I understand and respect the enthusiasm for James North, but Starbucks is famously picky about where it sets up franchises. Locke South was pretty thoroughly domesticated before they opened up shop in 2008. They weren't lured there by the lineups at Locke Street Bakery. They were drawn by rising property values, conspicuous lifestyle spending and a wealth of upmarket boutiques (their location was formerly a posh mens' clothier). That's why downtown Dundas may see a Starbucks – not because of Detour Cafe, but because the street is swimming in disposable income. Even Westdale doesn't rate a Starbucks.
By way of an illustration, here's the local map-scatter of Starbucks.
The local economy of James North in 2011 is a bit like Locke South in the late 90s – plenty of buzz and cool cachet but still finding its feet as a business environment (maybe 20% commercial vacancies, lots of part-time storefronts). There's also the residential density issue, the configuration of householders and the socioeconomic profile of that community. Kirkendall/Durand is not just a more privileged area than Beasley/Central, but it's professional couples and young families – James North has some of that, but the residential stock is mostly geared to single people in character-rich converted spaces, and the neighbourhood is still in the tentative stages of “bourgeois bohemia” that have spurred investment interest in comparable areas in Toronto. And that's somewhat intentional:
"We want to make sure we market it as a destination, as an experience.... James Street isn’t about coming down and buying things, it’s about coming down and experiencing things..."
IMHO, the fastest shortcut to a Starbucks on James North is to open a Longo's there.