Results tagged “northyork”

The Pleasant View neighbourhood in the northeast corner of North York looks placid enough—comfortable middle class demographics, a community centre to take a relaxing skate or swim, and so on. On the surface, the only thing that appears askew is an inability to determine if the neighbourhood’s name should be spelled as one word (the recreational complex) or two (city documents and the local library branch). But one look at the intersection in front of the swimming pool hints that darker forces lurk in the background.

For North York during the 1960s, the explosion in population and industry that the previous decade had seen showed no signs of stopping. By the end of the sixties, almost two hundred thousand people were added to the citizen roll. Quiet rural intersections saw farms and villages give way to apartment blocks, factories, schools, and shopping plazas. Traffic problems arose and required immediate solutions. The municipality's status changed from township to the more dignified "borough."

As he neared his sixtieth year, Roy Thomson had reached a crossroads. The newspaper baron’s publishing empire was entering the United States and Great Britain and he held the presidency of the Canadian Press. These accomplishments were tempered by the emptiness in his life created when his wife succumbed to cancer and by a sense that he had reached the limits of what he could do in the Canadian media business without repeating himself. As he noted in his autobiography After I Was Sixty:

like a city council scorned? North York Community Council, fed up with the Ontario Municipal Board in general and piqued at their recent approval of a new condo development in particular, has taken a novel approach to expressing its discontent. The name that's been assigned to the road leading into the complex? OMB Folly. The motion was introduced by Councillor John Filion and passed in a 7-2 vote. Hallstone Homes is developing the 36-unit complex of townhouses and is so far failing to see the humour in this turn of events. The OMB, set up by the province to administer municipal planning, has been frequently criticized by City Council and local community groups for favouring developers over neighbourhood well-being. North York Community Council's pith has apparently rendered them speechless: as of yet, the OMB has made no comment on their Folly.

Sarah Lazarovic—curator of the garage-based Montrose Portrait Gallery of Canada—is painting a portrait of a Torontonian every day. Each Monday, we'll feature one of those portraits here. Suggestions for subjects welcome.

A series of huge explosions near Keele and Wilson at 3:50 a.m. this morning (skip to 1:50 in this video or 0:53 in this one for the most dramatic ones) were felt across Toronto, after a fire started at Sunrise Propane Industrial Gases at 54 Murray Road—a fire that is only now dying down. Since then, thousands of people have been evacuated, and the 401 has been closed, as have Downsview, Wilson, and Yorkdale TTC stations. Only minor injuries have been reported, but 680 News reports that fire officials told them one person is unaccounted for.

Spotted in the north elevator of an upscale North York condo.

Congratulations. You've just moved into a home or apartment in the rapidly growing city of North York to start your bright future. You either don't own a car or prefer to use one as little as possible. Fixed public transit services haven't quite made it out to your neck of the woods yet you really want to be chauffeured by a bow-tie wearing driver with a creepy smile who will drop you off at your doorstep.

Shouldn't every mall should include a place to pose against an elegant concrete wall with your favourite magazine or a romantic hidden spot to meet that lawyer you're having an affair with while their spouse shops?

In a minor renovation probably not related to the Toronto Community Foundation, someone has added a new station name along the top of one of Ossington Station's track-level signs: Not Gnosis. So, Ossington does not have "a special knowledge of spiritual mysteries" (according to the OED's definition), which should not really surprise anyone who's ever been to it.

Are you tired of study sessions completely uninterrupted by YouTube clips? Have you resorted to reading books and periodicals rather than maintaining a constant vigil over your Facebook profile? If this behaviour sounds familiar to you, and you live near one of these locations (that is Agincourt, Albion, Albert Campbell, Bridlewood, Centennial, Eatonville, Flemingdon Park, Gerrard/Ashdale, Lillian H. Smith, Mimico, Morningside, North York Central, Parkdale, Parliament, Richview, Riverdale, Toronto Reference, Woodside Square, and York Woods), you can finally breathe a sigh of relief. For today, the Toronto Public Library announces an expansion of its wireless internet service to 19 of its branches. That's 19 down, and only 80 left to go. But hey, it's a good start! And yes, this wi-fi is totally free to use.

Eat Me is a regular feature about the nooks and crannies of Toronto's restaurant scene, about the amazing restaurants that are––for some reason––criminally underpatronized. It's pretty easy to find sushi places in this city. From the Bloor Street strip to North York, sushi places range from suspiciously cheap to ridiculously expensive, from having incredibly creative culinary creations to the same old rolls. Quietly tucked on the east edge of Little Italy is Jun Jun Sushi...

Recalling an exciting time in Canadian indie rock when bands sounded less like accordion-totting balladeers and more like Dischord Records discography-totting caustic rockers, Republic of Safety are easily one of the most exciting bands currently making music in this city. Fronted by the charismatic (and Torontoist interviewed!) Maggie MacDonald, the band boasts the creative, angular guitar work of scene veteran Jonny Dovercourt, along with bassist Marlena Kaesler, saxophonist Martin Eckart, and former Quebexico drummer Steve Sidoli.

Election day is tomorrow, which provides a good opportunity to look back at how election ads were handled in the past. Today's selections come from the 1955 campaign, which Premier Leslie Frost's Progressive Conservatives won in a landslide on June 9th (83 PC, 11 Liberal, 3 CCF, 1 "PC Independent"). The "Big Blue Machine" was firmly entrenched, remaining in power for the next 30 years.

A lot happens in and around Toronto, but we can only write about so much in a week. Here's the best of the rest, in a new weekly feature we're calling Superfluist. Superfluist will appear every Friday night.

From mid-September through year-end, all City Community Centres will be closed on Mondays. Skating rinks won't open until January. Fewer potholes will be repaired. Snow won't be cleared unless there is at least 15 cm of it (the current minimum is 8 cm). New materials from Public Health will only be available in English.

Toronto has an unusual problem: too many mayors' offices. After the dying years of the last century saw Metro's five cities and one borough reduced into a single bureaucratic mess, the city was left with the prickly issue of what to do with the palatial digs of Alan Tonks and six mayors left sitting barren in the far-flung civic centres and City Halls throughout the megacity (which, when pronounced with the proper cynical inflection, rhymes with mendacity).

Every weekday, Torontoist is facing off local memes and blog drama in a tournament-style ladder and you, the reader, decide the outcome. View the full ladder here. Some highlights: ROM Crystal's sharp edges cut Miller's Hair (104 - 101): In the closest and most depressing match of the tournament so far, a napkin sketch gone wild shears the mayor's golden locks from atop his head. The late game upset may qualify for a recount on suspicions of steroid use, yes? Toronto Islands sink The Beaches (95 - 91): The ultimate NIMBY showdown sees the neighbourhood with an identity crisis get denied like a cross-harbour bridge. Today's matches, Region III + IV, 3rd Round:

The Annex vs. Island Airport
Leafs Fans vs. Bike Lanes
Taste of the Danforth vs. Turnitin.com
Nuit Blanche vs. Kensington Market
Congestion Charge vs. The Environment
Dufferin Grove vs. IllegalSigns.ca
Lower Bay vs. IKEA North York
Spadina North Station vs. 501 Queen Streetcar

Each weekday for the next two weeks, Torontoist is facing off local memes and blog drama in a tournament-style ladder and you, the reader, decide the outcome. View the full ladder here. Some highlights from yesterday's matches: Taste of the Danforth grills street meat (103 - 100). In an amazing and dramatic last-minute turnaround, Toronto showed that it salivates more thinking about one day of tasty meat to a whole year of drunk food vendor patronage. Spanakopita, anyone? Today's matches, Region IV, 1st Round:

Road Tolls vs. Congestion Charge
Stephen Harper vs. The Environment
Dufferin Grove Park vs. The Parks Department
IllegalSigns.ca vs. Viacom Outdoor
Lower Bay vs. The Brickworks
IKEA North York vs. The Sheppard Line
Spadina North vs. Lowther Station
Hipsters vs. The Queen Streetcar

Quick–name the first department store chain to locate in suburban Toronto.

A CN train jumps the tracks in Kingston, delaying rail traffic between Toronto and Montreal/Ottawa. Nobody was hurt, but observers told reporters this in a tone of serious disbelief because thirty-two train cars went off the rails less than a thousand feet from Kingston's passenger station, and apparently it was quite disturbing to see, what with the thousands of tons of out-of-control metal and all.

The Gardiner Expressway re-opened this morning after closures due to deadly "ice missiles" falling from the CN tower. One ice sheet was reportedly 50 metres tall and 6 metres wide!

When searching for a new place to live, what is the first thing you look for? Location? Lifestyle compatibility? Enticements? A blank slate to shape in your unique style? Groovy wallpaper?

That guy in North York who accidentally let loose his pet giant cobra into the ducts of his semi-detached house pled guilty to mischief yesterday. He also had a poisonous viper in his bedroom and a second cobra that he accidentally left at work. How the hell do you accidentally leave a poisonous snake at work? No, seriously, how do you do that? What major malfunction do you have to have to forget about a dangerous snake that you brought to your job? He only had three snakes anyways; how do you come home, count two snakes, and not realize "hey whoops, I guess I forgot that other dangerous snake, better go get it?"

Since 1999, technical writer Dave Till has maintained a sort-of-secret online shrine to Toronto's forgotten industries. We say sort-of-secret because every couple of years a blog like Metafilter or a website like cbc.ca will discover it, and his server would take a tremendous hit.

Whether public surveillance cams make you feel all safe n’ cosy, or whether you find them an egregious infringement on your right to litter, tag, and engage in other anti-social behaviour, the Toronto Police Services Board wants to talk to you about it.

Not everyone's December 25th consists of bulging stockings hanging from a mantel, unwrapping presents in the reflection of Christmas tree ornaments, and a grandmother in her pearls and green and red apron carving a turkey at the family dinner. For those not living in a movie, who are boycotting the holidays, or who forgot about Santa’s birthday, Torontoist has the guide to an alternative Christmas.

Ok everyone, vote wisely. Your new city council will actually have the powers to do things without turning to the province, thanks to the new City of Toronto Act. Oh, and they'll be in power for the next four years too.