Every weekday morning, bright and early, we feature a photo (or two) from a photographer in the Torontoist Flickr Pool. It's our way of giving the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention that they deserve. the sky lit up BY KATE Y-N......

Every weekday morning, bright and early, we feature a photo (or two) from a photographer in the Torontoist Flickr Pool. It's our way of giving the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention that they deserve. DSC_0068, DSC_0093 & DSC_1115 BY LOUIS TAM......

It seems that some Toronto taggers are no longer content to scrawl their own names on blank concrete canvases around the city and are trying instead to make more of a cultural statement. Last year, references to composer Gustav Mahler popped up in several places around town. This year, a more cryptic stencil has appeared on the Humber Bay Arch Bridge, boldly proclaiming "ISBN 486-28495-6" for all to see and ponder. This International Standard......

This evening, Toronto Culture and Fort York are unveiling a permanent public art installation under the Gardiner Expressway (off Fort York Boulevard, between Bathurst and Fleet Streets). In WATERTABLE, Toronto artists Lisa Steele and Kim Tomczak use video and lights to create the effect of rippling water on the underside of the highway—a reminder that the Gardiner runs along what used to the original shoreline of Lake Ontario. Ever wonder why the the Toronto......

The Baldwin Steps, the set of stairs at Davenport and Spadina Roads that leads up to Casa Loma, are so recognizable that they've warranted their own Wikipedia article and feature as a battle backdrop in Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. Depending on the time of day and season, the Baldwin Steps––also called the Casa Loma Steps, or The Death Climb At The End of Spadina––can be romantic, creepy, trying, or picturesque. Now a group of......

All summer long, Toronto has been jam-packed with countless cultural festivities, and as the last weekend of the summer begins to dawn on us—with students gearing up for school and vacations coming to an unfortunate end—why not end the summer with some Ukrainian style? This year, what was formerly known as the Bloor West Village Ukrainian Festival is being renamed the Toronto Ukrainian Festival and will take place at Harbourfront Centre. From August 31......

Garrison Creek once ran through Toronto from its tributaries near what is now St. Clair West, to what was once the shore of Lake Ontario, past the northeast side of Fort York. Development polluted the creek as Toronto began to grow, and in the early 1900s, work began on the burial of Garrison Creek. Long since converted into a sewer, Garrison Creek has completely disappeared from view. It has not, however, been forgotten. Evidence......

What if suburbanites could commute to downtown Toronto on the H20 highway? TTC chair Adam Giambrone says high-speed ferries could ease road traffic and cut commute times in half. David Miller thinks the idea has merit, but is concerned the $25 million price tag on boats and docking facilities may be too high. The Star is skeptical, but Torontoist rarely turns down a nice boat cruise. On Tuesday we mentioned that music critics have......

Every weekday, we pick an image from the Torontoist Flickr Pool and feature it here on the site. It's our way to give the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention they deserve! Sewer? Don't even know 'er! Whenever Torontoist sees an open utility hole, we have to peek down inside because there's a whole other fascinating world down there! The colours and lighting in this subterranean shot by Flickr pool contributor inventor_77 beautifully......

First, the Loch Ness Monster invaded Lake Ontario, and now, Godzilla has dropped into the Leslie Street Spit. Torontoist reader swamprose (who took the original photo, later edited by her Moscow-based assistant, bfish) sent us along this photo of the famed monster invading the city's east end spit. We'll have to see what Friends of the Spit thinks about this; at the very least, they have something to add to their list of the......

Every weekday, we pick an image from the Torontoist Flickr Pool and feature it here on the site. It's our way to give the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention they deserve! It's a little sad that some of the most breathtaking views of our skyline, whether it be first thing in the morning or during sunset, are on account of pollution. This stunning "smogographic" by Flickr pool contributor nice+smooth is a fantastic......

Our first entry to Touch Up Toronto comes from long-time listener, first-time caller Nick Mahon, who sent us this gently-altered pic of some unearthly sea-beast skimming the surface of Lake Ontario's waters. Back in her native Loch Ness, Nessie is back in the news after being caught on tape (kinda, maybe). Come to think of it, a good harmless Torontonian monster might be a good way to drum up some tourism. After all, nothing......

The Leslie Street Spit is a man-made stretch of land that juts into Lake Ontario. A good chunk of it was built from the debris of old bank buildings that had been razed to make way for projects like the Toronto Dominion Centre in the 1970s. The Leslie Spit is also the breeding ground for all kinds of migratory songbirds. It's like our feathered friends are dancing on the graves of the structures they......

The Spadina Expressway was probably the most high-profile megaproject in Toronto that was never built, but it's also just one of many. For his OCAD thesis project, David Kopulos has detailed a host of construction projects that were planned for Toronto, but that never materialized—both the reviled (such as the Expressway) and the intriguing—on his website, Toronto Pending. Each entry explains what the proposed structure would have been and why it wasn't built, alongside......

It's something that usually only comes up during election time, but in the City of Toronto, wards are designated by numbers. For example, the area bounded by Dovercourt Road to the west, Christie Street and Bathurst Street to the east, the CPR tracks to the north and Lake Ontario to the south is officially known as Ward 19. Nobody really calls area by its numerical name (hey dude, let's party in the 19th tonight!), but......

This article is a response to a series of comments you can find on Spacing Wire, in which someone compares Toronto to a "crossroads" or "meeting place." The poster claims this label makes sense because the word Toronto originates from an aboriginal word meaning "meeting place." There was no post contradicting the definition, probably because we have all heard this claim before and most of us accept it. Upon further investigation of the matter,......

Then you'll love Lake Ontario Park! At least, that would seem to be a reasonable assumption. However, if you're looking for more reassurance (recommended), the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation (or, NAMBLA) is hosting a public forum on their plans for "Lake Ontario Park," which is to be "one of Toronto's great new park spaces and a defining destination for the city," running from the Portlands (Cherry St. south of the Distillery District) in the west......

Earlier this week, Torontoist received word of an alarming recent event at Pearson airport. It centers around an Austrian Airlines flight to Vienna, departing from Toronto on Monday night. During takeoff, the cockpit reported a problem concerning the plane's fuel filter. Alerting Pearson traffic control of the issue, the plane circled over Lake Ontario, dumped its fuel, and landed. According to Livia Dandrea-Boehm, spokesperson for Austrian Airlines, the dumping of the fuel was due to......

We've recently noticed that the so-called Entertainment District is experiencing a noticeable lull in, well...entertainment. Once the home to a bustling nightly crowd of theatre goers, King Street has become a veritable ghost town of flashing lights since Pippin and Chicago closed a couple weeks ago. With the exception of John McDermott's Family Christmas on December 23, both the Royal Alex and Princess of Wales are black until The Phantom returns on February 21.......

Here on Torontoist, we try not to post inane links okay, who are we kidding? There is a hilarious piece of the read/write web out there called Uncyclopedia, a parody of Wikipedia. Even greater is the Toronto entry, which starts:Toronto is (as everyone knows) the centre of time, space and the universe in general - a car accident in Toronto will inevitably cause a rift in the spacetime continuum. The greatest city known to......

With Labour Day having come and gone, and autumn's chill making too many appearances, Toronto's waterfront is now just a memory of a summer fling. Who are we kidding... even during the summer the waterfront leaves much to be desired. However, with the summer's announcement of West 8's winning waterfront revitalization design, who knows... perhaps this time something will actually happen! Regardless, before breaking any major ground on the project, the waterfront's future is still......

A small Cessna crashes into Lake Ontario after losing power. The three passengers had minor injuries but were all rescued by emergency workers. 11-year old Godfrey Wignarajah received an award from Toronto EMS yesterday. Godfrey calmly called 911 when he realized his grandfather had difficulty breathing. Sadly, his grandfather died of a heart attack but Godfrey's calm impressed emergency responders and the 911 dispatcher that received his call. The Halton trash incineration idea gets batted......

The Star does a little digging and pulls out the startling fact that 21 of the 32 accused murderers this year were under court orders. Toronto homicide detectives are concerned that so many people accused of violent and gun crimes are able to get bail so easily. Police and residents near Keele and Sheppard are on guard after a brutal sexual assault last night outside an apartment building in the area. School Trustees have given......

So obviously no one listened to us yesterday and as a result we broke a power usage record. People cranking their A/C, turning on fans and sticking heads into fridges caused us to use over 27,000 megawatts of electricity. That's over 800 megawatts more than our previous record set last July. We may even break that record again today, fingers crossed that we don't. The Star notices that in two homicides last month there was......

Writer and transit nut James Bow has disproven a cherished Toronto myth, that Yonge Street is the longest street in the world. It was a tourist touchstone for Toronto that its main commercial strip, running up the centre of the city from Lake Ontario to the northern boundary and beyond, was the longest street in the world. The world record entry stood alongside the CN Tower’s title as the world’s tallest freestanding structure, and......

Internet stalking has blown to outrageous proportions on the interweb and the Missed Connections page on Craigslist is the hotspot for the lonely-hearted as well as the mildly (or moderately) curious. Recent hot topics on the Missed Connections page have included the Cheese Magic boys, the Soundscapes crew, and the Euclid and College Starbucks bunch. Torontonians have brought stalking to a new level by going above and beyond daily trips to buy an extra brick......

The Star reports that the TTC and eight other crime enforcement agencies have made another arrest in a huge scam involving fake TTC tokens. Mississauga mayor/overlord (overlady?) Hazel McCallion is indestructible. Her car hits a light pole and not only does she escape serious injury she also doesn't miss a beat and keeps on working. Councillor Karen Stintz accuses the city of prostituting itself to developers. Which now begs the question, who's the city's pimp?......

Five years ago this week, most major office buildings were evacuated as a 9/11 precaution. Similarily, Toronto's subway systems were given a scrupulous once-over post-London bombings earlier this summer. Now, in lieu of the New Orleans flood, Toronto may look to become better equipped to deal with like situations. Which one of these doesn't fit? City Councilor Norm Kelly has become the personification of globalized fears, making the statement that our emergency services are "woefully......

Today the city is oficially welcoming the Blue Flag program to a number of Toronto beaches, proving once and for all that Lake Ontario really is safe to swim in, honest. Apparently seven of Toronto's 14 beaches are safe to swim in and four of them will be given Blue Flags, the aquatic equivalent to the gold star you received for a job well done in grade four. Trust the doom and gloom types at......

One of the things that has always irked Torontoist about winter is how our boots get encrusted with a strange cocktail of slush, oil, dirt and salt, kinda like a 7-11 slurpee meets construction site. Now we have another reason to hate the stuff. It’s toxic and it’s yet another chemical that gets thrown into that lovely soup bowl south of us called Lake Ontario. The City of Toronto uses 150,000 tonnes of the stuff......