On Monday morning, Astral Media unveiled prototypes of its new line of "street furniture" at City Hall. On Wednesday, we took a look at the garbage bins. On Thursday, the advertising pillars. Yesterday, the transit shelters. Today, everything else. (Also check out Karen von Hahn's disparagement of the street furniture in the Globe.) A lot of people who otherwise hate what the Coordinated Street Furniture Program has wrought like the idea of the multi-publication structures......

On Monday morning, Astral Media unveiled prototypes of its new line of "street furniture" at City Hall. On Wednesday, we took a look at the garbage bins. On Thursday, we looked at the advertising pillars. This morning, the transit shelters. (Be sure also to read Christopher Hume's review, which makes our less-than-kind assessments look like raves.) The "Basic" shelter. (The blue "Toronto" ribbon was present for ceremonial cutting purposes only and is not part of......

On Monday morning, Astral Media unveiled prototypes of its new line of "street furniture" at City Hall. Torontoist was going to review all of the items at once but decided that some merited their own posts. Yesterday, we took a look at the garbage bins. Today we look at the advertising pillars. Friday, the transit shelters, and on Saturday everything else. (Be sure to read Spacing's coverage, too.) "Isn't two dollars a bit high for......

In the opening voiceover for his Oscar-winning animated short Ryan, Chris Landreth explains, "I live in Toronto, a city in Canada where I see way too many shades of grey for my own good health." This line occurred to us as we attended the official unveiling of Toronto's new "street furniture" at City Hall Monday morning, a celebration of the all-new shades of grey about to trickle onto our streets. Courtesy of Jeremy Kramer......

Photo of Shamez Amlani by Yvonne Bambrick. Restaurateur, bike activist, and petanque enthusiast, Shamez Amlani is the most recognizable member of Streets are for People!, the organizing force behind Pedestrian Sundays Kensington. Amlani is a seriously playful advocate for car-free attitudes. Since the group's first parking meter party in 2002, Pedestrian Sundays and other car-free statements have become a downtown tradition. Torontoist spoke with Amlani over an espresso at La Palette, the French bistro......

Toronto's urban street furniture collection of late has been messily schizophrenic and oft-criticized, but final prototypes from the Coordinated Street Furniture Program have just been unveiled, with installation slated for 2009. The furniture plan involved a private Request For Proposals (RFP) from three advertising conglomerates, who pitched their designs last year in the hopes of securing the lucrative 20-year monopoly with the City of Toronto. The covenant was awarded to Astral Media, much to......

There are two camps when it comes to the postering of utility poles: those who love it (and think it's a quirk of a vibrant community) and those who hate it (and attempt to legislate against it). Yet, for the latter crowd, it's still not difficult to find charm in this tiny painting tucked away in a downtown alley known as Alexander Place. It was posted mere steps from this anonymous notice—both examples of......

When we first got a tip from Andrew Hunter that "someone has installed a new type of bike post along Yonge north of Lawrence," we were concerned that it might be the vanguard of the Coordinated Street Furniture onslaught of mass-produced uniformity. When we went down (yes, down) to visit the area, however, we were quite relieved to discover not Kramer-designed brontosaurus ribs but elegant, artfully crafted flourishes of metallic whimsy. Inspired by a......

For those who crave local food, the long winter of parsnip and rutabaga soup is coming to an end. The surest sign of spring is the sight of farmers pitching their market tents for the year ahead. You know what that means: you'll be able to add fresh local asparagus and radishes to that soup any day now. Toronto supports a handful of year-round markets including the old reliable St. Lawrence and a relative......

The proposed big box development in Leslieville has been getting a lot of attention lately, and not because it's a welcome addition to the retail streetscape in the east end. The land, the soon-to-be-former home of Toronto Film Studios, is currently zoned for employment purposes, which means that it's supposed to be used to provide jobs that pay better than retail. The city and SmartCentres, the property developer, have danced all the way to the......

Ever since Torontoist wrote about the little house at St. Clair and Dufferin—known affectionately as "Toronto's Little House" (OK, why don't you think of a more creative name, smarty-pants?)—it's received an enormous amount of local and international attention. So much attention, in fact, that it was famously associated with a potential purchase by comic/dancing machine/talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, although tiny houses are presumably much easier to give away than tiny dogs, so what was......

For the forty-sixth year, St. Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic Church brought together the community of Little Italy with a procession marking Good Friday. Torontoist was there, capturing some of the faces of the neighbourhood event.......

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 David Urbonas from Flickr. Since the inaugural Yonge & Bloor installment of A City Intersected, Torontoist has made every attempt at......

Photo by Hanoian from Flickr. Considered a traditional Vietnamese dish, pho actually only came onto the foodie scene about 100 years ago, tracing its roots to the French occupation and the desire to create a dish that was a happy medium between Viet (the noodlage) and French (le boeuf) cuisines. History lessons aside, pho is a low cost, low fat and healthy way to fill your tummy. It tastes really damn good too.......

All photos by Kristin Foster. After a blur of relatives, feasts, and gift wrap, some of us have returned to the confines of the office for peace and quiet while others are on the couch. Welcome to the Holiday Hangover! Torontoist told you what was going on for Christmas Day, now we've found a great way of avoiding Boxing Week in the comfort of your own neighbourhood. With 49 outdoor rinks maintained by the......

In every neighbourhood there is one dude who goes a bit overboard with the Christmas lights. It's the stuff of bad Christmas movies. But few go quite as far as the Lindsay family, who seem to be trying their best to outdo the ZooTV tour. Every year since 2000, the Thornhill family has dressed up their home with a bigger and better light show. The lawn lights are buried under snow right now, but......

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......

Urbanist is a photo series that will look at developments, architecture, trends and activities happening in various cities––including our own––to inspire the urbane urbanist at home to make Toronto a better place. Everyone in Eastern Canada noticed that there was a snow storm on Sunday. No doubt, people in many places have had a tough time getting around as a result. Toronto and many other cities talk a good talk about pedestrians being at the......

Urbanist is a photo series that will look at developments, architecture, trends and activities happening in various cities––including our own––to inspire the urbane urbanist at home to make Toronto a better place. Sometimes what makes a city great are small, less obvious things that make you smile, or better yet, engage your environment in a more active way. Around Ottawa, you can find swap boxes like the one shown above on telephone poles or construction......

A new free service called Operation Red Nose launches tomorrow that provides volunteer designated drivers to get drunks and their cars home safely. The service already runs in places like Sudbury and Aurora, and now festive partygoers in the Distillery District can try it out this Wednesday, December 12 to Saturday, December 15. The program is fairly flexible since drivers can request service as often as necessary to get from one place to the......

Photo by William Self from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. It seems like everyone in the city is looking for a new place to live. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of competition to find that oh-so-perfect abode, and you’ve only got a few (relatively meagre) resources at your disposal to help you in your search. Luckily for you, we have your back.......

Near Manulife Financial: Bloor East citizens would like less poo in their public spaces. With condo fever gripping the still-shabby southeast corner of Bloor and Yonge due to the future One Bloor 80-storey tower, the Bloor East Neighbourhood Association (BENA) met Wednesday night at the Rogers Centre (333 Bloor Street East) to discuss how their little stretch of street could be transformed to rival the world-class reputation of Bloor West. BENA, representing ratepayers along......

Photo by gbalogh from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. The Star's Jack Lakey, aka The Fixer, is invaluable. There is no better way to elicit a favourable response from the City bureaucracy than by sicking him on a case of civic neglect. It really is the most consistent way to get things done in Toronto. (The TPSC got Viacom to fulfill their contractual obligation to put street names on transit shelters simply by getting him......

Urbanist is a photo series that will look at developments, architecture, trends and activities happening in various cities––including our own––to inspire the urbane urbanist at home to make Toronto a better place. December will bring about the demolition of the building at the southeast corner of Yonge and Bloor to make way for the gargantuan condo development known as One Bloor East. Urbanist is generally supportive of the condo boom since it means more people......

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 Cari Miller What are we doing at Bayview & Eglinton? It’s a fair enough question to ponder. After all, there’s not......

Urbanist is a photo series that will look at developments, architecture, trends and activities happening in various cities––including our own––to inspire the urbane urbanist at home to make Toronto a better place. While Toronto has been making headlines in recent years for its investment in artistic institutions such as the Art Gallery of Ontario, Royal Ontario Museum, and the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Ottawa has been in the spotlight of late because......

Poor OCAP. They can't even complain about the police watching them without the police watching them. At noon on Wednesday, the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty held a press conference (not a rally or an action or a march but a press conference) at the northeast corner of Dundas and Sherbourne, and there was about one police officer for each person in attendance (around twenty). As eight or so cops casually observed the conference from......

Photo by Try Hank from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. The entries are in for our Posted Toronto/Torontoist Flags For All Neighbourhood Flags Contest, and the batch is pretty eclectic. Steven Murray from the National Post and Torontoist's Marc Lostracco offer their commentary, along with the artist statements. Read on to see the designs and to vote on a winner!......

The View From Afar is a photo series that will look at what's happening in other cities for inspiration, lessons in what not to do to your city, and other tips for the urbane urbanist. This week's installation of The View From Afar comes from Highway 5. Dundas Street turns into Highway 5 west of Mississauga, and along this route you can see how suburbia encroaches on rural areas and displaces them.......