By Derek Flack, blogTO
So yesterday’s vote to return to an LRT-based transit strategy for Toronto (one that looks a lot like the former phase one Transit City plans) was kind of a big deal — regardless of which of the competing plans you hoped would win the day. Ranging from elation to frustration, there’s been no shortage of reaction to the events at city hall. Here’s a quick roundup of what’s being said in the aftermath of one the most significant city council decisions in …

By Derek Flack, blogTO
Founded in 2007, Jane’s Walk, the annual celebration of urban theorist and advocate Jane Jacobs, has grown into an international event that takes place in 68 cities across the world and involves over 400 guided walking tours. As the city where it all started, Toronto thankfully leads the way with over a 100 walks scheduled for the weekend of May 7 and 8th. Needless to say, there’s a lot to choose from. With that in mind, I’ve put together some of …

By blogTO
Kensington Cornerstone, tucked away on Kensington Avenue just north of Dundas, offers an entire gluten free menu. The celiac-friendly offerings include French toast, pancakes and four different omelets. Best bet is their Big Breakfast bowl ($13), stuffed with marble potato hash, veggies, eggs and mini-pancakes.
Photo by HIMY SYeD on Flickr

By Derek Flack, blogTO
Boxing Day sales are about to take over Toronto, and although not every store has made its plans known yet — Christmas shopping isn’t technically over, after all — many of the deals to be had are now being advertised. Rather than list every sale in this post, however, what I’ve done is provided links to sites whose Boxing Day listings are far more comprehensive and highlighted a few of the more notable offers.
As we mentioned last year, the best resource for …

By Matthew Woolley, blogTO
A gathering for “unincumbent” council candidates organized by mayoral candidate HiMY SYeD was held at Dovercourt Baptist Church yesterday.
About a dozen participated in the underdog’s pep rally – with nine city councillors retiring or running for mayor, it is an unusually open year for council candidates from any background or experience level.
But unlike their more visible, mayoral counterparts, these DIYers came out to encourage each other and swap stories.
“We’re all coming at you like vultures,” one candidate said.
When they’re off …

By Derek Flack, blogTO
The CAA launched its worst roads in Ontario campaign yesterday calling on drivers to vote for the routes that give them the most pothole-induced headaches. And though it’s still early in the voting process, Toronto streets already dominate the list: of the 20 nominated so far, 14 can be found right here in our fair city.
The top three vote-getters so far are also located close to home, with Dufferin St., Lawrence Ave. and Finch Ave. occupying the early “lead.” Steeles Ave., …

By Tim, blogTO
Previously I’ve marked the end of the year by counting down the 50 most viewed posts from the past 12 months on this site. In a break with tradition I’ve shortened the list to 10. What’s clear at looking at this distilled selection is that readers of this site are obsessed about the weather, rat infestations, garbage and Google, not necessarily in that order. Here, in terms of page views, are the top 10 posts of the year:
10. Airbus A380 Lands in Toronto: …

They haven’t been able to sell the Metro Theatre , after a decade or so of trying, so why not spruce up the sign?
Torontopedia curator HiMY SYeD — who used the boutique area at the front of the 677 Bloor West building as his campaign office during a 2006 run for city council — snapped a TwitPic of restoration efforts atop the bijou once known for its “hot-hot -HOTline” where a sultry-sounding woman could hardly catch her breath whilst listing the …

Photo: HiMY SYeD / photopia, on Flickr
By Corina, blogTO
If you were lucky enough to have missed the garbage strike in Toronto in 2002 (or any of the subsequent service disruptions since) don’t worry – in this city it’s becoming a regular tradition.
Only a few short years since the last strike, City workers have again walked off the job, shutting down services like summer camps and swimming pools, and suspending Toronto trash collection. Nothing says summer like a stinking city full of kids on summer vacation …

By Roger Cullman
As seen in this story on blogTO.
Toronto, Ont. November 4: Over 800 people packed The Bloor Cinema last night to witness a piece of history as the U.S. election results poured in.
NOW Magazine organized this America Votes party, which had a licensed bar and free entry (Bloor Cinema memberships needed, which were just $3).
Toronto is overwhelmingly supportive of democrat Barack Obama, so it wasn’t much of a surprise that the place was at capacity by 8:30 p.m.

By Tatiana, blogTO

What: The Human River Walk
When: 21 October, 12:30 – 6:00 p.m.
Where: starts at Christie Pitts Park, ends at Fort York
Do you have any blue items in your wardrobe? I hope you do, because they might come in handy this Sunday if you plan to join the Human River Walk organized by the Toronto Public Space Committee. The walk follows the path of the Garrison Creek, Toronto’s largest buried river, bringing the stream back to life, if only for one afternoon. The …

By Marc Lostracco, Torontoist
Whilst performing our pre-read ritual of tearing out Toronto Life‘s 8,000 annoying snot-glued ad inserts and heavy stock subscription cards, we suddenly came across Torontoist’s name in the mag’s “Roundup” feature. The chart compares Toronto’s four major city blogs: Torontoist, Spacing Wire (now Spacing Toronto), BlogTO, and the newish Torontopedia.
Torontoist’s raison d’être is listed as “news, arts, culture, snark”—and we won’t argue with that—while BlogTO is like “your geeky friend who’s always in the know.” Author Dave McGinn accurately lists Spacing Toronto as “civically engaged and proudly earnest” and lauds Torontopedia for …

From Toronto Star, Page B8, Monday April, 30 2007.
Joyous self-absorption. A dead giveaway that a city has come of age.
Two baby websites show Toronto is ready to spend time poring over its own stuff rather than nymag and Parisist postings.
One-week-old tomorrow, ourfaves.com lets Torontophiles list, rate and cross-index their favourite people, places and things in the city. (Full disclosure: the startup was incubated in Torstar Digital). If the new online community thinks someone has the best urban wisdom, the community can make that person a star.
BlogTO spilled the news about Torontopedia, the city’s …

By Ian, BlogTO
Just when you thought there weren’t enough Toronto-archiving websites, along comes Torontopedia to add another layer of Toronto-discovering and -learning to cyberspace. Torontopedia is a city wiki that is open to any and all Torontonians to edit.
There’s a useful introduction page if this whole city wiki thing is new to you:
What this wiki contains and means is up to you. As a general rule you should contribute content you think will be helpful or insightful to others, but even this rule can be broken at times. Interesting things will stay, …

By Sameer Vasta, blogTO
Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan takes her focus away from Bush and instead derides Harper at an anti-war talk in UofT’s Convocation Hall. Himy has a great set of photos from the event, like the photo above.
The Star reports on the lack of jobs for students this summer, while unemployed journalism students look for jobs at The Star.
A 12-year-old boy dies after falling from his 16th floor apartment, and some parents still refuse to put screens in front of their windows.
City Idol contestants dress in costumes and …

By Tanja, BlogTO
Was going to report back on this event Sunday night, but as other sponsoring blogs are playing domino rally and slapping up the press release like mad this afternoon, I feel a lil pressure to get the info out to here.. after all, it’s going to be a great event.
This Sunday evening at the Apple Store Yorkdale. HiMY SYeD of photopia has organized another Toronto Area Photobloggers event.
The evening includes presentations by Chris and Jessica of istoica, Payam Rajabi of ColourBlind.ca, Irina Souiki of StillMemory.ca, …