Torontoist is one of fourteen cities in the worldwide Gothamist network. Once a week, the editors of each site—from LAist to Londonist—compile some of their most interesting posts into a brief blurb. It's Elsewhere In The Ist-A-Verse, and it appears, across the network, every Sunday. Austinist attended a town hall meeting about proposed noise ordinances that could undermine the city's future as the Live Music Capital of the World, and lamented the possible loss of......

City officials to David Miller: don't tax booze. They reasonably pointed out that consumption taxes don't work when people can just drive thirty minutes to evade said taxes. In response, Miller pouted and ran up to his room, refusing to come out for dinner. Loonie opens trading today at a buck and four cents U.S. The reason for the most recent dramatic rise is, apparently, a combination of the groaning American economy and rising......

Former Torontoist contributor Ted Healey came across a great find at the Wellesley & Ontario condo and townhouse development known as "The Star of Downtown." Previously the subject of an Ugly Stick here on Torontoist, the condo's advertisements have seen plenty of scorn since they were put up. The latest addition to the front facade is thanks to someone named Defy, who has decided to give a voice to the gay urban professionals artificially......

In the summer heat, Toronto’s downtown can seem like a sun-baked, arid domain of asphalt and glass. Scattered throughout the concrete desert, however, are a few oases of green. The Downtown Discovery Walk links the squares, parks and parkettes that can be found in the city’s busy core. And don't worry too much about the heat; there are plenty of places to duck into for shade, refreshments, and air-conditioned comfort along this route. One......

Downtown Toronto experienced a hotel boom during the first half of the 1970s as modern skyscrapers and buildings like the new City Hall changed the face of the core. Among those that made their debut: the Sheraton Centre (1972), the Holiday Inn on Chestnut (1972), the Chelsea (1975), the Harbour Castle (1975) and, opening its doors 32-years ago this week, the Hotel Toronto. Western International Hotels traced its roots to the early 1930s, when......

The Toronto Book Awards were established by City Council in 1974, and have honoured Torontoish books of literary or artistic merit ever since. The Awards Committee, Camilla Holland, Brian Jantzi, Winona McMorrow, Sarah Rotering and Herman Silochan, recently announced this year’s nominations. Your 2007 shortlist is: Sally Gibson’s Inside Toronto: Urban Interiors 1880s to 1920s (Cormorant) Geoffrey James’s book of photographs, Toronto (Douglas & McIntyre) Vincent Lam’s novel, Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures (Doubleday Canada)......

The best things in life are free: long walks on the beach, make-outs in the dark and, for one day a year, comic books. Comics nerds around the globe will unite in spirit this Saturday to celebrate Free Comic Book Day, which means a trip to your local comic book store will result in a handful of free stuff and a general sense of well-being. As part of the festivities, The Beguiling will be giving......

With all that went down this week, we thought we thought we'd cheer everyone up by giving everyone a double dose of dogs. It was a rollercoaster ride of emotions this week at DCist. Like the rest of country, we were floored by the news of so many dead coming out of Virginia Tech, and with so many of the victims and their relatives from the D.C. area, we felt it important to pay tribute......

Downtown corners are speckled with hot dog vendors selling wieners to hungry pedestrians. There are no salad bar carts, no roti carts, no souvlaki carts, and no Chinese bun carts. Food vendors on the street sell hot diggity dogs due to Toronto's strict public health bylaws: Food preparation must be limited to the reheating of precooked meat products in the form of wieners or similar sausage products to be served on a bun. Hazardous raw......

Whether public surveillance cams make you feel all safe n’ cosy, or whether you find them an egregious infringement on your right to litter, tag, and engage in other anti-social behaviour, the Toronto Police Services Board wants to talk to you about it. As many readers will recall, the TPSB recently ended a month long test of closed circuit cameras on Yonge near Dundas, and have said that the cameras are proving helpful in the......

If you’ve ever lived in one of Toronto’s older homes (like Casa Loma, pictured left) or apartments, you have probably wondered this: Why do the city's otherwise charming Victorian houses lack closets? The most frequently given "explanation" is that in olden times, homes were taxed by the room, and that closets were included in this count. Another legend offered up by amateur historians is that, back in the day, people only had a couple of......

Every week (or so), two Torontoist staffers square off to debate an issue that's important to our city. We invite our readers to join the debate in the comments section following the post. Way back on December 18 2006, video surveillance cameras were placed in 3 locations near Dundas Square in downtown Toronto in an experiment to see if they would serve as a deterrent against crime. Last week, after less than a month in......

Tonight, the Toronto Public Space Committee presents the fifth of six films screening at the Bloor Cinema as part of its ongoing Streets to Screens fundraising film series (which also includes monthly screenings of public space-themed NFB shorts at the Toronto Free Gallery). The theme of the evening is Workspace: Public Space, and the feature presentation is the Toronto premiere of Robin and Rory Muir's Downtown Locals, a documentary following a year in the lives......

CULPRIT: The Star of Downtown marketing campaign and sales office SCENE OF CRIME: Wellesley & Ontario (edge of Cabbagetown and St. Jamestown) SENTENCE: 7/10 whacks With the rampant development of Toronto and the GTA over the last decade or so, Torontonians have become used to the ubiquitous condominium sales office in their neighbourhoods. Newspapers and alt-weeklies are smattered with ads featuring architectural renderings, floor plans and stock photos of alleged hipsters, heads thrown back......

The answer to that groan-inducing question is the Latvian House (491 College St.) where the Downtown Urban Design Event (DUDE) show starts tonight at 6pm and runs through the weekend. Exhibitors include: socially responsible fashions from Passenger Pigeon (all their clothing is made with organically grown and ethically produced materials), our friends from the Monster Factory, pottery, jewelry, pins and more. For all of you who missed the one-of-a-kind show or found that event......

Downtown hosted the annual Santa Claus Parade on Sunday, kicking off another season of gratuitous shopping. In related news, the Nintendo Wii was released and quickly sold out. B.C. slaughtered Montreal 25-14 to win the Grey Cup, and then promptly broke it. Pssht. Way to go, Lions. Today in War: Kissinger says a victory in Iraq is "not possible ", but Bush has no plans on bringing the troops home just yet, and Tony......

After every long weekend we wait to read the stories about the wacky things that the OPP catch on our roads. This weekend doesn't dissapoint with a badly maintained trailer hauling three donkeys, a drunk couple that followed each other home in separate vehicles, and families moving junior to his college dorm with furniture insecurely fastened. All and all, the OPP gave out 3000 tickets province-wide with around 550 of these being in the GTA.......

A 12-year old girl who has been missing for two days has been found after an exhaustive search in the city's east end. She had run away after a fight with her parents. It seems that the Feds are stiffing Toronto about $6 million in homeless funding. The shortfall means the city can't sign service agreements with social organizations. Construction of new facilities for the homeless will also be affected. Thank you Ottawa may we......

All this recent talk about the Docks losing their liquor license has everyone talking about noise complaints and the densification of the city. Living right in the heart of Downtown Toronto and near a sports club that thinks it's appropriate to open their large street facing windows and blare really terrible jock-rock at 1:00 am, Torontoist is pretty familiar with the noise complaint process. Most of the time the noise stops within an hour when......

Gather the girls up and nevermind the boys, they'll be glued to their seats in pubs across the city watching the footie finals. And as much as we admire the players, um, "athleticism", maybe this weekend should be spent primping, with a peppering of pampering? Downtown Diva is putting on an afternoon of spoils with the Glow Summer Beauty Event- shopping, beauty demos, designer treats and did I mention the martinis? Yes, there will be......

Newmindspace, the dynamic duo that brought you subway parties, bubble sit-ins, neighbourhood games of capture the flag are teasing us with their latest event, Flight of Fancy. The event, which Kevin and Lori are trying to make their largest ever in Toronto, is happening this Friday, 7pm, somewhere Downtown. Get on their mailing list to find out where. And pass the word, bring a friend. Think roving soundsystems, packed subway cars, outrageous costumes, bold......

As a grand finale for the Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival, the Dave Brubeck Quartet performed an incredible set last night at Massey Hall. Although the group of four could have been called Dave Brubeck and the Geriatrics, these jazz cats were tighter than David Bowie's pants in Labyrinth. 85-year-old Brubeck was absolutely amazing. With Bobby Militello on alto sax/flute, Michael Moore on double bass (no, not THAT Michael Moore), and Randy Jones on drums, the......

Legendary musician Etta James brought her soulful voice to the Hummingbird Centre last night, as part of the Downtown Toronto Jazz Festival. The festival runs until July 2nd, so there's still time to catch plenty of great acts.......

Influential hip-hop artists De La Soul kept fans on their feet at Harbourfront Centre Friday night, as part of the Downtown Jazz Festival. They had one of the most engaged crowds I've seen at a concert in quite some time, and one only has to watch these guys perform to know why. Catch De La Soul in action if you have the chance.......

Hundreds marched around Downtown Toronto for the Stop the Violence walk on Sunday but this weekend, around Toronto, there was a different story. Police reported that three people were shot: one of them was a 13-year old boy who walked into Etobicoke General Hospital with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. The Star asks why Ontario schoolboards aren't hiring teachers from new immigrant communities? They argue that there might be a hidden apartheid that blindsides......

The last time a vote was this close the Supreme Court had to be called in. Last night's Downtown and East York final for City Idol went to three ballots and a run-off before Desmond Cole (shown here in between Boy Reporter and fellow finalist Karen Sun) was picked by a raucous crowd at Lula Lounge to be downtown Toronto's first City Idol. Cole will be running in Ward 20 alongside former TV broadcaster......

We have not one but two civics related events tonight in Toronto. At Trinity St. Paul's church just near Bloor and Spadina we have Jane Jacobs: A Public Celebration. There have been plenty of smaller celebrations for the life of Jane Jacobs but one more never hurts. Anne-Marie MacDonald and John Sewell are among some of the readers and to lighten things up we have music from Caitlin Broms-Jacobs and friends, the Flying Bulgar Klezmer......

Come next Tuesday, Toronto will have its first four City Idol winners. Last weekend part-time Grad student and Ministry of the Environment employee Bahar Aminvaziri won the title of City Idol for North York. She's declared that she's running in crowded Ward 26, vacated by Mayoral candidate Jane Pitfield. This Saturday, Scarberians will be picking their own City Idol. The event starts at 6:30pm at the Scarborough Civic Centre. Monday sees the final for......

Council voted 39-2 in support of the City's 2015 Expo Bid. The next step involves courting the Provincial and Federal governments for funding. Queen's Park and Ottawa are expected to foot a huge chunk of the bill, including $2.8 billion for cleaning up contaminated soil near the lakefront, and a possible $700 million deficit after the event. The TTC is still running despite edicts from the union not to enforce fare collection it seems that......

Howard Moscoe's big mouth strikes again. According to the Star this time his target was Frances Nunziata. When the councillor complained about bus service in her ward the TTC chair quipped ""Councillor, I leave walking the streets to you." Nunziata felt that the remarks painted her as a prostitute. Moscoe later apologized. Moscoe seems to be a big hit with the women of council, earlier this year he insulted both Jane Pitfield and Karen Stintz......