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Edna and more

Posted: January 9, 2026 in alleys, graffiti and street art, locations, transportation
Tags: 33wallflower33, alley, alywyz murals, autumn, cassette tape, catchoo, chairs, chill, Edna Ave., Flips, garages, Glenlake, graffiti, houses, lane, Mel Coleman, raccoons, residential

It had been a grey and slightly damp morning when I was out walking. As I headed to the subway to go home, the clouds cleared and the sun came out. So I kept walking north of Dundas West station. Edna Avenue is the street that runs parallel to Bloor immediately north of the station.

below: Edna Avenue, looking east towards Dundas Street West.

below: Edna seems to have a Guardian watching over her.

below: There is an alley that runs north from Edna and the sunshine beckoned.

below: T-shirt sale at the One Stop Shop!

below: The sun sets and rises eternally, apparently.

below: A little Catchoo daisy sticker caught my eye.

below: There was also a 33wallflower33 paste-up with a few little catchoo stickers on her gorgeous white outfit.

below: Faded bricks like faded jeans. They are a little rough around the edges too.

below: Chairs, backyard chairs.

below: Backyard picnic tables too.

below: Raccoons on the roof! Mural by Mel Coleman.

below: More backyards – or at least, backs of houses

below: Another chair

below: Cassette tape (remember those?!) and supersized pencil. If you had tapes, you always had a pencil handy, just in case! Back in 2020, this mural was fairly new. You can check out “faceless in an alley” if you want to see the whole mural before the one wall was defaced.

below: Another ghost from the past – a ghetto blaster proudly carried on his shoulder

below: The mural is an Ex-Vandals piece, or at least references them. On the left in this image are the words Dino Nod – he was one of the founding members of the Ex-Vandal crew (formed in 1971 in Brooklyn NY).

below: Red and green men too.

below: A couple of blocks north of Edna is Glenlake, and here we are looking east towards Dundas.

below: Glenlake and Dundas. When I was double checking Google maps for the names of these streets, I discovered that this used to be a store that sold flowers and other things. Where there is no grass beside the building, was once a fenced in area with plants for sale.

below: Just north of the Glenlake/Dundas intersection is the large bridge over the railway tracks that connects Dundas to the West Toronto Railpath.

below: The concrete supports for the bridge were painted with nature scenes many years ago. The weeds have grown up and the artwork has faded.

below: Blobs, curls (by Flips), stars, and Spy vs Spy

below: Looking up the stairs (but not walking up – I’ll leave that for another day).

below: Instead I turn around. This is a big part of the view that you see as you walk down the stairs – a large, striking, mural by Kizmet32 .

below: I now know that these metal utility poles can be used to make “music”. All you need is a big stick or two.

below: Walking back to Dundas West station to finish for the day.

below: Slightly off on a tangent – for those of you who follow such things, the Giraffe Building on the northeast corner of Dundas West and Bloor is still there, and still empty.

from Amsterdam to Skopje…

Posted: November 24, 2025 in locations, public art, reflections, stores
Tags: art, autumn, bowling pin art, cookies, D. Drew, East York, houses, O'Connor Drive, Peek Freans, photography, photos, pictures, redevelopment, reflections, Skopje Gate, stores, welcome banner, windows

and a few places in between.

Amsterdam and Skopje refer to two streets that intersect with O’Connor Drive in the northeast corner of East York, Amsterdam Avenue and Skopje Gate. There is also a Wakunda Place but the spelling is different from Wakanda, the fictional country that was created of Marvel Comics.

Every neighbourhood has a story to tell, even if it’s just the story of a quiet life in their own corner of the city. There are many similar threads that run through the many narratives of Toronto neighbourhoods – the ethnic stores and restaurants, the redevelopment of older buildings into new housing, quiet side streets. There’s probably a mix of residential styles – single family homes, rowhouses, older apartment buildings, and newer glass and steel condos where people are trying to live as best they can. It is a scene repeated over and over again. Parts are fascinating, parts are dull and lacklustre. There will always be utility poles and wires and garbage bins in the way. Maybe there will be an alley or two to explore – with old abandoned cars, basketball hoops, and graffiti left behind by jilted lovers or angry young men. There’s probably a vacant lot where a building has been demolished – or perhaps it hasn’t been demolished yet but it’s just sitting there taking up space and looking sadder and sadder with time.

Just because there are many similarities doesn’t make it less interesting. Here are a few images from “between Amsterdam and Skopje”.

Not every neighbourhood has a large bowling pin (as public art). Backstory – the condo that this pin sits in front of was built on the site of the old O’Connor Bowling Lanes (1951-206).

Of all the similarities that this neighbourhood shares with others in the city, not many of the others can claim to have a cookie outlet….

And even more unique, it’s also the home of the Peek Freans Biscuit factory. There was a lovely sweet vanilla-ish smell in the air the day that I walked around. Peek Freans has a long history in England dating back to the 1850s. In 1949 they established their first bakery in Canada, here on O’Connor Drive.

Although the company has changed hands numerous times since then, the East York factory still produces cookies (and other items such as Oreos and Wheat Thins) for Mondelez Canada.

Back in 1953 when this photo was taken there wasn’t much else around!

black and white photo of Peek Freans cookie factory in 1950s, on O'Connor drive, not much else is around it ,

source: City of Toronto Archives, fonds 1128, series 380, item 39

below: A couple of the metal boxes painted by D. Drew.

After I wrote this blog post I asked google for a list of streets in Toronto named after American cities. I got this answer: “Toronto has a number of streets named after American cities, such as Chicago Street, Dallas Street, and Milwaukee Avenue. These streets often have historical connections or reflect the city’s relationships with other North American metropolises.” I had never heard of these streets in Toronto! Maybe I missed something.

My next move was to look for Chicago Street in Google maps. “There is no street named “Chicago Street” in Toronto” was the answer. I also struck out looking for Dallas Street (which is when Google tried to direct me to Yonge Street). The answer when I searched for Milwaukee Street was the best of all – “There is no “Milwaukee Street” in Toronto; however, there is a street called Ossington Street, often mentioned in lists of the city’s coolest streets, and a retail store named The Milwaukee Road located at Yorkdale Mall). The next time you walk down Ossington, you can think of Milwaukee!

walking towards the Pinnacle… and beyond

Posted: November 21, 2025 in construction, locations, old buildings
Tags: Alexandros, bearded prof, Between the Eyes, CIBC building, CN Tower, Dean Drever, dowtown, Gardiner Expressway, Harbour Commission Building, Pinnacle Group, Queens Quay, Richard Deacon, Royal York hotel, Scotiabank Arena, Sky Tower, Yonge St.

….with a group of friends on a grey November morning.

below: From Union Station, there are now plenty of routes to take indoors and we explored some of them (some for at least the second time but there are always changes or points of view that you miss the first time around).

below: Union Station has connected to Scotiabank Arena for a few years now.

below: And within the last year or two a pedestrian bridge over Bay Street has connected Scotiabank Arena with the new CIBC Square development on the other side of the street. This picture shows the exterior stairs of that new CIBC building as seen from the south side of that bridge. That’s a lot of climbing! So glad for escalators.

below: There is quite a view from the new CIBC Square park area including this one looking mostly southwest to the top of Scotiabank arena. The architectural details (some sort of overhang?) are on the new CIBC building

below: Looking north up Bay past the shiny sparkly gold RBC building to Old City Hall that’s almost hidden behind the newer towers.

below: You can also see the Royal York hotel on the other side of the railway tracks.

below: Cranes and the CN Tower make for a very downtown Toronto photo. Again, this is the view from the new CIBC Square. If you are interested, a year ago I posted more photos from this new park – Above the railway tracks at CIBC Square.

below: Work continues on the Union Station expansion and upgrades on the south side of the station. This work will provide the infrastructure needed for increased GO train service (more trains, more often). Comparing this photo to one taken a year ago there don’t seem to be many changes so I hope that most of the work has been inside (or else it’s going to be a very long time before this project is completed).

below: It is also possible to continue walking indoors through to the new GO Bus Terminal. This is the glass wall at the south entrance of the terminal on Lakeshore Blvd.

below: This is the view southwest from the corner of Bay and Lakeshore. Just beyond the exit ramp from the Gardiner is the Toronto Harbour Commission Building on Harbour Street – named as such back in the day when this was close to the shore of Lake Ontario. It was built in the Beaux-Arts style and was completed in 1917.

below: Harbour Commission Building, 1923, just over a hundred years ago. Photo from the Toronto Public Library, found online in their digital archives. Harbour Street was right on the shore! Everything that exists toady south of Harbour Street is built on landfill. That includes most, if not all, of the developments on Queens Quay.

below: A few steps later as we walked down Bay – this photo is now looking northwest back towards Scotiabank Arena and the Gardiner Expressway. So many new towers! The Telus building on the right is on York Street and immediately south of the tracks. On the left are twos tall building with an almost round structure on the top (with holes in it) – these are the ICE condo towers at 12 and 14 York.

below: On Queens Quay, a contrast between the Brutalist type of architecture of the textured concrete Westin Hotel and the newer glass and steel condo tower beyond it.

below: Also on Queens Quay (on the north side of Queens Quay between Bay and Yonge) there is a water feature at the horribly named Residences of the World Trade Centre

below: The same complex is also home to this mis-shapen peanut thing that is a sculpture, ‘Between The Eyes’, by Richard Deacon. Also, the brown building on the left is the old Toronto Star building at 1 Yonge Street. It was to be redeveloped into a condo tower but the market for condos is trash at the moment. The owner/developer, Pinnacle Group, has announced that they might try to convert the building into a hotel instead.

below: Now under construction is Sky Tower at Pinnacle One Yonge (on what was the parking lot behind the Toronto Star building).

below: 106 floors!! Final height will be 352 metres. May they never have elevator issues. May the underground garages never have water issues. The tallest completed building in the city is Aura at Yonge and College at 272m. A couple of others at Yonge and Bloor are under construction but even once they are finished, this Sky Tower will be the tallest. Remember that picture of the Royal York Hotel – when it was built in the late 1920s it was the tallest building in the city, and the first one over 100m.

below: When I was looking for older pictures of this area, I found this intriguing photo from 1984. Not that long ago, right? The Gardiner Expressway runs across the top and you can see the Toronto Harbour Commission building in the top left corner. The Westin Hotel is there (the two towers on a triangular base, bottom left). The rectangular tall building is the Toronto Star building at 1 Yonge. In other words, this is almost a map of part of our walk. A couple of things of note – first look how much surface parking there was! And second, what is that circular thing in the middle (and top) of the picture!!! On closer examination, it’s just an old ramp for the Gardiner and all the wasted space in the center. Harbour Street follows the curve on its south side. An incredible amount of space is devoted to the car.

below: Walking up the west side of Yonge. The blue building with all the diamonds and triangles is the back of CIBC Square – we have almost completed a circle.

below: More redevelopment and construction to the east of Yonge on Harbour. Harbour then merges with Lakeshore Blvd.

below: You should recognize the purpose of the exterior bracing on the brick building. The facade of this 1950s brick LCBO headquarters and warehouse is being saved during its transition to ‘Sugar Wharf’ with new towers, a hotel, a park, and more. A very familiar story that seems to play in a never ending loop.

below: North on Yonge

below: Under the Gardiner

below: Bird in flight but stuck to the concrete – a paper paste-up on a Gardiner Expressway pillar

below: I don’t think that this is Finch West.

below: Another bird in flight is ‘Eagle’ by Dean Drever, 2018. His beak is pointing to another new pedestrian bridge over Yonge Street that hasn’t opened yet. It is part of the CIBC development and will become part of the PATH system.

below: CIBC Square, north side construction. In the distance is Union Station; we have come close to walking in a circle. It wasn’t a very big circle but there were many changes and quite a few things happening. The CIBC Square development includes two towers on the east side of Bay, one on the south side of the tracks and one on the north. In case you didn’t realize it, the one acre “park” that they have developed is actually over the railway tracks. It’s a wonderful use of the space. I hope that the city sees that it is feasible to create public space this way. There has been a lot of chatter about how the city should create a park over more of the tracks and I hope that this spurs them on.

This walk was the 16th Anniversary walk for the Toronto Photowalks group. It was a rather large group of us that started from Union Station last Saturday morning.

Toronto Photowalks have walked twice a month since November 2009 with some exceptions during Covid lockdowns and restrictions. I first walked with them in early February, 2012. There have been 334 walks and most streets and alleys in the city (and sometimes beyond) have been covered at least once. Some weeks the group is small while at other times the numbers are a bit overwhelming but all in all, it’s a great group!

below: I am sure that the Bearded Prof is saying “Thanks for joining us!”

from Dupont to St. Clair West

Posted: November 12, 2025 in construction, graffiti and street art, locations, public art, stores, transportation
Tags: Bareket, birds, bkez, Catherine Cachia, decorations, Dupont, Dupont subway station, Elicser Elliott, halloween, James Sutherland, Julia Prajza, murals, Nick Sweetman, pumpkins, signs, Spadina, stores, Troy Lovegates

Enter if you Dare!

A late October walk on a sunny day – starting at Dupont station which is just north of Bloor on Line 1 (That’s the University side of the Yonge-University Line for those of you who, like me, haven’t mastered the TTC numbering system yet!). We walked a few blocks on Dupont before going under the railway tracks to Bridgman, then took a quick turn on Albany to get to Davenport. A short block later we were on Bathurst. Vaughan Road veers left off Bathurst just south of Bloor. We meandered a bit north of Bloor before walking back to St. Clair West station.

below: A bright and sparkly flower blooms on the southbound platform of Dupont subway station. This is one of the mosaics designed by James Sutherland in the series “Spadina Summer Under all Seasons” found around the station.

below: More Dupont station flowers to greet subway travelers, this time on the concourse level.

below: Taking the escalator up inside the dome at street level.

below: There is a Nick Sweetman mural of birds that wraps around the curve of a bench.

below: The curve matches that of the domed entrance to the station on the southeast corner of Dupont and Spadina.

below: Casa Loma in the distance, on the hill beyond the tracks. This is the view on Spadina north of Dupont.

below: Northeast corner of Dupont and Spadina

below: Big rounded arches, rooftop terraces in the back, and two turrets, all at the corner of St. George Street and Dupont.

below: Looking north on St. George, towards Dupont, 1904. Working on the street. The house with the two turrets is already there. The duplex on Dupont at the top of the street still exists too.

below: The duplex (176-178 Dupont) is difficult to see because like so many other older residences on main streets, an addition has been added to the front to facilitate a store or a restaurant. At the moment, 176 Dupont is a Mexican restaurant, even though the says Pastrami (close enough!).

below: Bruno Men’s Hairsylist and his quaint little sign.

below: On Dupont, east of Spadina is this mural by Catherine Cachia

below: Cozy and euphoric.

below: Bete Suk, Ethiopian Coffee shop

below: Northwest corner of Dupont and Spadina, and another domed subway entrance.

below: Looking west on Dupont

below: Another, much clearer, example of the transition of houses to businesses by building additions in front, are these two – Krispy Kreme and the faded Modern Laundry & Dry Cleaners.

below: West of Dupont, there are still some garages covered in street art.

below: This is 390 Dupont Street, part of which is now a coffee shop/vintage clothing store. I am not sure what the history of the building is but when I tried to research it, I discovered that there is a condo development being proposed for the site.

below: This is the neighbouring property, 388 Dupont. Two years ago when I walked this stretch, there was a blue and white development notice sign in front of the building (Dupont Street Scenes). When the application for redevelopment was first filed (2020), it was for an 11 storey building involving 374 to 388 Dupont. By 2023 the plan had evolved to 12 storeys and now included 390 Dupont as well. Because the site is adjacent to the CP Railway corridor, a train safety derailment wall along the entire back wall is part of the plan.

below: Although there is no posted notice of planning applications for this building, it appears to be empty. The front door is boarded up and there is a No Trespassing sign in the window.

below: Two years ago this building was in the early stages of construction.

below: Another theme that occurs over and over again on the streets of Toronto – the jumble of different eras. Very old brick houses and new glass and steel towers mixed together along with ages in between. The smaller older structures dwarfed by the newer ones that tower over them.

below: The Troy Lovegates mural of 10 faces on Howland & Dupont is still there and still looking vibrant. If you are interested, there are more images of this mural elsewhere in this blog.

below: Running parallel to the railway tracks, and just north of them.

below: The north side of the CP Railway corridor shows signs of its more industrial past. This building with its curved glass sidelights and other small Art Deco finishes, sits empty. Previously it was home to a plumbing company but they have moved to new quarters elsewhere in the city.

below: Tarragon Village mural by Elicser Elliott

below: There is also this mural, just around the corner on Albany, “You are not alone”. It was painted by Julia Prajza and Bareket (bkez). ‘You Are Not Alone Murals’ is a public mural project with over 100 murals completed. Their goal is to “inspire artists to create murals in their communities–sparking hope, connection, and conversations about mental health.” (quote taken from their website, youarenotalonemurals.com).

mural on the front of a building, wrapped around the front door, in cursive, text says You are not alone

below: An intriguing series of photos in the windows… but I couldn’t get a closer look at them.

below: A large red heart and an even larger blue spruce tree.

;

below: The paintings along the concrete wall on the west side of Bathurst have all been defaced.

below: Another touch of Art Deco in the neighbourhood

below: Bathurst Street houses

below: Playing in the playground

below: Store fronts on Bathurst

below: Looking north up Bathurst where Vaughan Road exits left. Vaughan Road was built in the 1920’s along an older trail that follows a now underground creek. From here, it runs more or less diagonally north and west to its northern end at Dufferin and Eglinton.

below: Choice laundry in the old brick building, on Vaughan Road.

below: Also on Vaughan Road, Zoomiez Doggie Daycare and Vaughan Road Pharmacy.

below: We met a couple of strangers. They weren’t very talkative though so we kept walking….

below: The gateposts on Strathearn Road mark the entrance to the former village of Forest Hill. Forest Hill was incorporated as a village in 1923 and then annexed by the City of Toronto in 1967.

below: There is a metal plaque at each end of the Glen Cedar pedestrian bridge over the Cedarvale Ravine. This is the one at the south end. The text is taken from the lyrics of “Anthem”, a song by Leonard Cohen. The first bridge here was built by Henry Pellatt (the same man responsible for Casa Loma) in 1912. It became a pedestrian bridge when it was modernized in 1989.

brass plaque embedded in the concrete of a bridge railing

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your prefect offering.
There is a crack,
a crack in everything
it’s how the light get’s in
[and yes, the plaque has an apostrophe in gets]

glen cedar pedestrian bridge in late october when the trees were in their autumn foilage

below: Home is where our story begins.

below: At Bathurst and St. Clair – Da Best Pilipino Bakery and Deli

below: Waiting to cross Bathurst Street

below: Looking east on the north side of St. Clair, from Bathurst. St. Clair West subway station is just a few meters away.

below: There was once a gas station on the northeast corner of Bathurst and St. Clair West. Now it is a vacant lot with a few alien creatures like this one lurking about.

below: Happy Hallowe’en pumpkins! The frog’s not so certain though.

With thanks to Nancy who walked with me that day.

south from Liberty Village

Posted: October 26, 2025 in history, locations, old buildings, public art, transportation
Tags: Allan Lamport stadium, BMO Field, condos, construction, cranes, Dufferin Gate, E.B. Cox, Elford Bradley Cox, Exhibition Place, Gerald Glastone, GO trains, Greek gods, Lakeshore Blvd., Liberty Village, McGillivray Fountain, Mino Bimaadiziwin, Ontario Place, people, Scadding cabin, sculptures, Shrine Peace Memorial

Liberty Village is the neighbourhood that is south of King Street, west of Strachan, and east of Dufferin. It’s southern boundary is a combination of the Gardiner Expressway and the railway tracks (CN, VIA, and GO)

below: A temporary park has taken over a corner of the parking lot on Hanna.

below: The sign says Ontario Place straight ahead.

below: Dream Big

below: Allan Lamport stadium concrete

below: Looking north from the goalposts in the stadium.

below: Once it was a carpet factory – The Toronto Carpet Factory was spread over 8 brick buildings on a 4 acre site. It was built between 1899 and 1920. The company was established by F. Barry Hayes in 1891 and was originally at Jarvis and Esplanade. At the end of WW1, 1250 people were employed here. The factory remained in production until 1979, although the number of carpets that were made annually was greatly reduced by the end.

below: Streetcars waiting at Dufferin Loop, Dufferin south of King.

below: View from the bridge at the south end of Dufferin looking west along the Gardiner Expressway towards Etobicoke and Mississauga.

below: Eastern view

below: The arch marks the Dufferin Gate, the west entrance to the Exhibition Grounds.

Part way between Dufferin and Strachan is Exhibition GO station. The station has been designed to provide access from both sides of the tracks which in turn offers another walking route south from Liberty Village. The area north of the tracks is a bit of a mess as the new Ontario Line will terminate at Exhibition and the completion of that project is still a few years away.

below: The pedestrian tunnel under the tracks.

below: Looking north under the Gardiner – Liberty Village provides that background in this image.

below: More Ontario Line construction as seen from Platform 4 at Exhibition station

below: South end of BMO Field, looking east towards downtown and the CN Tower.

below: BMO Field is home to both the Toronto Argonauts (CFL, football) and the Toronto FC (MLS – Major League Soccer). It has just undergone upgrades (think $$$) to make it ready to host some of the FIFA World Cup soccer/football games in mid 2026.

below: Some of the lights seen at the Exhibition – with the CN Tower in the distance.

below: rooftops

below: One of the latest public art addition to the Exhibition Grounds is “Mino Bimaadiziwin”, an Anishinaabemowin phrase that translates to “Good Life”. The mural was developed in partnership with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation 50-meter-long artwork honors Indigenous history and culture and was unveiled in October 2024.
The installation is part of a plan to separate Exhibition Place from the Gardiner Expressway.

below: The McGillivray Fountain was designed by Canadian sculptor Gerald Gladstone and donated to Exhibition Place in 1968 by Gordon B. McGillivray in honor of his father, John A. McGillivray.

below: The Scadding cabin was originally built in 1794 by John Scadding on land that he owned east of the Don River. He owned more than 200 acres and his property stretched from Lake Ontario to what is now the Danforth. The next owner of the property used the cabin as an out-building. In 1879 it was donated to the York Pioneer and Historical Society who arranged to have it moved close to its present site to celebrate the opening of the Industrial Exhibition (now the CNE).

below: The title printed on this image is “Log Cabins of the York Pioneers,Exhibition Grounds Toronto 1880. Lithographed and printed at the Exhibition Building, Rolph, Smith & Co. Toronto”. The cabin on the left is labelled Simcoe 1794 (i.e. the Scadding cabin) and the other is labelled York Pioneers, Lorne 1879.

below: Shrine Peace Memorial

below: There is a collection of twenty small sculptures representing Gods, heroes, and monsters of Greek mythology in what is called the Garden of the Greek Gods. They were created by Elford Bradley Cox (1914-2003) in the 1960s.

below: Hercules is the tallest of the sculptures.

Immediately south of the Exhibition Grounds is/was Ontario Place. This pile of rubble is all that remains of what was on West Island – mostly the decaying amusement/theme park that hasn’t been in operation for years (death by neglect).

below: The round Cinesphere is still there but everything west of it is gone. Once it was the pride of Ontario – built in response to Montreal’s Expo ’67 – but slowly over the years many of its features have been altered or removed (Children’s Village, the Forum with its free concerts, and more). Having said that, other sections have been renovated – Trillium Park on the east end for example. I didn’t get that far on this walk but you can some of it in Ontario Place 2.0 from 2017.

Sunlight shining – Biidaasige – and Lookout too.

Posted: September 6, 2025 in construction, locations, nature, waterfront
Tags: beach, Biidaasige, bike path, bridges, DOn River, hearn generating station, Leslie Lookout Park, park, playground, Port Lands, redevelpopment, river, Ship Channel, trees, Unwin Ave., Villiers, water, water lilies, waterfront

A new park in the Port Lands has opened. Biidaasige Park. Biidaasige translates to “sunlight shining towards us”.

It is centered around the new mouth of the Don River, with lots of walking and cycling paths that wind along the shores and through the newly planted shrubs, trees, and other native plants.

There is also a large playground where plenty of adventures await!

How many animals can you spot?

A black wasp has found a swamp milkweed flower.

below: The washroom facilities are still temporary (I hope!) but at least they exist….

… But there is more. Biidaasige is not the only new park in the area. Just to the east is the new Leslie Lookout Park that features this 10m tower that references the areas industrial history. It echos the silos of the past and provides an elevated viewing area.

below: The park is at the east end of the Ship Channel

Both parks are just part of the redevelopment of the Port Lands. The area has always been industrial, and many industries remain. Construction continues on other areas

below: Unwin Avenue

below: The old Hearn Generating Station still sits empty. It was built in the 1950s as a coal powered generating station but it was decommissioned in 1983. It has been used as a movie set location or as a backdrop for art installations but because of the huge costs involved (especially with cleaning up the interior to present day safety standards) this heritage site is vastly underused.

below: But now there is a development notice sign on the fence. Its present owner, Studios of America, has applied to redevelop the 30 acre site to include condos as well as other mixed uses.

Royal York to Kipling

Posted: July 11, 2025 in construction, graffiti and street art, locations, transportation
Tags: Alfio Bartoletti, Bloor st. west, construction, fountain, graffiti, history, islington, Kingsway, Mimico Creek, Moises Frank, murals, Nate Galbraith, new buildings, parks, reflections, residential, sketchnate, street art, subway, TTC, workmen

This walk started from Royal York subway station. In general, I walked westward first along Bloor Street (to Islington) and then on Dundas West. The stretch of Bloor West at Royal York is part of The Kingsway neighbourhood.

below: Squares of yarn, some crocheted and some knit, cover a red frame heart similar to others that ShowLoveTO have placed around the city.

below: There are more yarn decorations around the metal frame protecting this tree on Bloor Street West.

below: Also, a little Zen Garden Planter to support the CNIB since June was Deafblind Awareness Month – the planter accessories were provided by The Gardener, a local flower store.

below: Bloor West – bike lanes, sidewalk patios, and construction. Welcome to summer in the city!

below: Bloor West glass towers

below: One wall of Brentwood Library and the small garden on the north side of the building.

below: Old gnarly tree with Kingsway Baptist church in the background

below: Just west of Royal York, at Montgomery Road, the subway emerges from underground.

The Mimico Creek passes under Bloor between Royal York and Islington. Tom Riley Park follows the creek on both sides north of Bloor until it then passes under Islington close to the intersection of Islington & Dundas West.

below: Another angle of the subway at ground level. Here is looking east as it runs through Tom Riley Park (and if you could see further, you could see where it goes back underground at Montgomery)

below: Islington subway station and bus bays. A very large parcel of land on the northwest corner of Islington and Bloor is taken up. Opened May 1968.

below: A messy corner, at Aberfoyle & Islington (just north of Bloor)

below: Just north of Bloor, Islington passes under railway tracks.

below: Islington Towers with a fountain in front. The parts of the fountain that are brown were once blue. It was designed and constructed by Alfio Bartoletti in the 1960s.

below: Across the street from the Islington Towers, a highrise with a more modern design (for better or worse, your decision!).

below: Corner of Cordova and Central Park Blvd with new condo development

In this part of Toronto, Dundas is north of Bloor.

Now you are in Islington village, home to over 20 murals depicting scenes from the history of the neighbourhood. I documented these back in 2014 in a blog post, Islington Heritage Murals. The murals are still there and are in good shape.

Are cars always getting in the way of public transit?

below: Not a heritage mural, but painted by Moises Frank for a collaborative project between Arts Etobicoke and the City of Toronto, the Dundas West #NoVacancy project.

below: On the same building as the above mural, is this painting. Once it was the Chinese Food Gallery, now it is vacant and surrounded by a fence. A development notice sign on the fence says that a permit for a five storey mixed use building has been applied for.

As you walk west on Dundas, you approach the intersections of Dundas, Bloor, and Kipling. There is a lot of construction, happening here, mostly condos.

below: A park, Dunkip Park, is also being created. Dun as in Dundas plus kip as in Kipling.

below: A very big hole in the ground.

below: Kipling Street bridge over the railway tracks

below: Looking east along the railway tracks from on top of the bridge at Kipling (back towards Islington).

below: Kipling subway station is the west terminus of the TTC Line 2 and was opened in November 1980. It connected Line 2 of the subway with GO service to the west. Pictured here is part of the south side showing three of its twenty concrete arches. These are similar to the arches at Islington station, but not identical to them.

below: North side of Kipling station, back in 1980 when it first opened, north side bus bays

below: Graffiti stickers in the parking lot. A well-suited duck in a hurry by giacco.ca and a boxy snail by Sketch Nate (aka Nate Galbraith)

below: Eastbound out of Kipling station. The older Line 2 subway trains still have a window that you can look out.

Ontario Line – north end of Pape

Posted: June 22, 2025 in construction, locations, stores, transportation
Tags: catchoo, construction, Cosburn, Donlands, graffiti, hoardings, lemon bucket orchestra, Metrolinx, Ontario line, Pape, people, Ritz restaurant, stickers, subway, trp 613, TTC

On a hillside along the Don Valley Parkway (DVP), there is a large construction project underway. This is where the new Ontario Line subway will go underground after crossing the DVP by bridge.

From this angle it’s difficult to see the work that has been done on the north side of the DVP but the ground has been cleared for construction of the support pillars for the large bridge that will take the LRT from Don Mills Road to this point at the top of Pape.

It has altered the quiet East York neighbourhood at the north end of Pape.

Ontario Line construction has also affected Pape Avenue. Here at Cosburn, a long stretch of what used to be stores and restaurants are now behind plywood hoardings. The main entrance to the station will be on the northwest corner of Pape and Cosburn. The final decision on the look of the station is not yet made (according to the Metrolinx website) but at least some of the renderings show that Infrastructure Ontario is involved and maybe the site will include other uses such as housing or offices.

Demolition has started but it looks like this project is going to take a while. The subway is going to run just west of Pape, under these buildings. Construction will kill (has killed?) street life but traffic shouldn’t be affected as much. Someone somewhere made that decision.

below: Some of the buildings from the back side, behind the plywood

below: There is a large Coca-Cola advert on the side of the building that is about to be demolished.

below: Bethany Baptist Church

below: There are little semi circular “ears” at the top of this building. I doubt that they had a function but along with the 3-D pattern across the top of the building, it adds a little bit of interest to the street scene.

below: Cat and dog at Floyd … while the crossing guard takes a break.

Back in November 2024, I posted some photos of the changes around Pape station (at Danforth). I ended that post just north of Danforth with the comment, “There is another station under construction at Cosburn, a few more blocks north but that’s for another day.” I guess that you could say that now is that day.

below: The top sticker is for the Lemon Bucket Orchestra and on the bottom it’s something about Kirby and Zaku and if you are into such things you might understand the reference.

from Bay to Christie

Posted: May 20, 2025 in construction, locations, old buildings, people, stores, transportation
Tags: AGO, Art Gallery of Ontario, Bloor Fruit Market, Bloor Street, concrete, construction, Cumberland Terrace, cyclists, Gold Leaf Fruit Market, Heart Garden, Katherena Vermette, mailbox, Markham St., monkey, OISE, pedestrians, red dress, reflections, renovations, ROM, Royal Ontario Museum, Tartu College

… a walk along Bloor Street on one of the rare warm days in May.

With respect to the weather, it’s been a crazy May – first cold, then warm, then cold again. As I write this, my windows are closed and the furnace is on. These are the coldest days in May since 1967 they say. I was going to make jokes about Hell freezing over but the Leafs didn’t win.

One of the Bay station exits is at Cumberland Terrace.

The lower level of Cumberland Terrace, especially along the north side, sits mostly empty.

From Cumberland Terrace, I headed to the corner of Bay & Bloor Streets and then westward from there. This is some of what I saw (and, for a change, I managed to keep the photos in the order that I took them).

below: Cladding changes at Bay and Bloor. The older concrete window frames are disappearing. Does anyone know if this type of recessed window feature has a name?

below: People watching from behind glass

below: From Avenue Road, looking west, where the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) dominates the south side of Bloor.

below: Renovations now underway on part of the “crystal” structure at the front of the AGO.

below: Red car….

below: … and red maple leaves

below: The OISE building (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education) was controversial when it was built in the late 1960s but it has aged into a good example of classic late modern concrete architecture. As an extra note – if you are interested in Toronto’s concrete architecture of this period, check out “Concrete Toronto: A Guidebook to Concrete Architecture from the Fifties to the Seventies”, edited by Michael McClelland and Graeme Stewart (many people contributed chapters to the book).

below: Reflections in the windows of the Bata Shoe Museum at Bloor and St. George.

below: Looking west on Bloor at Huron Street where the old church on the northwest corner is being renovated and expanded. Bloor Street United church was built in 1880 and was originally a Presbyterian church. In 1925 it was one of about 70% of the Presbyterian churches that merged with the Methodists to form the United Church of Canada.

below: The Bloor street facade of the church is being retained and updated while maintaining the church itself intact. A new condo tower is being built on the site, set back from the church building.

below: Looking east on Bloor Street. This view also shows the new building to the west of the church that is also part of the same project.

below: Tartu College building – another example of concrete architecture; it was designed by Elmar Tampold. Tartu College is a not for profit student residence and was named after the city Tartu in Estonia.

below: Red dress to symbolize missing and murdered Indigenous women.

below: Heart Garden at Trinity St. Pauls church at Bloor and Major. There are many of these gardens across the country and they are all dedicated to victims of the residential school system.

poetry, on wood, on a wood wall in a garden, heart garden,

Words on the first panel – by Katherena Vermette An other story this country has an other story one that is not mine or yours but ours

below: Colourful Annex mural by Planta Muisca

below: Bloor at Bathurst, southwest corner. This is what replaced Honest Eds – one had character and the other doesn’t and I think you know which one is which.

below: Markham Street is still closed as it is part of the large construction site on the old Mirvish property.

below: Little wavy curled features on the roof

below: From Sammie’s to Jimmy’s, with Real Nails in between. Square buildings, flat rooflines.

below: Gold Leaf Fruit Market at Palmerston and Bloor

below: Northwest corner of Palmerston and Bloor

below: Todays Specials

below: Bloor Fruit Market

below: Table for two

below: Just a little monkey sunbathing in the window!

below: Koreatown, mailbox

below: Waiting for the green light.

below: Christie subway station

And last, a shout out to Alternity Cafe where my smoothie was a fabulous pale bluish turquoise colour, thanks to the addition of “blue magic”.

Dew Lang Lane and area

Posted: May 18, 2025 in alleys, graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: #spud1, alley, birdo, Dew Lang Lane, Donlands, garages, graffiti, ivy, Jerry Rugg, lane, laneway, lilacs, mural, omen, omen514, pigeon, portraits, renovations, residential, stickers, subway, Temple Baptist Church, TTC, wales

Back in 2012, the city approved the naming of an alley… Dew Lang Lane. You can find this lane just north of the Danforth near Donlands. Prior to the legal change, “Dew Lang” had been used as the unofficial name by local residents. The name comes from parts of the two streets Dewhurst (Dew) and Langford (Lang) that the lane runs between.

below: Omen514’s fist bump

below: “Turn the lights off and look to the sky” by Jerry Rugg (aka Birdo) & Wales.

below: Spud1 left his mark here along with the advice, “Live, Love, Paint”.

below: Signs of spring that can’t be held back

below: In a very tight spot but bursting out.

below: One of the latest trends in urban living is the laneway house. They are popping up all over the place and this area is no exception.

below: Another trend, this one in home renovations, is building upwards. Adding a third floor or a rooftop deck is now common (and is often more noticeable from the back).

below: The repurposing of church buildings is another trend (albeit a bit older than the above two). In this case, Temple Baptist Church, opened 1925, is now residential. A small plaque in one corner of the building serves as a reminder of its original function. From the application for heritage status for the building: “Temple Baptist Church is a fine example of a revival of the Georgian Classical Style adapted for Post-Reformation churches in 18th century England.” Not many Toronto churches were built in this style.