A city as large as Toronto is bound to have a few secrets and find ways to surprise you even when you think you’ve seen it all.
Here are some interesting, random facts you might be unaware of about The Big Smoke.
1. There was almost a Queen Street subway.
Yup. That would have been nice. It was in the works in the 1940s, but when the east/west Bloor Danforth line was built, they decided to scrap it. There is still a station (named City Hall Station) underneath Queen Station on the Yonge line from when they started to build it.
Who knows, maybe one day they’ll bring it back and continue building it. We can only hope…
2. The Toronto Islands make up the largest urban car-free community in North America.
Bet you want to move there even more now.
3. Those white dots on the pavement activate street signals for cyclists.
Unless you’re a cyclist, you’ve probably wondered what those strange white dots on the street are. When a bike drives over them, it tells the traffic lights to change from green to red so the cyclist can cross the intersection.
4. The TTC is the second largest subway system in Canada.
It also has the highest per capita ridership rate – which might be why we complain about it so much.
5. There are public toilets buried under the streets.
Back in 1900, Toronto had a few very successful underground public toilets. The most frequented stall was on Spadina just south of Queen, very likely where the current streetcar stops to let passengers out. Back in those days they didn’t have the convenience of toilets at cafes and shops on every corner, but when that became the case, use of the underground stalls began to dwindle – and by 1987 they were all closed down.
6. There’s a house split in half on St. Patrick Street.
You might have walked past this house at some point in your time living here and wondered what that was all about. The owner back in the 1970s refused to sell his home when developers were buying all the surrounding properties. And so it remains, still split in half all these years later.
7. There are about 10 million trees in Toronto.
And four million of those are publicly owned. And yet we still complain it’s not green enough.
8. The PATH is the largest underground pedestrian system in North America.
With over 1200 stores and restaurants, you never have to leave the PATH and enter the cold winter air – unless you want to.
9. The Crawford Street Bridge is buried under Trinity Bellwoods Park.
Yeah, there’s a bridge under there. Remember that next time you’re day drinking with your friends in the sunshine as your dog makes friends in the dog bowl.
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