Toronto just got a huge new holiday fair and unlike the Christmas Market in the Distillery District, this one comes with free admission. The Holiday Fair in Nathan Phillips Square comes with food, drinks, fun and games and is open daily, except Mondays, through December 23.
Check out our photo gallery from the Holiday Fair in Nathan Phillips Square.
The King Street Pilot Project just keeps hitting the sweet spot for commuters, and now there's data to back it up.
According to The Toronto Star, preliminary data from a study by the University of Toronto shows that commute times both ways between Bathurst and Jarvis are down since the project began last month.
Evening rush hour commute times before the pilot were 22.8 minutes going westbound and 20.6 going eastbound.
The study says these times have dropped to 17.3 and 16.4 minutes respectively.
Overall, mean travel times have been reduced by 24 per cent (westbound) and 20 per cent (eastbound), signifying a huge success for the project that's so far seen mostly high praise.
I do not need a car as the king street pilot has made my commute to work nice 20-25 minutes. Would take longer to drive
— Jeffrey Doucet (@jeffrey_doucet) December 1, 2017
The report noted that since the project began, many have begun to use the service more frequently and streetcars are more crowded with some having to wait longer just to get on one.
17 min waiting for King st car and the street is a wasteland. Not sure #kingstreetpilot is shortening commute times @TTCnotices@TTChelps
— Boyu Wang (@Boyu90) November 30, 2017
But a TTC spokesperson noted in the report that once more data has been collected and analyzed, the project will be tweaked to improve efficiency.
Yeah, I think the most glaring issue with the King pilot right now is that the TTC isn’t providing enough service to fill the newly-available capacity on street. (Some blame goes to Bombardier.)
— Matt Elliott (@GraphicMatt) December 1, 2017
If the project continues to show quantifiable improvements for transit and traffic, there's a possibility it could be made permanent.
The new King street via #TTC is a dream! 😍👏🎉
— shauna black (@theshaunablack) December 2, 2017
The TTC is set to release its own set of data later this month that will most likely confirm what we already know: it's great for commuters.
Wondering if its any easier to get into the Cheesecake Factory, now that it's been open for a few weeks?
Wonder no more: It's not.
Toronto's hottest new mega-restaurant has been rammed since opening day, generating lineups in and around Yorkdale Mall as customers eagerly await the chance to order from that 250-item menu.
Staff at the restaurant couldn't give an average wait time by phone on Monday morning, as it varies by day, time and party size.
For instance, on Sunday at around 7 p.m., a party of two would have waited for approximately two and a half hours. A party of four could be waiting "a lot longer," or potentially even less time depending on availability.
Cheesecake Factory in Toronto is 3hr wait, might as well drive to buffalo people
— Jessica (@jesszon) December 2, 2017
Reports from customers vary as well. One Instagram user said last weekend that the wait was five hours long.
Yesterday, people on Twitter reported waiting three to four hours for a seat in the restaurant.
Was it worth it? Those who stuck around to find out say yes.
They must really, really like cheesecake.
The TTC will be free free free once again this New Year's Eve, ensuring that everyone in Toronto has a safe, easy, and maybe even vomit-free ride home.
Corby Spirit and Wine is sponsoring the entire transit system for its fifth consecutive year on December 31, 2017 until 7 a.m. on January 1, 2018.
All streetcars, busses and subways will be completely free to ride beginning at 7 p.m. on New Year's Eve, which will save you dollars getting to the party as well as home from it.
This New Year's Eve, don't drink and drive - your safe ride is on us! 🎉For the 5th year in a row, we're providing free rides for Torontonians by sponsoring the entire #TTC network from 7PM-7AM on NYE! @TTChelps#CorbySafeRideshttps://t.co/xmlYBUdpPHpic.twitter.com/GX6rks5wMv
— Corby Spirit & Wine (@CorbySW) December 4, 2017
Blue Night buses will be running until 8 a.m. all over the city, but you should note that the last subway trains will leave Union Station at 3:30 a.m. for Finch Station and 3:34 a.m. for Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station.
On Line 2, the last trains will leave Bloor-Yonge Station heading in both directions at 3:37 a.m. Kennedy Station will close off Line 3 at 4:05 a.m., and the last train on LIne 4 will leave Sheppard-Yonge Station for Don Mills at at 3:58 a.m.
If you're not going out for NYE but want to get in on all this free TTC action, check out the LCBO, where Corby has planted over 24,000 tokens.
The complimentary tokens can be found on bottles of J.P. Wiser's whisky, Lamb's rum and Polar Ice vodka at LCBO stores throughout the GTA.
A City of Toronto maintenance worker has been channeling his inner Jackson Pollock to jazz up local street fixtures, maybe.
That, or someone wasn't paying very close attention to their task of repainting fire hydrants and ended up making a mess on the sidewalk.
Either way, this isn't what hydrants are supposed to look like (though, as some argue, maybe they should.)
Are you inspired by abstract expressionism? The City of Toronto needs your help painting fire hydrants. pic.twitter.com/WrHg0F7sER
— Josh Matlow (@JoshMatlow) December 2, 2017
Toronto City Councillor Josh Matlow (Ward 22) tweeted a picture of a fire hydrant with yellow paint splashed all around its base on Saturday.
"Are you inspired by abstract expressionism?," he wrote. "The City of Toronto needs your help painting fire hydrants."
Matlow was clearly joking, but the tweet inspired a lot of retweets, like and replies from people concerned about or amused by the image.
— John Wright (@JohnWrightLive) December 4, 2017
"Some Unionized City employee likely made about $63 in wages doing this fine paint job," tweeted one person.
"I was once told it would be 'too much work' to paint the curb 3m in either direction from the hydrant," wrote another. "Well... looks like they have the paint to do it anyway."
One woman said that the sidewalks were similarly messy all the way down Mount Pleasant. She called the sight "Disgraceful!"
Perhaps in the future workers will lay down drop sheets before they paint. After all, there's a chance that someone might want to buy them afterwards for many millions of dollars. Maybe.
You've probably never heard of it, but microtransit is about to be the hottest trend this season thanks to the TTC's new Community Bus.
The buses, a form of microtransit we might be seeing more of, function similar to regular buses in terms of fare rates. They're designated to specific areas of the city and offer service to local destinations only including community centres, hospitals, libraries and grocery stores.
The 400 Lawrence Manor Community Bus route. Image courtesy of the TTC.
While we were swept up in the fervor of other big-named transit projects, the TTC quietly launched the Community Bus service back in September. Today Mayor John Tory and TTC Chair Josh Colle spoke more about the project.
TTC Chair Josh Colle & I rode the 400 Lawrence Manor community bus this morning to highlight another way for people to use public transit. The community bus is a convenient, easy-to-use, option that connects Toronto residents to popular destinations in their neighbourhood. #TTCpic.twitter.com/Lxn1UxccRh
— John Tory (@JohnTory) December 4, 2017
The Community Bus is currently a nine-month pilot with only two active routes so far. These include the 400 Lawrence Manor bus and the 404 East York. Several more are expected to launch over the next few months.
This is a #TTC community bus route destination is a mall & travels thru numerous small streets to give access. I think #HSR should have afew pic.twitter.com/GC0TTD58vj
— Ilpo (@_ilpo_) November 29, 2017
The new microtransit initiative is part of a larger plan to improve transit around the city, including the King Street Pilot Project and the highly anticipated time-based transfers.
Toronto is all about holiday markets and winter fun right now. One of the latest examples is Evergreen's Winter Village at the Brick Works. A slightly scaled down version of last year's event, it's home to food truck eats, fun and games and an Etsy craft market. It's open every weekend from now through the end of the year.
Check out our photo gallery from this year's Evergreen Winter Village.
Recently-terminated Sportsnet analyst Gregg Zaun has issued an apology statement regarding allegations of "inappropriate behaviour and comments" from female coworkers.
The complaints surfaced publicly late last week when Rogers, which owns Sportsnet, announced that the former Toronto Blue Jays catcher would no longer be providing MLB commentary.
"I have done a lot of soul searching over the last few days," reads Zaun's apology, posted to Facebook Monday afternoon. "My ignorance of the harm caused by my language does not excuse it – for which I accept responsibility."
"I regret my blindness to the impact of my actions that I would have corrected at the time, rather than allowing the harm felt to continue to fester."
You can read the full apology statement here.
Toronto was treated to its first Supermoon of the year on Sunday night, and it was a dandy. After a day filled with mist, it rose as giant orb in the eastern sky partially obscured by clouds that actually enhanced its allure.
There were periods where it was hard to catch a great glimpse in Toronto, but that made the clear moments all the more rewarding. Elsewhere, the enlarged moon also made for some great photo ops.
Here's a glimpse at how the Supermoon looked in Toronto versus other cites around the world.
This photo was actually taken on Saturday, but to the eye, the moon tends to look full both a day before and after it technically is. In any case, it's an excellent shot.
The true Supermoon in all its glory on Sunday night. Even if cynics regularly point out that the average person can't tell the difference between a normal full moon at a Supermoon, I'd suggest that the very act of peering at the moon so intently is worth it.
And here we have the requisite plane and moon photo — but a brilliant one — taken in the Washington D.C. area.
This one from the U.S. capitol might actually be even better, particularly if you like the your Supermoons a little on the orange side of things.
I doubt you'll see many better photos of the Supermoon than this one from Detroit, where is hovers gigantically over the Ambassador Bridge. The more zoom you have on your camera, the bigger the moon will appear to be.
Case in point, this magnificent shot from Japan. Now that's what a Supermoon is supposed to look like!
You might think this one was taken in New York City, but it's actually the moon rising over the Liberty Building in Buffalo.
And finally a view of the giant Supermoon setting over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
Get ready for some snow, Toronto. That's the word from Environment Canada, which recently released its long term winter predictions and a few hints about the state of things come Christmas time.
While the agency doesn't release detailed forecasts three weeks in advance, head climatologist David Phillips did, however, tell CTV News that he expects Southern Ontario will be white come December 25.
It's worth noting that the definition of a white Christmas that Phillips is using merely refers to the presence of snow on the ground rather than snow actually following on the holiday. The latter is, of course, much harder to predict.
Betting that there will be snow on the ground this Christmas is a bit safer because the ground is expected to freeze in the coming weeks, which means any snow that we do get will likely stick around.
Temperatures are expected to stay below zero come Tuesday night. Image via Environment Canada.
A brief glance at this week's forecast reveals warm and rainy weather tomorrow followed by a cooling trend that will help to create conditions ripe for sustained snow accumulation (those -5C nights will help to freeze the ground).
Beyond December, Environment Canada's long range forecast cautiously calls for above average temperatures and snowfall, though neither are offered as certainties.
Environment Canada projects a 50 percent chance that the Toronto area will have higher than average winter temperatures.
As Phillips put it to CTV, “there will be something for everybody this winter." There's almost no chance we'll experience the mildness of last year, but forecasts don't point to any of that extended polar vortex business of 2015, either.
I'll go out on a limb and say that we can all deal with that.
Raptors win! Raptors win! Raptors win!... and so does everybody else in the ACC when Toronto scores over 100 points during a victory at home.
Pizza Pizza's whole "get a free slice when the Raptors win" thing is cool. The thought of trading in an otherwise useless old ticket stub for something of value gives fans just one more reason to cheer like crazy for their team.
What's cooler though, is that thousands of people give those free pizza slices away to feed Toronto's homeless population after qualifying games – and that someone started encouraging them to do so in the first place.
Raptors fan Mathew Mikhaiel started 100 for the Homies in 2015. The initiative has since become part of Fix The 6ix, a grassroots organization that addresses poverty in Toronto.
"When the Raptors lock in a 100+ point win at-home, the tickets are
redeemable for a slice of Pizza Pizza," reads Fix the 6ix's website. "Fix the 6ix collects your ticket donations and immediately donates them to homeless shelters across Toronto to get pizza vouchers to those in need!"
This is no small task, especially given that Raptors tickets are only valid as pizza vouchers for one day after the game.
Last season, the program collected and donated a total of 13,787 tickets to 20 different shelters in Toronto, including Eva's Place, Yonge Street Mission, Covenant House, Egale youth Reach, Sistering, and St. Stephen's Community House.
This year, Fix the 6ix has already collected more than 8,000 tickets from Raptors fans, including 1,227 tickets on Friday night alone.
Those tickets were gift wrapped in the spirit of the season, and then donated to nine local shelters.
Massey Hall is the latest Toronto music venue to shutter its doors but only for a little while.
The almost 125 year old concert venue is set to undergo extensive renovations that will see the space closed for at least two years.
The closure is part of a $135 million dollar revitalization project announced in 2013 and the closure is just one phase of the ongoing restructuring that will see a new addition added, well as an overhaul of both the interior and exterior.
Now it appears that a date has been set for the closure. Next June will mark the temporary curtain fall featuring none other than the legendary Gordon Lightfoot to initiate the send-off.
Lightfoot will be playing the final two shows for a while at this historic venue on June 29 and 30 . Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10 a.m.
"Massey Hall is seizing on a unique, once-in-a-generation opportunity to make essential upgrades, to physically expand, and to solidify the venue’s role in Canadian music - not only its history, but its future," reads a statement on the website.
The new designs will incorporate substantial accessibility upgrades throughout the facility and the delicate restoration of the original stained glass windows.
Today in Toronto you can drink a whole lot of craft beer in a beautiful venue, check out a concert by the frontwoman of Metric, catch a free screening of a documentary that was almost never released, and buy art you've seen in Canadian music videos.
Events you might want to check out:If you hate waiting in line to buy alcohol, you're going to love the LCBO's new e-commerce expansion project.
As of Spring 2018, the retailer's new "click and collect" service will allow customers to place booze orders at home, and then pick up that booze, ready to go, at a nearby liquor store.
LCBO customers can currently order alcohol online through the agency's existing e-commerce platform, which launched in July of 2016.
That system, however, doesn't do same day deliveries. Customers order through a mobile app or desktop site to have beer, wine and spirits delivered via Canada Post for an extra $12, with a required minimum order of $50.
"The difference with click-and-collect is that you’ll be able to order and pick up in the store in a four- to five-hour time period, so if you’re having a party or something you can order and drop by the store to pick it up on your way home that day," LCBO chiefcustomerofficer Joyce Gray told the Star.
It may sound like ordering Thai food for pick-up, but the service is actually more in line with what big box retailers like Walmart and Loblaws have already started doing to retain customers online.
Click-and-collect is our future, folks. You pay, you pick up, you go on your merry way. Minimal human interaction required.
Nuit Blanche is going to look very different next year, as the festival migrates one third of its programming to Scarborough in what amounts to a major shakeup of the all-night art event.
While there have been periphery exhibits at venues like the Aga Khan in previous years, the move to Scarborough represents the festival's first major foray outside of downtown Toronto.
Talk of Nuit Blanche heading to Scarborough dates back to 2016, when Councillor Paul Ainslie made the request to Toronto's Economic Development Committee, arguing that the time had come to expand the geographic footprint of the all-night art event.
Back then, the thinking was that the restored Guild Inn might make for an alluring venue. While organizers aren't ruling out the presence of some programming at this site over the next two years, the eastern hub of the festival will be at the Scarborough Civic Centre.
Raymond Moriyama's Scarborough Civic Centre will serve as the backdrop for Scarborough Nuit Blanche programming next year. Photo via the City of Toronto.
The idea, of course, is to replicate how Nathan Phillips Square has functioned as the focal point for the festival in downtown Toronto. The Civic Centre is also on the subway line, which organizers determined was crucial to ensuring the success of Scarborough programming.
There will be a lot going on here. Patrick Tobin, the city's director of arts and culture services, is quick to point out that early consultations regarding a move into Scarborough drove home the idea that the only way such plan would work was to go all-in.
With a third of the total programming to take place in Scarborough, you can expect a smaller Nuit Blanche in the core next year. The budget for the festival is the same as last year, so the only option is to redistribute the installations.
Perhaps this will inadvertently benefit the downtown zones as well. A more compact and dense series of installations could help to make navigating the event more manageable. Last year's Queen's Park zone, for instance, felt too spread out.
Alyssa Fearon has been appointed curator for Nuit Blanche's entry into Scarborough. She's best known for her curatorial work on No Vacancy (2017), which explored the complex narratives that surround the Kingston Rd. motel strip.
With roots in Scarborough and an artistic practice that focuses on challenging uncritical narratives applied to the community here, she seems like an excellent choice to lead programming that responds to the 2018 festival's over-arching theme — You Are Here.
There's still tons of planning and curatorial decisions to be made, but it's already a sure thing that next year's Nuit Blanche is going to be radically different from year's past. For a festival entering its 13 year in a city the size of Toronto, it certainly seems like it was time to broaden the horizons.
The wild and wacky ride that is Toronto's housing market continues this week with another drop in the average price of homes across our city.
Figures released this morning by The Toronto Real Estate Board show that detached homes in the GTA cost about 5.8 per cent less this November than they did last year at the same time.
When contrasted against prices from half a year ago, however, the numbers paint a more dramatic story.
Bloomberg reports that Toronto's home price index has now been declining for six consecutive months. The index is down a 8.8 per cent since May, which marks the largest six-month decline in 17 years.
Image via Bloomberg.
Despite (or perhaps because of) this, the number of new MLS listings last month were up a whopping 37.2 per cent since November of 2016, "bucking the regular seasonal trend."
Sales were down by 13.3 per cent, year over year, but realtors did see an increase between October and November, which is unusual for this time of year.
With 7,374 units sold, Bloomberg reports that Toronto saw one of the highest numbers of homes sold during the month of November all decade.
So, is the real estate bubble popping or is the market about to catch fire?
"We have seen an uptick in demand for ownership housing in the GTA this fall, over and above the regular seasonal trend," said Toronto Real Estate Board President Tim Syrianos in this morning's release.
"The impact of the Ontario Fair Housing Plan and particularly the foreign buyer tax may be starting to wane."
I guess we'll have to stay tuned.
Yonge and Wellesley is poised to become Toronto's next towering intersection.
With construction already underway on the 60-storey Wellesley on the Park condo near the southwest corner of the intersection, a new giant might join it across the street.
Urban Toronto reports that a proposal has recently been submitted to rezone the northwest corner of Yonge and Wellesley to make way for a 64 storey condo tower at 10 Wellesley, located just behind the historic storefronts on Yonge Street.
10 Wellesley (right) facing southwest with Yonge Street in the foreground. Image courtesy of Urban Toronto via the City of Toronto.
The proposed tower will be designed by Chicago's bKL Architecture, who have already designed or been involved in several Toronto developments.
It'll house 466 units (283 one bedroom, 138 two-bedroom, 45 three-bedroom) and soar an impressive 205.4 metres (674 ft) in the air should it receive all the necessary approvals from the city.
Lower Yonge Street was designated a heritage district last summer, so any new developments must incorporate existing heritage properties into their plans. Here, that could be done to impressive effect.
The heritage protected row houses at 10 - 16 Wellesley. Image courtesy of Urban Toronto via the City of Toronto.
The front of the tower will incorporate a small set of row houses occupying 10 - 16 Wellesley Street West, which date back to 1876. As we saw at 5 St. Joseph, the storefronts will receive a thoroughgoing restoration.
Also included in the preservation efforts will be 586 Yonge Street, currently a Holy Chuck location, while two buildings on St. Nicholas —a two storey wood-framed building an a three storey brick commercial building — will be removed.
Reluctant sardines of Toronto, rejoice! TTC officials have heard our prayers angry tweets about overcrowding on the King streetcar route, and they've got a solution.
Whether it's an effective solution remains to be seen, but hey – it's something.
Thirteen new, larger capacity streetcars were running along King Street this morning, according to the TTC's Brad Ross. Ten of those streetcars are on 514 Cherry and three of them are on the 504 route.
That represents three additional cars with a capacity of about 250 people per car compared to previous service on the street.
Your #TTC is running 13 new streetcars this morning on King St. - 10 on the 514 Cherry and 3 on the 504 King - all in an effort to add much-needed capacity along the route. #KingStreetPilot
— Brad Ross (@bradTTC) December 5, 2017
Capacity has been an issue among TTC passengers on King Street for years, but the early success of the King Pilot Project seems to have exacerbated the issue.
The project has cut down on the amount of time people spend on the streetcars, for sure, but some say that overcrowding has actually been worse since the pilot started.
Commuters have also noticed an uptick in the number of people waiting for streetcars that are already full.
@fordnation Just a little update on The King street pilot project & missing 3 streetcars in a row due to being packed in like sardines. FULL #ZeroVision#KingStreetPilotpic.twitter.com/h5do3lBuPg
— ™●POLITICAL ACTIVIST (@5BobbyArmstrong) November 24, 2017
It's not uncommon to wait 20 or 30 minutes during rush hour for just a chance to squeeze aboard an already jam-packed car on King.
Riding a streetcar with double the amount of people it should hold is the actual worst, and I'm pretty sure it's the reason some tourists say Torontonians look "angry." We are.
We need more service on the 504 streetcar and we need it now!!! The last two cars have been too packed to get on. This is not acceptable #KingStreetPilot@JohnTory@bradTTC@joe_cressypic.twitter.com/TAOysengIA
— #KingStreetPilot GOD (@purplevancrew) November 21, 2017
Ross said in his announcement on Twitter this morning that the new cars were added to King "in an effort to add much-needed capacity along the route."
This isn't the silver bullet we've been waiting for, but the TTC is clearly aware of the problem and doing its best to help overcrowding.
Fortunately, the number of new streetcars will grow when Bombardier delivers the rest of its order. Whenever that may be.
From December 8 to March 18, Toronto will be treated to a free winter festival right on the lake, as Ontario Place hosts a synthetic ice rink, a stunning light festival featuring installations by local artists, and some classic Canadian eats to warm up with.
Check out what Ontario Place looks like as a winter wonderland in this photo gallery.
With less than two weeks to go until the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension opens, the TTC is set to begin installing updated maps throughout the subway that feature the sparkling new line.
You might have already noticed that wayfinding signage in the subway has been updated to reflect the new terminus of the western side of Line 1.
Didn’t realize TTC signs were already saying “to Vaughn” for the Line 1 expansion. pic.twitter.com/x1ZBanUJDh
— Josh McConnell (@joshmcconnell) November 29, 2017
The updates will be more noticeable in the days ahead as new signage goes up throughout the system. Today, TTC spokesperson Brad Ross tweeted out samples of the new maps, which will soon grace subway cars and station platforms.
You will start to see some new maps on your #TTC starting this week as we get closer to the opening of the Line 1 extension in just 12 short days pic.twitter.com/vxqv5etYo7
— Brad Ross (@bradTTC) December 5, 2017
The existing TTC maps foreground the arrival of the new extension with an outlined section between Sheppard West and Vaughan, but it won't be long before the new stops will actually light up on the Rocket trains' fancy above-door maps.
The Spadina Subway Extension is set to open on December 17, which will represent that first major addition to Toronto's subway network since the Sheppard Line opened in 2002.
The newly revamped maps also feature highlight transit hubs like UP Express connections and GO stations as well as commuter necessities, such as washrooms and accessible stations.
It's worth noting that these will likely be the mainstay maps going forward until at least 2021 when the Eglinton Crosstown is—fingers crossed—set to be completed.
