Residents near the Broadview subway station are used to inconvenience in the name of progress. The station reconstruction project that added elevators, a second streetcar platform, more room for buses, and extra subway exits dragged on for five long years before finally wrapping up in the closing weeks of 2007. For most of that time, the parkette on the north side of the station had been surrounded by construction hoarding and used by crews... [continue]

We've looked at a few abandoned roads before, but this one is a little different: it's a recently-abandoned on-ramp to the southbound Don Valley Parkway from westbound York Mills Road. The current DVP ramps at York Mills were reconfigured during construction to the overpass beginning in 2005. The northwestern loop of the cloverleaf was eliminated entirely except for one small detail: most of it is still there. After all, why remove it completely when... [continue]

There's nothing particularly remarkable about spotting wildlife in the Don Valley, but wildlife in the middle of the Don Valley Parkway is another matter entirely. Most animals shy away from traffic and roads, but this solitary groundhog took up residence south of Eglinton Avenue in the highway median between the north- and southbound lanes of the Parkway several months ago. It's frequently visible from the northbound lanes during the afternoon and evening, and has... [continue]

The Waterfront Trail through Pickering (now easier than ever to get to!) offers some intriguing sights, including this retired former tree just off Frenchman's Bay. If you've ever tried to remove a tree stump, you can probably understand why a homeowner would choose to dress it up rather than dig it out. Still, Stumpy looks a little downcast. You would be too if you'd lost your crown and all your bark was cracked and... [continue]

Dear Distillery District, We really like you, but that doesn't mean that we can't offer suggestions for improvement. We'd like to introduce your sign makers to two magic words: "during construction." They could help avoid giving visitors the wrong impression about the pride you have in the site and your stores. Wordfully, TOist.... [continue]

Way up in the very northwestern corner of the city, the old Indian Line used to mark the boundary between Etobicoke and Peel Region (Mississauga and Brampton). The road carved its way through farm fields and across a bridge over the Humber River before continuing north past Steeles Avenue. Most of the old road was effectively wiped out by the initial construction and subsequent widening and extending of Highway 427 starting in the late... [continue]

After more than twenty months of renovations that saw the building completely gutted, the S. Walter Stewart branch of the Toronto Public Library is finally reopening tomorrow. If you grew up in East York, you're probably familiar with the building. Named after a long-serving member of the East York Public Library Board and now part of the amalgamated Toronto Public Library, S. Walter Stewart was originally opened in 1960 as the Borough of East... [continue]

Photo by khalijkhazar from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. One of the city's most popular annual events, Doors Open Toronto, returns this weekend for a ninth edition, welcoming the public for free into 150 important, historic, and just plain interesting buildings across the city. It would be virtually impossible for one person to take in all of the participating sites in one weekend, so it's best to pace yourself and visit a cluster of buildings... [continue]

After months of quiet preparation, Toronto's very own Bike Union officially launched at City Hall yesterday morning. Modelled after successful cycling advocacy groups in Chicago, London, and elsewhere, the Toronto Cyclists Union is already a big name in the city's cycling community. One of the Union's primary activities will be advocating for cyclists at City Hall, but organizers have much bigger plans. July will see the debut of Dandyhorse, a thrice-yearly magazine about bike culture... [continue]

It looks like some ad pillars went on a diet this weekend. Last week, we pointed out that this advertisement had a rather embarrassing misspelling in gazillion-point type. Someone must be reading Torontoist, because the superfluously-vowelled poster was replaced by an error-free version over the weekend, just a couple of days after we shone our searchlight of publicity on it. Even The Fixer would have been hard-pressed to match our rapid turnaround. One commenter... [continue]

Someone is blurring the line between art and industry on Merton Street just east of Yonge. That's where you'll find this fairly typical valve and meter assembly supplying natural gas to a local office building. But is that all it does? Closer inspection reveals a gallery-like description suspended from one of the pipes: Title: "Quo Vadis" Sculptor: Warga Baskerville Medium: Steel PipeIndustrial artifacts and designs can definitely have a beauty all their own, but... [continue]

For those who crave local food, the long winter of parsnip and rutabaga soup is coming to an end. The surest sign of spring is the sight of farmers pitching their market tents for the year ahead. You know what that means: you'll be able to add fresh local asparagus and radishes to that soup any day now. Toronto supports a handful of year-round markets including the old reliable St. Lawrence and a relative... [continue]

We're happy to report that the looser who sat behind you in Grade 12 English class just got a job as a copy writer. You always knew that he'd make his mark on the world in some way, didn't you? How exactly does such a glaring mistake make it through all of the design and approval stages that must be required before an ad like this is even printed? Interestingly, they managed to spell... [continue]

Have you ever cycled along the Pickering and Ajax waterfronts? You should. It's one of the best recreational bike rides in the GTA with beautiful scenery and mostly-flat trails, but presents Toronto cyclists with a big problem: how to get there. Because the Waterfront Trail all but disappears through most of Scarborough, you're stuck with either riding the long, miserable route along Kingston Road and Lawrence Avenue to get to Pickering or driving your... [continue]

It seems that some Toronto taggers are no longer content to scrawl their own names on blank concrete canvases around the city and are trying instead to make more of a cultural statement. Last year, references to composer Gustav Mahler popped up in several places around town. This year, a more cryptic stencil has appeared on the Humber Bay Arch Bridge, boldly proclaiming "ISBN 486-28495-6" for all to see and ponder. This International Standard... [continue]

Have you ever wanted to try your hand at sailing, but didn't know where to go? Do you want to sail but don't want the hassle of owning a boat? Whether you harbour fantasies about tacking and gybing your way to victory in a regatta or simply envision a relaxing couple of hours criss-crossing the Outer Harbour after a stressful day at work, Toronto's community sailing clubs are here to help. Three of the clubs—Mooredale... [continue]

This bold sign near one of the picnic areas in Sunnybrook Park warmly welcomes visitors before sternly laying out the conditions of play. No cycling on hills? No Frisbee without a permit? No kites? Since when? With the busy summer season approaching, are by-law enforcement officers going to be ticketing kids for playing catch or riding their bikes in the park? Fortunately, it looks more like the sign makers are even less familiar with... [continue]

A very well-dressed and perplexed-looking man stands in front of the egg display in a local supermarket, warily eyeing the dizzying array of medium, large, extra-large, white, brown, free-run, cage-free, organic, omega-3, enhanced, hard-boiled, pickled, and even yolkless eggs. He takes a step back, calls a trusted confidant on his cell phone, and asks: Man: Hi. How exactly does one go about selecting eggs? Ah, the paradox of choice strikes again.... [continue]

The proposed big box development in Leslieville has been getting a lot of attention lately, and not because it's a welcome addition to the retail streetscape in the east end. The land, the soon-to-be-former home of Toronto Film Studios, is currently zoned for employment purposes, which means that it's supposed to be used to provide jobs that pay better than retail. The city and SmartCentres, the property developer, have danced all the way to the... [continue]

In a world where the squeaky wheel gets the grease, cyclists may be a little too well-lubricated for their own good. No matter how much noise they think they're making, cyclists just can't seem to push their agenda as well as, say, the Canadian Automobile Association can push theirs. Into this breach is stepping the Toronto Cyclists Union, the latest in a series of formal and informal organizations to try to help Toronto cyclists... [continue]