The strange thing about heritage in Toronto is that we don't really appreciate what we've got until it's neglected, threatened, or already gone. By the time we get around to caring, it's frequently too late to preserve anything. Yet somehow, perhaps despite ourselves, Toronto is blessed with a sizable complement of heritage buildings scattered throughout the city. The urge to preserve our built heritage stretches back at least 130 years; the York Pioneers, who claim......

Jarvis Street, circa 1910. (City of Toronto Archives) Torontonians should be ashamed at what happened to Jarvis Street. The city's first paved road was once the grandest tree-lined boulevard around, bracketed by the mansions of some of Toronto's wealthiest movers and shakers. Then, in the 1940s, the stately Jarvis boulevard was transformed: trees were pulled down and sidewalks ripped up to make way for the automobile. Jarvis Street was turned from a gorgeous historical......

Toronto has been called a city of neighbourhoods: The Beach, Yorkville, Chinatown, Little Italy, Greektown, The Annex; all have their defining characteristics that make them appealing to locals as well as visitors. And when it comes down to it, most of these areas are well-defined by the intersection of two major streets. Photo by sono salvo from Flickr. Baldwin Street, a lush strip that runs between Spadina Avenue to the west and McCaul Street to......

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......

The short story is an unfortunate middle child. Not romanticized like poetry, nor widely read like novels, the short story finds refuge in literary journals, the New Yorker, and writing contests. In fact, the Toronto Star, Broken Pencil, and Eye Weekly all have contests ready for your masterpiece. First, stalwart Toronto Star has its annual short story contest. The top prize includes $5,000 and tuition to the Humber School for Writers for Creative Writing.......

A few months ago, Torontoist wrote about the practice of façadism in the downtown core. Façadism—which refers to the practice of retaining the front face, or "skin," of an old building and affixing it to a newer, usually larger structure—has become increasingly popular in recent years as the city continues to grow up and out at its breakneck pace. Façadism began to be seen in Ontario after the 1975 Heritage Act, which gave municipalities......