Results tagged “lakeontario”

We learned earlier this week that even London's Daily Telegraph has some opinions about where to eat and party in Toronto. Okay, that's great. Every city is measured by those things, to a certain extent. Thanks, London.

So you think you know the history of Toronto's water? Taddle Creek used to flow down Philosopher's Walk, Garrison Creek used to flow through Trinity Bellwoods Park, all of the land below Front Street used to be in the lake, and R.C. Harris built everything; what else is there to know? Well, how about the mighty Laurentian River that flows from Georgian Bay to Lake Ontario right through High Park? That's just one of the surprises exposed by HTO: Toronto’s Water from Lake Iroquois to Lost Rivers to Low-flow Toilets published late last year by Coach House Books. The book's two-and-a-half dozen essays and accompanying photos document our changing relationships through time with the natural and artificial watercourses that flow through the city.

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.

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.

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 Book Number turns out to be a paperback edition of Henry David Thoreau's Walden; Or, Life in the Woods.

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 Harbour Commission building is notably not on the harbour? It used to be surrounded by water on three sides!

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 visual artists have put together Toronto Upstairs, a group show at the Sideshow Gallery with artworks that "explore the staircases leading up from Davenport Road as transitional space, and contemplate and express the upness of here."

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?

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.

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.

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!

First, the Loch Ness Monster invaded Lake Ontario, and now, Godzilla has dropped into the Leslie Street Spit.

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!

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.

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 used to fly into! Speaking of which, this Saturday, Toronto and Region Conservation holds its annual Spring Bird Festival at Tommy Thompson Park. If you think that the city's winged world begins with pigeons and ends with those little brown birds that eat garbage, then the Festival is a great way to connect with avian life. The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. with an Early Bird (get it?) hike at 7 a.m. Don't forget your binoculars.

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 artist's renderings, photos and a map of the would-be site that cheekily states, "You aren't here." Some of the projects include:

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 just to keep things interesting, both Ward 19 and Ward 20 are unofficially known as Trinity-Spadina. It's kind of a weird system.

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, one finds the definition of Toronto as "meeting place" to be rather controversial.

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 to the RC Harris Treatment Plant at the foot of Victoria Park Ave in the east.

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.

We've recently noticed that the so-called Entertainment District is experiencing a noticeable lull in, well...entertainment.

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.

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.

A small Cessna crashes into Lake Ontario after losing power. The three passengers had minor injuries but were all rescued by emergency workers.

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.

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.

Writer and transit nut James Bow has disproven a cherished Toronto myth, that Yonge Street is the longest street in the world.

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 of Roquefort, spend cash on rock discs, and relax with a cup of Grande Latte (on the rocks) and a wandering eye. The burning question still remains: is inter-stalking a successful endeavour?

The Star reports that the TTC and eight other crime enforcement agencies have made another arrest in a huge scam involving fake TTC tokens.