A walk down Coxwell Avenue with a few diversions along the way…..
below: Part of larger mural painted by Al Runt that covers most of the exterior of a building on Gerrard near Coxwell.
The “Soller” part of the title of this post is a direct reference to artist Rowell Soller. As it turns out he was touching up one of his murals on Coxwell when I walked past.
below: This large painting is on the same building as the mural in the photo above. It is a collaboration between Soller and Flips. If you see a painting in Toronto that has those curls and swirls, it was probably painted by Flips.
below: “The choice is yours”
below: Coxwell and Gerrard (south part), looking southeast. A quirk in the map, a jog in the street. For reasons no longer clear (probably something to do with the history of the area), Gerrard is divided by Coxwell into a southern and a northern section. This is the southern part where it is Gerrard to the west of Coxwell but Eastwood Avenue to the east.
below: The sign says Fairford Avenue, which is partially correct as it is Fairford to the west of Coxwell, but Gerrard Street to the east. Confused yet? The 506 Carleton streetcar runs on Gerrard as far east as Main Street and west all the way to High Park… but it has to make two turns at Coxwell to stay on Gerrard.
below: Signs of summer!
below: Bowmore Road Junior and Senior Public School is just east of Coxwell. It was built in 1923.
below: Does anybody still refer to Toronto as ‘The 6ix’? It was popular ten years ago when Drake used it in a song but I haven’t heard it much recently.
below: Another Coxwell mural, another collaboration between Rowell Soller and Flips (from 2022).
below: … and yet another, this time with yellow curls
below: More Soller painting, this time on Queen East close to Coxwell, a woman in blue.
below: Emdaabiimok Avenue is now the name of the lower part of Coxwell, south of Queen. In Anishinaabemowin, Emdaabiimok translates to “where the road goes to the water”
below: There are a lot of tiny houses on Coxwell!
below: There is also this tall skinny house that has a footprint of only 16′ x 16′ (just under 5m x 5m). It has one bedroom and is built on stilts. It is accessed from the sidewalk by a bridge. Originally it was painted in blue, red, green, and yellow squares and rectangles and really did look like it was made of Lego blocks. If you hear of someone referring to it as the Lego House, that’s why. This pale blue and dark grey mix looks much better!
below: Like most other places in the city, there are always changes to be seen whether it is a complete reno of a house or the addition of a rooftop terrace.
below: If you walk (or drive) slightly farther north on Coxwell, you might see this car. Its collection of colourful and sparkly decorations has slowly grown over the years to the point where there isn’t much room left!
as I walk Toronto 