Merton Street: Hollywood North

While Cooper said film crews seem commonplace to many people living on Merton, it’s not nearly the busiest filming area. On average, Toronto issues about 5,000 permits annually.

“There are lots of streets in the city that never get used — there are literally thousands of them,” Finesetone said. “(Four times) is more than lots of places, but it’s not as extreme as some … Merton would be in the ‘average use’ category. It’s not heavily used and it’s not infrequently used.”

The street does possess a wide range of opportunity, which Finestone says could be a reason for attracting the attention. He noted the many condominiums, as well as other businesses, plus the beltway to the south of the street and the nearby Mount Pleasant Cemetery, which all serve as backdrops for filming.

“There are some different looks,” he said. “It’s not always clear just because a truck is parked somewhere what is being filmed. There’s flexibility on a street like Merton for some different looks and different opportunities.”

Once known as ‘condo alley’, Cooper says it’s ‘a very mixed street’, and it’s likely that film crews come often because the north side is all businesses, while the south is all condominiums. She said another reason people don’t have a problem with the film trucks parked along the two-lane street, is that they don’t interfere with traffic.

“It’s pretty much a thoroughfare because a lot of traffic comes down here … (But) there’s not a problem with parking — there’s a municipal lot outside and there’s an inside one,” she said.

“It’s also not as if there are a whole bunch of houses and people are complaining.”