Illustration by Kyra Kendall/Torontoist. Technically, in 2002, Ireland did it before us―but, on this continent anyway, Toronto was the first to institute a fee on plastic shopping bags. Washington D.C. recently became the first U.S. jurisdiction to follow our example, when its bag fee legislation came into force last Friday, January 1. Though outwardly similar [...]

Photo by concep007. With all of the recent hand-wringing by the townspeople about every conceivable issue facing the Toronto Transit Commission, it’s easy to forget that, to some other major metropolitan areas, the TTC is considered to be a shining example of a well-operated mass-transit system. Yes, we actually wrote that. Recently, a group of [...]

Hope is a cruel thing for a sports fan: no matter how bleak the situation, as long as there’s a straw in sight we’ll happily clutch at it. Case in point: Leafs Nation, of which we’re proud, occasionally defiant members. We’ve been flip-flopping over the Leafs all season long. A few weeks ago we’d written [...]

Gas prices in Toronto are at $1.09 or more a litre today, reflecting all-time record oil prices of over US$108 per barrel. For all our driving readers, it might cheer you up to consider that it’s still cheaper to fill up your car with gas than say, orange juice or Diet Pepsi. By the way, [...]

Torontoist is one of fourteen cities in the worldwide Gothamist network. Each Sunday, the editors of every site—from LAist to Londonist—choose their most interesting article, a list which is compiled into the network-wide feature Elsewhere In The Ist-A-Verse. Gothamist went to the scene of the Trump Soho construction collapse, which left one construction worker dead [...]

Torontoist is one of fourteen cities in the worldwide Gothamist network. Each Sunday, the editors of every site—from LAist to Londonist—choose their most interesting article, a list which is compiled into the network-wide feature Elsewhere In The Ist-A-Verse. SFist saw Christmas Day turn tragic after a Siberian tiger escaped from her pen at the San [...]

Toronto gets a C+ on the annual Smog Report Card. Most of the blame for the low grade goes to the city’s financial crisis, which is stalling transit improvements and other environmental initiatives. The rest of the blame goes on YOU. Yes, YOU. In the back. Don’t try to point to the person sitting next [...]

Earlier this week, The New York Times ditched their Times Select subscription thing, a move that saw content previously available for about $8 a month––like some well-liked columnists, for instance––unlocked and made free for everyone. Best of all, though, was the huge amount of material from the newspaper’s archives that was set free, dating all [...]

The last few years have seen a steady erosion of the stuffy formalities associated with sharing information. If you haven’t already heard, the lecture is yesterday’s news. Young artists and designers would rather share ideas in a more relaxed and less hierarchical environment. You can see evidence the world over with “open-source” collectives like Dorkbot, [...]

With Toronto FC’s home opener drawing near, today’s trip in the wayback machine stops at an earlier point in the city’s professional soccer history, offering “super summer nights” for a pair of twenties. The Metros joined the North American Soccer League in 1971. This was the city’s second go-round with the league – the Toronto [...]

Spring is when we get busy here in the Ist-A-Verse. Very busy. But, after staying bundled-up indoors all winter, it’s nice for us to be out, about, and collecting things to write about for you. Here’s a glimpse at what’s been keeping your favorite citybloggers busily away from home and out of bed. For LAist, [...]

It seems like, all across the network, folks were up to no good. Maybe it was all the green beer from last weekend… Gothamist spent the week writing about New Yorkers behaving badly: at the post office, at the Garden, and at the fertility clinic. Calvin Klein may not be misbehaving, but he’s just a [...]