In her ambitious new book, The Walkable City (Véhicule Press, 2008), Mary Soderstrom writes: "The walkable city, the oldest kind of city is going to be the key to whatever success we have in meeting the challenges of the future." After all, until the early nineteenth-century people moved only as fast and as far as their feet could carry them. Urban centres had to mirror this fact, whether they developed organically, like in Europe, or......

Shouldn't every mall should include a place to pose against an elegant concrete wall with your favourite magazine or a romantic hidden spot to meet that lawyer you're having an affair with while their spouse shops? The Bayview Village neighbourhood was one of several planned communities that sprang up in North York in the wake of Don Mills. Before unveiling the design for Bayview Village with developer A.W. Farlinger in 1954, planner Eugenio Faludi......

Discovered going eastbound towards downtown on an old, very packed, and very hot subway car at 8:30 on a Monday morning: an old route map, sans Sheppard line subway stations; and an old ad advising riders against the gravest of transit crimes––leg extension. In response to a letter from someone pleased that the problem with "feet on seats" has improved, but that the ever-present issue of outstretched limbs remains, the late 1980s ad advises......

While most people hid inside during yesterday's deep freeze, the few who chanced the icy sidewalk of the Overlea bridge near Don Mills Road received a little smile if they happened to look down: some overly cheerful person had stomped out a big happy face between the cross-country ski tracks in the Don Valley 30 metres below the bridge. Although we can't condone overt cheerfulness—especially when the wind chill is minus a jillion—we'll admit......

Will people ever appreciate the fine architecture or heritage value of such widely-detested buildings as Robarts Library or the Sheraton Centre? If history is any guide, they will—but only if the buildings manage to survive our collective hatred (or apathy) for another 40 years or so. As the Star's Christopher Hume has written on several occasions, buildings are most at risk of demolition when they are 40–60 years old. That's when their architectural styles are......

Most people wouldn't associate Toronto with abandoned roads, but a few of them dot the city if you know where to look. One of the better examples is this surviving portion of old Don Mills Road as it climbs north out of the Don Valley. The current Don Mills Road is to the right in the picture above. The original road was realigned and widened in the 1950s to connect the new community of......

A few weeks ago, we wondered about the presence of electricity meters placed randomly around the city, measuring power consumption for, well, something or other. We'd grown so perplexed by these meters that we felt compelled to ask Toronto Hydro for more information. The utility went beyond the call of duty by actually sending a supervisor out to examine one of the mystery locations we'd identified. He reported back that the meter on Overlea......

If you loved (or hated) MasterCard skating to the rescue of Toronto's outdoor rinks this winter, you'll love (or hate) one of the city's other sponsorship innovations: traffic signals. Yes, Toronto allows—encourages—corporations to pay for the installation of audible pedestrian signals (APS) at the intersections of their choice. In return, companies receive free advertising space at each location declaring their largesse and the city's poverty. Asked about the practice of allowing private companies to......

Quick–name the first department store chain to locate in suburban Toronto. Eaton's? No, they waited until 1961 to open shop in Don Mills. Simpson's? No, they followed Eaton's a year later, landing in Scarborough at Cedarbrae Plaza. Try a chain that only lasted in Toronto for a decade, but whose locations served those moving into areas like North York and Etobicoke. Morgan's roots were in Montreal, where Henry Morgan opened a dry goods store......

"Hey kids, let's dig out that cowboy gear we bought for Halloween last year and hum the theme to Bonanza on the way to the Western Days hoe-down in Don Mills! Don't forget the toy gun, pardner!" Suburban shopping centres used plenty of gimmicks in the early days to get consumers to hop in the car and drive out to stores where they didn't have to worry about paying for parking or carrying their goods......

When searching for a new place to live, what is the first thing you look for? Location? Lifestyle compatibility? Enticements? A blank slate to shape in your unique style? Groovy wallpaper? Judging from today's ad, the latter may have been a key condition in North York back in 1970. This was the era of "swingin' singles" apartments, promoted in areas of the city like St. James Town. Think of this ad as the late 1960s......

When I was thirteen, I went to visit my aunt and uncle in Halifax. In the maritimes nine years ago, the Atlantic Superstores were way bigger than anything in Toronto, and they sold clothes! Needless to say, I was impressed - that is, until I tried on several pairs of ill-fitting pants and realized that Superstore clothes sucked. But my, how things have changed! Joseph Mimran, "the man synonymous with Canadian fashion," has launched a......

Day 69, the final day of the 69-day TTC Station project, at Don Mills Station. Stay tuned for a wrap-up post in the next few days. Photos from the project, including those not featured on Torontoist, are available in the 69 Photoset on Flickr.......

Yesterday, the wrecking ball had its way with the last vestiges of the landmark Inn On The Park. Once run as an upscale Four Seasons hotel, then as a Holiday Inn, and finally as the bland Don Mills Hotel, the demolition was viewed by many as another of Toronto's development tragedies despite having fallen into disrepair. The renowned modernist architect behind the Inn On The Park is familiar for his buildings but less so......

This summer is looking as bloody as last summer. Early this morning a man was shot dead on a rooftop patio in the club district. Two others were wounded. A woman's body was found in a garbage bag in Etobicoke. Police think someone killed her as long as week ago. Police are also trying to confirm the identity of a teenage boy who was beaten to death and who collapsed in Flemingdon Park near Don......

There were four shootings this weekend including a fatal one near Don Mills and Eglinton. Police say they're also encountering resistance from witnesses and victims which is making their investigation much harder. A young woman was stabbed to death near Dundas and Spadina. A suspect then drove off to the Bloor Viaduct and threatened to kill himself. Finally a body was fished out of the water near Queens Quay and York St. Police don't think......

Earlier this week, York Region launched its new rapid transit service: VIVA. Although a VIVA vehicle looks like a bus, sounds like a bus and even sort of feels like a bus, they’re marketing it as the unbus, to trick car drivers who would otherwise feel shame riding in the common people’s chariot. But they have a good excuse as the VIVA bus service is so much more than the bus service we’re used......

Two wannabe tough high school thugs are sitting on the Don Mills bus on a Sunday afternoon. Tough #1: The new Fifty is so much siccer than The Game! Tough #2: I know right, so sic! Tough #1: Like so much siccer! Tough #2: Yeah, what is The Game? Fifty is so much siccer! Tough #1: Sic, man. Toronto has spoken.......

There have been rumours coming outta Don Mills for a while. At CanWest's York Mills hub, a chunk of second floor space has been painted hip, youthful colours, and installed with open-concept Ikea carboard. It all spells freebie commuter rag, this one to be given the unfortunate name of Dose. According to the Star, the paper will be available in five cities, and aims to target 18-34 year olds who like bite-size news, and sections......