Image of The Star's coverage from June 21, 1954. News of the city's upcoming experiment with a pedestrian scramble crossing at Yonge and Dundas has been discussed widely. But until Torontoist reader Don Cumming sent us a tip, few of us realized that Toronto first experimented with this idea over 50 years ago. The concept of stopping all traffic so pedestrians can cross an intersection in every direction is also known as a "Barnes......

Photo by Lex in the City. With Bike Month on the horizon and a newly launched advocacy group, cycling in Toronto is undergoing a renaissance (as Val Dodge put it earlier this week). The attention is well-deserved: cycling is one of the most healthy and environmentally conscious methods of commuting. The joys are eloquently captured by Ryerson prof Bill Reynolds in the most recent issue of The Walrus. By listing the hazards of urban......

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......

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......

With this morning's surprise snowfall, Toronto pedestrians are once again relegated to nimbly navigating slush-covered sidewalks—an unpredictible process that leaves us carefully weaving through each other like mountain goats passing on a cliff. What really gets our goad, however, is one of winter's notorious peeves: the lazy sidewalk shoveler. Mandated by the City to clear the sidewalk within twelve hours of a snowfall lest they face a $105 fine, the lazy shoveler quickly does......