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Backgrounder:

BlogTO had a post in late 2011 that asked readers to comment on their favourite intersections. The contributions flowed in and intersections such as Bloor and Bathurst and Queen and Spadina reigned – see link at end of my post.

My Choice – College - University

Trivia 1: My father worked in the Frost building on the northeast corner when he was in government, and I have a certain fondness for areas throughout the downtown that are connected to memories of being a child and going to his office and elsewhere in the city. Weekend trips around the downtown core which included things like parades, festivals and shopping, fostered an enthusiasm for the city in a young lad who otherwise spent his formative years in the suburbs.

My choice might be a little unusual, but bear with me here. College is without doubt one of the greatest cross-town arteries we have in this city (cue music – “Crosstown Traffic” by Jimi Hendrix). My friend Ian once told me he had an idea for a video or short film which would document the amazing journey of the 506 streetcar as it traverses the long east-west passage from the High Park loop to Main St. station. What a fantastic journey that is, cutting through a variety of amazing neighbourhoods, from Roncesavalles and Little Italy to Kensington and downtown Yonge, to Cabbage Town, Regent Park and over the Don Valley to Chinatown East, Riverdale, and Little India. For the streetcar aficionado it is a superlative trip, especially on a spring or fall day when you catch a quiet mid-morning or afternoon car. University itself is Toronto’s attempt at a classic grand avenue. It ain’t no Champs-Élysées but it is a pretty darn good substitute in a city like Toronto which is a young city that boomed through the twentieth century, alongside the auto and the highway. (University may resemble a mini highway, but when the office workers are out on a sunny day, and students cycle up to U of T, you’ve got a lively enough street life to forget for a moment that there are few cafes or anything permanently resembling a vibrant street life).

Most importantly this intersection is a kind of gateway for me – I have always associated this area with heading to the cooler parts of downtown. West of University you get the arts, design, and entertainment districts, and north of College is the marvelous sprawling University of Toronto campus. In the streetview embedded above you are looking west. The university is on your right. On your immediate left, if you rotate the image, is MaRS – originally a high-profile medical research company and now an incubator for science, technology and social innovation. University Avenue is a crossroads where social meets education meets health meets politics. To the right, out of the frame is the grand Legislature of Ontario. To see it you need to click and move a little further forward and then rotate to the right. As some would posit that Yonge and Bloor is a physical “centre” of Toronto, I’d put forth that University and College is full of broader more interesting convergences (Yonge is perhaps the undisputed commercial heart of Toronto). College-University is an under-appreciated but highly unique intersection, both in the literal and figurative senses of the word.

Trivia 2: Behind the subway entrance on the NE corner is a Firefighter’s memorial with names of dozens of firefighters who lost their lives across the province.
Trivia 3: The U of T building a touch east of the intersection has a plaque to commemorate a Canadian innovator: Sir Frederick Banting (Plaque text reads: “Soldier, surgeon, and scientist, Banting in 1920 became convinced of the existence of a substance now known as Insulin. A laboratory provided by Dr. J.J.R. Macleod of the University of Toronto enabled Banting and Charles H. Best, in 1921, to prepare an active anti-diabetic extract of pancreas, purifed by Dr. J.B. Collip. This was first used successfully on January 11, 1922, by Drs. W. R. Campbell and A.A. Fletcher. Banting shared with Macleod the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1923 and was knighted in 1934. Born near Alliston, Ontario, he died in the crash of a military aircraft in Newfoundland, on February 21, 1941.”).
Trivia 4: Last curious fact is that the station has a very unique grey “curved tile” which gives it a kind of futuristic aura. Queen’s Park is a cool subway station and the park to the north is a great spot for a walk or bike ride.

Questions:

What is your favourite intersection? Is your favourite in your neighbourhood or elsewhere? Feel free to share your ideas (and a soundtrack suggestion is welcome too!).

Links

The BlogTO post that inspired me: http://www.blogto.com/city/2011/11/what_are_the_most_loved_intersections_in_toraonto/