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 Metrix X from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. A short walk east of Union Station will take you to one of Toronto’s......

Sunday. Usually, a quiet, contemplative day in the Blogosphere. But not here in the Ist-a-Verse. Nonono! Just look below and see all of the wild and crazy stuff our staffs are up to. In Austin, bands are beginning to confirm for SXSW and the rumor mill is up and running. Good thing, too, because we all know how much Austinites love live performances. Austin also found itself in the national spotlight, with Longhorn Legend......

The motion to reopen Parliamentary debate on same-sex marriage was thrown to the curb, kicked a few times, then repeatedly stabbed with a rusty knife. Charles McVety, head of the Canadian Family Coalition, says his group will not give up the fight against same-sex marriage because "the people of Canada are not going to let this go." (Of course, a solid majority of the people of Canada support same-sex marriage, and a bunch more......

Is it still shocking if you're not surprised? It's been revealed that former police chief Julian Fantino's special task force on police misconduct was most likely formed only to avoid a full-scale public inquiry. It's all spelled out in a 2001 report that's being labeled "a blueprint for how to conceal from the public the malfeasance and the corruption that had been going on in the [Toronto police service]." Golly. Another report confirms that neighborhood......

David Miller was reelected Mayor of Toronto with almost 57 per cent of the vote. Voter turnout increased to 41.1 per cent. Full election results for all wards are available on the Toronto website. Miller used his acceptance speech to make his promises clear. Rather than use the new City of Toronto Act to add new taxes, Miller will be asking for 1 cent of the sales tax generated by Toronto from the provincial and......

Halloween is Tuesday, which means this weekend is really the time for all of the –ists to celebrate. And whether they’re designing super-spooky costumes or talking about the super-spooky upcoming elections, we’d say that they’re doing a fine job of it. Austinist knows that few things in life are scarier than zombies, people with way too much money, and politicians who try too hard to be funny. Slightly less scary, depending on whom you......

Londonist prepares a Happy Birthday bath for Buddha this week and then things get all cliched. A madman goes on a rampage while axe-wielding and London's mayor warns an American diplomat to avoid the kitchen if the heat bothers him so much. LAist has finally come around to purchasing tickets for Clipper Train. Hyper local dating sites are spamming L.A. neighborhoods and the fascinating Dame Darcy talks with LAist about art, the city and earthquakes.......

Tall Poppy Interview - Davy Rothbart...

Think of it as Summer: Unplugged. It's still dang hot out, like living in The Long, Hot Summer, only without a flirting, shirtless young Paul Newman to keep us company (sniff, sniff). So while the latest French trend (at least in certain circles) is the cinq à sept –a quasi-magical after-work cocktail hour—Torontoist is all about the huit à huit. What's that? Well, grasshopper, that means pulling the plug on unnecessary water and electricity consumption......

The National Basketball Association's MVP and super cute BC native Steve Nash could very well be approaching superhero status in Toronto. Over the weekend, millions (or thousands) of Nashophiles were speculating whether the camera phone picture below, courtesy of Gawker, was really Hair Canada playing an impromptu game of pick-up in NYC. The Gawker reportage, which posted at least three pictures of Nash balling with non-NBA players, have since been confirmed. What a guy! Along......

There's a new foodie glossy coming out, and TOist is hungry for more information. City Bites will be a free bi-monthly, that "will be delivered primarily to select neighborhoods in the urban core, inside copies of NOW magazine." Contributors to the first and second issues include the usual suspects (Leanne Delap, Jacob Richler, Anita Stewart and Russell Smith), but no James Chatto, who still dispenses crumbs of wisdom at Toronto Life. Which, of course, makes......