There's been much debate in recent days over whether or not the TTC should remodel its crumbling, 50s-era "bathroom tile" subway stations (since now they can). A vocal proponent of the renovation plan has been TTC Commissioner and Councillor Sandra Bussin, who thinks that the common masses aren't design-savvy enough to hold an opinion of much weight. "I come from an art background," she says, justifying her critical authority on the currently "boring" subway......

Every weekday morning, bright and early, we feature a photo (or two) from a photographer in the Torontoist Flickr Pool. It's our way of giving the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention that they deserve. you read it in a book tonight BY APARATGRAF......

Adobe Photoshop The uncompromised clarity of skin. The ultimate in luxury. A truly flawless complexion. Ultra-refined texture. Perfect clarity. Cutting-edge skincare backed by 90 years of unrivaled research by Shiseido, a worldwide leader in the development of skin-brightening products. Shiseido White Lucent™ Skincare White skin. White power. Photo taken by Jonathan Goldsbie on a Yonge-University-Spadina line subway.......

If you like dancing and the TTC, this is probably the sweetest thing you will see today (other than, maybe, that Spadina Bus video). On Saturday afternoon, Jared Alleyne––inspired by Toronto's Improv Everywhere–inspired stunts like the Eaton Centre freeze and the no-pants subway ride––organized a small group to fill a Yonge-University subway car with spontaneous, unsolicited, and definitely unchoreographed dancing. We'd say more, but the video above pretty much does all the talkin' for......

Wild Toronto is a bi-weekly comic strip about the animals and plants that make a living in our city. Rosemary Mosco makes the comics, and would love to hear your suggestions (in the comments!) on wildlife to be profiled.......

Many years ago, the TTC launched the smart "Ride The Rocket" ad campaign, of which only the slogan and typewriter-like font still exist. The fast-paced and effective television commercials featured a quirky spokesperson chattering rapidly into a wide-angle lens about the pros of public transit, and the slick spots made the Commission look modern, exciting, and cool. To a tourist or GTA resident, the subway looked like the backbone of any big city experience.......

Weeks of record-breaking, finger-numbing, Antarctican weather are leaving Torontonians frozen across the city—and someone thinks it's hilarious. Who could be cruel enough to snicker as you stand miserably in a pool of slush, waiting thirty-something minutes for the streetcar that was stopped up by unprecedented snowfall? On February 16, the jerks themselves want to watch, photograph, and videotape you at your frozen-est... inside the Eaton Centre. Frozen, that is, in time. Would you believe the......

Every weekday morning, bright and early, we feature a photo (or two) from a photographer in the Torontoist Flickr Pool. It's our way of giving the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention that they deserve. deeper below BY DIFFRACT......

Each week, Torontoist shows off the most interesting, creative, and cool submissions to our Torontoist Flickr Pool. We're especially partial to photos that show our city in a new light, highlight a recent event, and remind us why we live here. Join the Flickr pool and show us what you've got. Bullion...BY CMAC66 floatBY OLYA Peek a BooBY INSIGHT IMAGING UntitledBY SDFREDERIKSEN Metalius 2BY RIDE MY PONY Subway TunnelBY RAVENEYES davisvilleBY HESITATION The Other SideBY......

It seems there is a sort of subtle resentment for pants growing in popular culture. Although Improv Everywhere has been organizing their annual No Pants Subway Ride in New York for seven years, only recently has the tradition really taken hold in cities around the world. This past weekend, Toronto, along with Adelaide, Australia, New York, San Francisco, and a bunch of American cities you probably aren't interested in hearing about, joined Improv Everywhere......

If you're anything like us, you've always dreamt of riding the subway without pants. You'll finally have your chance on Saturday, during the first ever Toronto No Pants Subway Ride. The idea for a pantsless ride originally came from the good folks at Improv Everywhere in New York, where the ride is in its seventh year. While Toronto already imports far too much culture from other cities, this is just too awesome of an......

Discovered going eastbound towards downtown on an old, very packed, and very hot subway car at 8:30 on a Monday morning: an old route map, sans Sheppard line subway stations; and an old ad advising riders against the gravest of transit crimes––leg extension. In response to a letter from someone pleased that the problem with "feet on seats" has improved, but that the ever-present issue of outstretched limbs remains, the late 1980s ad advises......

While Newmindspace have organized subway parties in Toronto, SkyTrain parties in Vancouver, and métro parties in Montréal, sometimes nothing beats an old-fashioned streetcar party for a beat-bumping, track-turning, three hour party tour of the city. The TTC will rent a streetcar (PCC, CLRV or ALRV) for a minimum of three hours for a pretty steep fee to just about anybody. The customer can request a custom route, like Newmindspace has, that takes advantage of......

Per a suggestion by chairman Adam Giambrone, The TTC has voted to provide free service after midnight this New Year's, along with extended subway hours until 4 a.m. The free service—an attempt to deter people from drunk driving—hasn't been offered by the TTC since the late 70s, and you'd think it might be a costly venture. But it's not exactly setting them back that much; the free admission offer will only cost the TTC an......

Thursday evening, CEPAL (the Canadian-Palestinian Educational Exchange) presents a talk by Dr. Norman Finkelstein at U of T's Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE). Just a few months ago, he was Professor Norman Finkelstein, but he made himself some powerful enemies, and now he's pretty much out on the street (i.e. lecture circuit). Apparently, that's not an uncommon development for academics—even Jewish ones—who are critical of Israeli policies and the advocates for same.......

How does a newly-opened shopping complex bring in shoppers? Hold a British-themed sale, featuring specials on fine UK products like Orange Julius and Gordon Lightfoot records! The Yonge-Eglinton Centre opened in October 1973 with Dominion and Horizon as its anchors. The short-lived Horizon chain was an attempt by Eaton's to enter the crowded discount department store field. This location was converted to an Eaton's store when the company pulled the plug on Horizon in......

Police had to quell trouble at the One Bloor condo site yesterday, as queue-jumpers moved in on agents and spotholders who had been standing in line for as long as a week. Although the interlopers were ultimately forced to the back of the line, many of those waiting were still too late to buy a unit in the development. One dissatisfied linestander said, "When do I get my iPhone?" A Caledon couple won $18.5 million......

Torontoist is one of fourteen cities in the worldwide Gothamist network. Once a week, the editors of each site—from LAist to Londonist—compile some of their most interesting posts into a brief blurb. It's Elsewhere In The Ist-A-Verse, and it appears, across the network, every Sunday. Austinist attended a town hall meeting about proposed noise ordinances that could undermine the city's future as the Live Music Capital of the World, and lamented the possible loss of......

Torontoist spotted this bit of loveliness in St. George Station on Monday. Unlike most fugly marker graffiti, this is an elegant and playful addition to the station’s signage. It looks like the floral flourish on a crown, or possibly a fleur-de-lis. What compelled someone to draw this on the station wall? Is it a political statement, or is it simply meant to elicit a smile? Whatever the intention may have been, this piece of......

The above image viewed from afar might lead you to believe it is just a photo taken in a dimly-lit subway station. We were almost tricked, too! However, it is actually a screenshot from the newest Half-Life 2 mod by a team of five George Brown thesis students, which is called City 7: Toronto Conflict. The story goes something like this: The Combine, some kind of invading alien force, has turned the CN Tower......

It has been exactly one year since our last subway party, which means this one is long overdue! Dress in your spookiest, scariest, funniest, or furriest costume and meet us by the last car at Kipling station at 11:13 p.m. Don't worry, no commuters will be harmed in the production of this event! Please find a list of guidelines to help the ride go smoothly and to prevent any disruptions to TTC service on......

They're in cabs, ATMs, and the Entertainment District, and they're about to be in all TTC vehicles. By next June, every one of the TTC's 1.5 million daily riders will be photographed multiple times over their journey. A part of the TTC's $18-million security plan, the commission will install up to 12,000 cameras throughout the system—in key station areas and on streetcars, buses, and subways. The intention is to provide police with evidence if......

If you loved (or hated) MasterCard skating to the rescue of Toronto's outdoor rinks this winter, you'll love (or hate) one of the city's other sponsorship innovations: traffic signals. Yes, Toronto allows—encourages—corporations to pay for the installation of audible pedestrian signals (APS) at the intersections of their choice. In return, companies receive free advertising space at each location declaring their largesse and the city's poverty. Asked about the practice of allowing private companies to......

Autumn is upon us, and with it the fall leaf colours that epitomize the season. It is said that the dry summer will dull the foliage this year, but that's no excuse to stay indoors. Elliott Katz's book, Great Country Walks Around Toronto, is packed with hikes of varying lengths in all areas of the city. One of the walks follows the Cedarvale Ravine. This easy 2.5 km walk over paved and packed-dirt trails......

Sure, the Toronto FC may have lost Saturday's game 4-1––hell, they may have lost 75% of this season's games––but this clip of the soccer team's fans on the Washington DC Metro (which we discovered thanks to DCist) is kind of sweet in a "loud sports fans yelling French" way. Plus, Toronto fans are totally "the gem of the league"! If only subway enthusiasm could be somehow be harnessed and channeled into on-field talent, then......

Discovered in a men's washroom at College Park (the ones by the Subway, not the ones by the subway).......

Photo by Qehven from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. If "free contemporary art things" happen to be your thing, then chances are you were one of the 425,000 people wandering around at last year's inaugural Nuit Blanche. And unless you've been living under a rock, you know that this year, it's back this Saturday night—with a vengeance. Boasting 123 museums and over 150 projects, teamed with all night subway on certain routes and txtArt allowing......

Adam + the TTC KNOW how to purchase buses that don't run off gas, "quite" trains that play soft music (like they have in Montreal), they ship the bills to Stevie Harper! If his friends complain sue them for negligence harming million in T.O. (they are protecting "their" friends + "their money" -> (your money) and lying all the time. "Its EASY" Then bug Adam Giambrone about holding an Architectural Contest (he can't see......

Kevin McLaughlin of Autoshare points us to this article in today's New York Times, about how New York City's subway system––encompassing some 277 underground stations––is to be set up over the next six years to allow for cellphone usage. Transit Wireless, the company that won the right to set up the network, will give the transit system at least $50 million over 10 years, and will incur all costs associated with building the network.......

Equal Voice, a group which advocates for more women in government, reports that there are 22% more women running in this year's provincial election than in 2003. However, they also note that because many women are competing in ridings where they have no hope of winning, the numbers may not translate into more female legislators. You know, rather than spending time and money trying to elect more women, the whole inequity thing could be......