

Best place in Cabbagetown for a bite to eat …
That’s tough because there are so many. But a new Indian place called Haldi opened up recently just south of Wellesley on the west side and it’s the real deal (hailing from the UK where Indian is practically the national dish, I feel solidly qualified to say this!). Try it out, you won’t be disappointed. 

Cabbagetown needs … the City to come up with a way to clean leave debris off the streets at the end of Fall. That stuff seems to stays around all year and it’s a PITA!  

Favourite block …  Ah there are so many. I love Amelia, east of Metcalfe all the way to Sumach. And, like James Davie said in the last newsletter, Carlton East of Metcalfe is so majestic with all its lovely old mansions from yesteryear. I’m also partial to Metcalfe from Carlton to Winchester (my hood!). It’s so close to all the amenities of Parliament and its just chock full of great neighbours – who really stepped up to help us out when we had to do 23 days of self isolation recently!

Best public space – I have to second James Davie again, when he chose the Necropolis. It’s a beautiful space to walk around in any season. It’s just so calm and peaceful and steeped in so much history. 

Favourite store – Every store is dear to us in Cabbagetown as it’s a bit of a challenging retail environment. However, right now two retailers stand out to me particularly for their valiant efforts to keep delivering in a crisis and that’s Kim and Spruce and Regina at Labour of Love. They  both deserve our support! 

Cabbagetown pet peeve – Right now, it’s watching (some) people walk around Cabbagetown NOT RESPECTING PEOPLE’S EFFORTS TO PRACTICE PROPER SOCIAL DISTANCING. How hard is it for people to get the message??

Cabbagetown’s best kept secret – The croissants from Absolute bakery. They changed their recipe a while back to go full butter and now they’re every bit as good as any others you might find in CTown, and a lot cheaper too!

Best reason to join the Cabbagetown Residents Association (CRA) – Joining the board at the CRA has helped me to tap into what’s going on in Cabbagetown and find ways I can lend a hand on local issues and activities like 233 Carlton, the CYC and the CRA newsletter.