To most people, a map is a tool used strictly to figure out which route will get them from point A to point B with the least amount of pain. As time passes, these maps reveal much about period styles of illustration, methods of planning, promised developments that never got off the ground, and changes in street names—Lot West Art Crawl, anyone? In his new book, Historical Atlas of Toronto, Derek Hayes provides commentary......

The TTC has a new website: MyTTC.ca! It's got a functional trip planner, a stats section with the neat map/video above ("each burst represents a bus departing from the stop in that location"), pages for each route that can be edited by the site's users, more features like SMS/IM integration and an interface designed for smart phones and PDAs coming soon, and is—surprise—not affiliated with the transit organization in any way, shape, or form.......

While we were browsing Toronto Life's newly-blogless website, we got all excited to see that August's print edition will contain an item by Carl Wilson about Fauxreel and "the murky world of profitable graffiti." But we couldn't help but notice the magazine's presumptive cover story: an article about how "violent crime is migrating downtown," our "acclimatization to it," and how "Toronto is learning to live with the gun." We'll have to wait a bit......

...and it's rather unfortunate. Spacing reports that the TTC has begun to update its subway route map in subway cars—with a much uglier font, slightly more clutter, and a messy new treatment of addresses. To wit on the latter point:...visual clutter is increased by the new addresses on the maps. The TTC did away with just displaying the approximate address numbers along Yonge, Bloor, Danforth and Sheppard (only printing the street name where the subway......

Frequent northbound travellers on the Bayview Extension have probably noticed the "Pottery Road" street sign pointing to a glorified supermarket driveway at the top of the hill, just south of Moore Avenue. Some may even have wondered how it relates to the more familiar street of the same name almost 1.5 kilometers to the south, winding up the valley wall to Broadview Avenue. The answer to this puzzle is that the two Pottery Roads......

While we're on the subject of TTC maps (as we often are), we might as well include the most wildly ambitious one of all. Reader Ryan Felix sent us his subway map, which he describes as a "fantasy map of the TTC" in 2050. Felix says it was "created in hope to influence people to become pro-transit, and to give a vision that Toronto can have a world-class transit system." The lines depicted on......

We love the TTC—we really do—but they make it hard to like them sometimes. The Commission does a good job behind the scenes keeping an enormous fleet of vehicles running, in reasonable repair, and reasonably on time, but where they really drop the ball is when it comes to the actual transit rider. Frustratingly, they have no shortage of passionate, inventive, and resourceful riders who seem to be happily at their disposal (gratis, even!),......

On Sunday, as an unofficial kickoff to the Walk21 pedestrian conference coming to Toronto next month, the Walking Life exhibit opened at the Gladstone Hotel. The exhibit is an eclectic mix of paintings, maps, architectural drawings, collages and video. It represents images of urban walking from many different viewpoints, from the casual rambler to the urban planner. Highlights of the show include Adam Krawesky’s “Clockwork,” a digital composite showing pedestrians crossing to all four......

A few weeks ago, Torontoist discussed a number of emerging collaborative gatherings, including Talk20 and Dorkbot, and a considerable omission was made when Drupal Toronto was left off that list. Toronto is quite renowned for having a very active and vital community contributing to the development of the Drupal Content Management System (CMS). What is Drupal and why should you care? Put quite simply, Drupal is an open source system for building websites. It......

When the TTC started mapping out its new future under Adam Giambrone, this probably wasn't what it had in mind. A few hours ago, Ian Trider left a comment on Jonathan Goldsbie's post about the TTC's survey, with a link to a TTC map that reflects the potential cutbacks. We've seen a fair share of TTC maps, from a superb Google Maps mashup to a glorious anagrammed subway line. Trider's map is simple, effective,......

Do you wistfully dream of having a little corner of the city to call your own, but balk at the "Homes" section of the classifieds with its hyperbole-strewn ads and dead-eyed realtors? A new Google Maps-based website, housing123.com, tries to make things a little easier for potential home buyers across the GTA. The Canadian Real Estate Agency (CREA) operates a database known as the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), which allows realtors to view virtually......

For people of a certain age, memories of the Toronto Zoo begin with riding the old monorail. Only it wasn't the old monorail back then—it was the super-futuristic monorail. After a 1994 accident that injured about 30 people, the train's track was pulled up and some of the guideway removed. But if you know where to look, most of the route remains visible as it snakes through the grounds of the zoo. The abandoned......

Torontoist has seen its fair share of Google Maps mashups. For geography nerds like us, maps are always fun to play around with, but most of the mashups we've seen so far have not been particularly useful. That is, unless you're dying to know where they keep all the Timmy's or bust all the grow-ops. Enter Taxiwiz. The site is far from slick, but the idea behind it is great. Taxiwiz takes Google's driving......

OpenCities was a weekend-long unconference that took place on the 23rd and 24th of June. Many excellent conversations came out of the weekend, and this is one of them. You can read notes from the rest at OpenCities.ca. The late Jane Jacobs asserted that a great public space should attract different people for different reasons at different times of day. Why, then, have we forgotten the last part in our planning—and our thinking? Torontoist......

By now, you've likely heard about some marketing brainiac's bright idea for an ad campaign, illegally erecting giant logos for a car company in our city's ad-free public parks. There has been some discussion about whether or not to give this story further dissemination lest it draw even more attention to the manufacturer and confirm the adage that any publicity is good publicity, even if it's negative. But let's mention them: it's Audi. Audi......

A new Toronto website promises to do to slum landlords what ratemyprofessors.com did to bad teachers or what dontdatehimgirl.com did to most men we know. Myhood.ca is based on a relatively simple idea: start with an apartment search site, then let renters post reviews of their landlords/buildings and make those reviews available to apartment searchers. However, it's the execution that makes this site work. A press release announcing the launch of myhood.ca claims that "Toronto......

Have you found a great place to buy vintage jackets? Have you just eaten the best vegetarian pad Thai this side of the Mekong River? Do you want to use the Internet to tell more than just the six people on your LiveJournal friends list about your amazing discoveries? Look no further, consumers of indie culture. Torontoist reader Peter has told us that 9tomorrows has launched its Tupalo service in Toronto. Plugging into the......

The CouchSurfing Project has nothing to do with The Beach Boys or crowd surfing on a futon (although that must be fun) and has everything to do with traveling the world by the seat of a couch -- someone else's, that is. CouchSurfing.com is where couch surfers hook up with couch owners for a place to crash for a night or two for free at their travel destination. They can browse though the database......

We just found out about this absolutely incredible transit map of Toronto that incorporates the TTC, Go Transit, VIVA, Brampton Transit, Mississauga Transit, and Vaughan Transit into handy-dandy Google Map form, meaning you can easily input a location and find the nearest transit routes that surround it. Best of all, unlike other maps before it, it doesn't include only major stops but everything -- including bus and streetcar routes and it's integrated with our own......

We trust you all know about Beer Hunter, that delightful Googlemaps mashup that lets you search for sweet, delicious beer. But sometimes what you really need is Canada's other national drink. Yes we're talking about the caffeine and sugar concoction known as Tim Horton's coffee. With this nifty mashup you can find out where the nearest Tim Horton's is, because you simply don't know when you'll have a craving for Timbits. The fine people......

If you're like most Torontonians, the approach of September comes with some alarm -- not only because the TTC is beset by caustic high school students, but because the cold, grey season is at hand. Come February, sometimes the only comfort comes from not being Edmonton. But as The Register reports, Google Maps has the enviable solution for Edmonton's seasonal blues: drive over to the next postal code, where pools are open and leaves are......

Ed. Note: Torontoist wants to welcome Rob to the Torontoist team. Rob has lived in NYC and Montreal (lucky him) and is currently at U of T studying architecture so it's appropriate that his first post is on Doors Open Toronto. If you're like Torontoist, you've spent this grey winter staring out from streetcar windows contemplating the city's facades as you zip by. But while they may look amazing on the outside, it's time for......

That little black map on the back of TTC system maps is woefully inadequate. The map currently only shows Toronto's subway stops and the RT which don't even come close to covering the city's vast area. Graeme Stewart on Reading Toronto proposes that the system redesign the map to include streetcars. "Toronto has North America’s largest streetcar network. The network itself is perhaps the urban gesture which best describes the City, at least downtown."......

The helpful folks at Googlemapsmania pointed us to a few TO Google Maps mashups. There's the useful Jewish in Toronto map that'll help you find stores, restaurants and synagogues. iBegin has a neighbourhood map and a traffic flow map. Finally there's the club district map (shown here). Because you wouldn't be caught dead in that part of town and couldn't for the life of you find Lucid.......

Jaunted.com gave us this heads up about Toronto's mini version of the Gawker Stalker. It's a Google Maps mash-up following around Portman while she's filming Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. Which has such a terrible title but has Dustin Hoffman, which kinda makes up for it. Sure it's only one celebrity but it IS Natalie Portman who Torontoist has to admit he's got a crush on. Any other sightings can be sent along to tips@jaunted.com [Ed.......

A few random pieces of random TTC news that we managed to cobble together into a post. The first is that the TTC is talking to Google to revamp their maps/route scheduler so that users can simply google their way to the most efficient TTC trips. Considering users have been using Google Maps to mash everything from Toronto murder scenes to abandoned trash/treasures in NYC streets, the TTC routemapper seems like a total cinch.......