Bloor and Yonge: subway junction, pedestrian scramble, long-term construction hoarding, gateway to Yorkville’s high-end shopping. While waiting on the northwest corner for the traffic light to turn, you may notice a silver plaque on the side of 2 Bloor West. Long before the beautiful people entered the neighbourhood, this was a site where the city’s [...]

Every Saturday at noon, Historicist looks back at the events, places, and characters—good and bad—that have shaped Toronto into the city we know today. Neil Young arrived back in Toronto an unknown, struggling musician, in June 1965. Born in Toronto and raised, in part, in Winnipeg, the teenage Young had been playing in a band [...]

Toronto’s extensive work on the silver screen reveals that, while we have the chameleonic ability to look like anywhere from New York City to Moscow, the disguise doesn’t always hold up to scrutiny. Reel Toronto revels in digging up and displaying the films that attempt to mask, hide, or—in rare cases—proudly display our city. Have [...]

Source: The Globe and Mail, February 12, 1960. Valentine’s Day is less than a week away—have you selected a special card, a heart-shaped trinket, or a generic box of chocolates yet? Stereotypical gifts to suit every degree of thoughtfulness, or lack of that, were much the same in 1960 as they are now, whether you [...]

Source: Toronto Life, December 1984. It was the morning after the night before. She couldn’t remember much, other than it had been one heck of a New Year’s party. Stumbling onto the streets of Yorkville, she found herself clad in a stunning blue, grey, and black number, dimly recalling how she borrowed the snowflake-inspired couture [...]

Passersby on the portion of Bloor Street just south of Yorkville are in for an unnerving sight. The stretch of road between Yonge Street and Avenue Road that last week was lined with trees in sidewalk planters is now decked by long rows of tree stumps. The clear-cut is a result of the ongoing Bloor [...]

In this time of economic turmoil, isn’t it reassuring that all you need to do to tell the world that your investments are secure and your confidence is strong is to show off a pair of pearl earrings? Never mind the corporate restructuring plan that you’ve worked on for the past two weeks to the [...]

Cumberland Terrace gets no love. While the 1970s time capsule of shopping mall design still sees excited holiday shoppers, most are passing through on their way to other nearby destinations to drop their dollars or to access the subway. Commentators on architectural web boards have dreamed of knocking it down. Even the centre’s current owners [...]

The Village of Yorkville Park rang to the sound of chisels and chainsaws on Saturday as ice sculptors took part in the Bloor-Yorkville IceFest Festival Ice Carving Competition. More images after the jump. All photos by Miles Storey