Ossington Subway Station

Inside Station-difference in lighting from one
end of the track to the other

1 of several artists murals outside
Daycares in Neighbourhood

 The Ossington Subway station is on the Bloor – Danforth Subway line and was opened to the public in 1966 and serves about 25,000 people a day.   There are great bus connections going in every direction.  On the outside of the station I noticed a beautiful wall mural that was drawn on a wall outside of a daycare center. The painting depicts a varied race of parents and babies in a mythological setting.  One onlooker had told me that it once was a police station.  I ponder at the image and just take it in as an elaborate form of advertisement since there are more than one mural in the neighbourhood that adorn other daycare walls.  I would still rather see this type of thing instead of the usual stereotypical form of advertisement.

Janes Walk 2010

Ossington station is also a meeting place of many once of year who come to gather for “Janes Walk – The Wizard of Ossington” . There are over 40 “Janes Walks” across Toronto – all meeting up at various subway stations throughout the year.  The walks were originally the brainchild of  the late Jane Jacobs, who believed that we were losing 5 important pillars in our lives. To quote her, these are the lists that culturally if we lose them, she believed we may as well be entering the Dark Ages again.

“

1. Community and Family

2. Higher Education

3. The Effective Practice of Science

4. Taxation and Government

5. Self-policing by Learned Professions             “

The walks are designed to bring us together as a community, to learn about our culture, our neighbourhoods and to stop, and look around at a slower pace. 

You can find a list of walks to get involved in at www.janeswalk.net

Summerhill Subway Station

Summerhill Station (click to enlarge)

Summerhill Subway station is on the Yonge-University Spadina Line of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC).  It was opened in 1954 and serves only 5,000 people today.  This is mostly due to the fact that there are no buses or streetcars coming in or out of the station.  Nearby, just south of Summerhill is the former Summerhill North Toronto station which was once owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway (formerly CP rail) as of 1998.  

Summerhill Tower now LCBO)and then (CP Rail Station-1916)

Currently the building is being used as a Liquor store, but ever heard of history repeating itself? Apparently there have been proposals being made by GO Transit to have this landmark reopened as a railway for commuters coming from downtown's Union station and being used as a major interchange, but this hasn't been readdressed again since 2000, so it’s obviously not a major priority right now.  We will be seeing major infrastructural changes in the city that are now underway, known as the LRT (the lightrails).  I am currently working on a project to discuss that, but it will take some time. I'm excited about the LRT in Toronto as I am sure a lot of you will be.  I see it as a real move forward and anticipate a lot of people will be using this mode of transportation. Even above and beyond the novelty aspect of it, it's fast, (up to 70kph (which is faster than street traffic), safe, affordable (save on fuel, parking, maintenance), accessible for everyone (includes automatic doors, escalators, elevators), and of course environmentally friendly (uses electricity, no air pollution, plus in one trip a rider will use 65% fewer greenhouse gases.  But I'll save all that exciting stuff for another day!

Victoria Park Subway Station

Inside Vic Park Station
(click to enlarge)

Victoria Park subway station is on the Bloor-Danforth line of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC).  It was opened in 1968 and serves and about 30,000 people a day.  There is a long footbridge that can be accessed by pedestrians along Victoria park at Danforth Avenue.  Another method to gain access to the station is by using a walkway directly across from Crescent town.  

Outside Vic Park Station
(click to enlarge)

Victoria Park is one of the stations currently being renovated and redesigned as part of the Station Modernization program.
 Other Stations include Dufferin, Pape , Union, and St. Andrews.  Construction goes on relatively often at subway stations all the time.  For example, Castle Frank, Donlands, Kipling and Woodbine all require second exits and still others are in need of repairs on sidewalks and wall replacements and so on. A modernization project however, entails adding ramps and elevators for full accessibility for everyone and adding safer bridges, platforms and sidewalks.  

Work in progress
(click to enlarge)

Shoppers World Danforth
(click to enlarge)

The bus terminal has now been fully demolished and they are currently constructing a new one at the street level.  Of course being a modern station, they will marry art and nature with cement, steel and progress.

No contracts :)
(click to enlarge)

What brings me to Victoria park station?  Well today I finally decided 6 months was too long without a cell phone.  So I went to the Shoppers World at the corner of Victoria park and Danforth and walked into a cell phone store, walked out 15 minutes later with a phone, a bag, a smile and no contract. 


I went to WIND, got this bag --guess that makes me officially a wind-bag ;)

Donlands Subway Station

Inside Donlands Subway
(click to enlarge)

The Donlands subway station is on the Bloor-Danforth line of the Toronto Transit Commission(TTC).  It was opened in 1966 and serves about 9,000 people a day.  On street level, the station is located at the corner of Danforth Avenue and Donlands. Donlands, although not a very busy station, is due for a revamp, and much to the dismay of nearby residents it's not backing down and taking no for an answer.  In the long run it really is for the safety of the residents anyways as the revamp will include a second exit for passengers in case of an emergency.


Donlands has an underground wye junction which allows trains to access the Greenwood yard (see "Greenwood Subway") which is the largest subway yard on the system.


Wye junctions are important because when there are three rail lines that join, it can be used to allow trains to pass from any line to any other line.

Outside Donlands Subway
(click to enlarge)

This is a Wye Junction (or Triangular)

The Wye junction is also referred to as a triangular junction.  Streetcars also use Wye junctions as well as the rail lines.  I didn't stay long at Donlands, but only as a stop over to visiting friends on the Danforth subway line.  I managed to peek at a few shops on the outside of the station, but really not much going on.  It's a very quiet neighbourhood, and other than a 7-11, there is a local chicken fast food place and that's about it.
.

North York Centre Subway

 North York Centre subway
station ((click to enlarge)

The North York Centre Subway Station is part of the Yonge-University-Spadina

line of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC).  It is a beautifully constructed station that serves the North Central municipality of Toronto (formerly North York) and its civic workers as well as a host station for events in Mel Lastman Square and Toronto Centre for the Performing Arts. 

The Civic Centre / Entrance to Novotel Hotel
(click to enlarge)

The North York Centre is located off of Yonge street and between Sheppard to the south and Finch to the North. The Civic Centre (formerly North York City Hall)was once my work place before I had my children.  I worked for the City of North York with my husband.  He was in the Public Works department and I was in Public Health.  In 1998, North York City Hall was still a stunner of a building, made of brown brick and skylight windows overhead.  The departments were divided into multi-tiered layers and that theme played into the new Civic Centre as it appears today. 

The skylight windows brought in so much light in the daytime, limited electricity was used to light workspace.  Today, there is still a hint of the old structure, but a lot has been altered so its scarcely noticeable.

Located inside the Civic Centre is also the Toronto Central Public Library and is one of two in Toronto considered to be a research and reference library. 

Mel Lastman Square
(click to enlarge)

The Novatel Hotel is located inside the Civic Centre adjacent to the Toronto

Centre for the Performing Arts and has about 260 rooms averaging 150.00 a

night. 

Finally Mel Lastman Square is a gorgeous outdoor arena that hosts events year round.  It was named after our former beloved Mayor Mel Lastman who has since retired from political life, but his life is a blog in and of itself.

Mel Lastman Square includes 
personal signature (click to enlarge)

North York Centre subway station was built to answer the demands of the growing population of the City of Toronto to entice downtown core business

and communities to relocate uptown to release central congestion.  In the

last 10 years over 20,000 units of new housing have been approved, with over

16,000 of these presently built or under construction. 

Before a decade ago there was very little needed for a subway station between

Clockwise: Central Library, Novotel Lobby, 
Entrance to Library, Centre for the Perfroming 
Arts, Where am I?, Grand Lobby at the 
Civic Centre (click to enlarge)

Sheppard and Finch, however due to its current population growth North York Centre has proved to be a vital component in the Transit system of Toronto.