YourYongeStreet Stories

We were very poor students living on Charles Street but our view included a bit of Yonge. We couldn't afford to go to movies and theatre. How lucky that all the parades in Toronto went down Yonge. There was the Santa Claus Parade and also the…

I remember being in the Yonge subway the day after it opened,in March 1954. It was quite exciting. I was a young boy at the time. My friend and I rode the subway that day. Later,a TTC employee shouted at us because we had been racing along the…

Working at a Morses's Smoke after school delivering pop and sandwiches to small jewllery mfg and other business in Colinade that Ran from Yonge St to Victoria St--selling papers at three cents, Yonge road service covered by thick 4x4 lumber beams…

Yonge and Bloor-the compass center for my 20 amazing years in Toronto. The library, the Bay, and the Uptown! Oh, the Uptown movie theater, my home away from home-standing in lines ups that would stretch south to the next intersection with the…

I have wonderful memories of shopping trips with my aunt to the old Simpsons store. She would buy me white gloves each spring. I remember the attention the Sales woman showed us. Then we would walk northwards, window shopping on our way home. It…

Although most of our time was spent south of Bloor, there were some memorable places just north (and we also spent a lot of time in Yorkville and at the Embassy Tavern).
There was Britnell's Bookstore just north of Bloor, which is now Starbucks. It…

My stamp business is located on the second floor of 211 Yonge Street in the heart of downtown Toronto. Hardly a day goes by in this busy area that you don't see a film crew, a parade, or some musical event taking place within walking distance. On…

It was in the late 70's early 80's, men were wearing searsucker suits and shoes with big heels, and big hair. Women were wearing pant suits or as my grandmother used to say panty suits, for the most part women were at home, raising children,…

The following is an excerpt from Stroll: Psychogeographic Walking Tours of Toronto, Coach House Press, 2010

At mid-afternoon, pedestrians are everywhere, crossing all seven lanes of Yonge or Steeles. Some of the pedestrians cross north to Richmond…

The following is an excerpt from Stroll: Psychogeographic Walking Tours of Toronto, Coach House Press, 2010

The condo towers begin to thin out at Finch, and the remainder of Yonge and North York is low-rise-and-bungalow-heavy. Though there are…