Toronto Before: Parkdale across Queen St Subway to Gladstone Hotel

Toronto Before: Parkdale across Queen St Subway to Gladstone Hotel, originally uploaded by alad1n.

I love looking at comparison photos like this. To see more before and after photos of Toronto, visit www.torontobefore.blogspot.com

Also the discussion in the comments on this photo on Flickr is interesting. Click on the photo to go there, and to see this photo larger!

Ladders at work

IMG_6855 levels sat, originally uploaded by xarq.

The Queen West fire

See more photos of this fire by xarq here.

1273-1275 Queen St W

1273-1275 Queen St W, originally uploaded by Kevin Steele.

If you are interested in the Parkdale area of Toronto, check out Kevin Steele's photostream on flickr. He does a great job of chronicling the area.

606 Queen St W

606 Queen St W, originally uploaded by Kevin Steele.

414 Queen St W

414 Queen St W, originally uploaded by Kevin Steele.

Sushi2go

Hug Me

Hug Me, originally uploaded by Amor de Cosmos.

Queen Street Snow after december 2007 snowstorm

dec17toronto 017, originally uploaded by Jan1ce.

queen street

queen street, originally uploaded by netimler.

Queen Street Forest

Queen Street Forest, originally uploaded by Kevin Steele.

I was searching for vintage photos and postcards of Toronto and I came across a web page by Rick Bebout which is a series of essays about Toronto, centered around Queen Street. They are lavishly illustrated with many photographs and pictures. The topics are about different facets of public space and the history of Toronto.

These are my two favorites:

Master builders meet citizen activists - about a neighbourhood rising up against "urban renewal" that would displace them, give them below market value for their homes, ruin their neighbourhoods and give grants to corporations to build there.

Working girls, street boys, & moral salvation in Toronto the Good - about life for the workers who flocked to Toronto in the early part of the 1900s. Lots of great photos here of people in old Toronto.

The whole series of essays is here: One Street; Many Stories: Queen

Dawn Taxi

Dawn Taxi, originally uploaded by Melsky.

Parkdale very early in the morning. When I took this there were a lot of people out who had obviously been out all night.

Parkdale

Just a few views of Parkdale from Queen Street:



Stores on Queen in Parkdale area of Toronto



99 Cent Zone, for when the dollar store is just too expensive!



Queen Bargain Mart



Posters for Silverchair, Aerosmith, Just for Laughs festival, Korn, and Evanescence. I love the texture of the cement in the old buildings above the posters. This is Queen and Jameson.

toronto

Parkdale Posters

Parkdale Posters, originally uploaded by Melsky.

Queen Street and Jameson

City Pulse Truck

City Pulse Truck, originally uploaded by covered filth.

Say bye-bye! This truck through the wall artwork/sign/whatever is scheduled to be moved from Queen Street.

Update: Due to the fact that there's no release lever to get the truck out easily and how complex the structure is, it's going to stay for the foreseeable future.

The Black Bull

The Black Bull, originally uploaded by Melsky.

This is a restaurant /bar/pub on Queen Street West that I'm kind of curious about. I remember seeing it on my first trip to Toronto about two and a half years ago, and being amazed that there was anyplace still in existence that was built in 1822.

Mural off Queen West

Mural off Queen West, originally uploaded by Melsky.

This is in the fashion design district area, hence the theme of the mural.

I love this artist's murals. He has another one on College Street.

Skyline Restaurant

Skyline Restaurant, originally uploaded by Melsky.

Restaurant on Queen Street in Parkdale with a cool sign. A very old style and non-trendy kind of place.

Mysterious Alley

Mysterious Alley, originally uploaded by Melsky.

The alley behind Ossington Street near Queen.

Photo modified with Picasa.

Parkdale

Parkdale, originally uploaded by bitefight.

Good Catch is a store that I visited with my friend Sheryl. She was writing about them for a blog. It's a really cool place with a lot of organic food products, jewelry, art, pet stuff and other various things. Like a modern version of a good old fashioned general store. I want to show them my artwork, I think it would do well in there.

Bike Racks

Bike Racks, originally uploaded by Melsky.

These are on Queen Street.

This city needs more bike racks. There's a lot of bicyclists in Toronto. I never realized about the shortage of racks until I had a friend who did a lot of biking and every time we would meet for lunch he would have a hard time finding a secure place to lock his bike.

Those bike racks don't get quite as much use in the winter though!

I also whacked my hand one one of them once, I was swinging my arms a bit as I walked and WHAM! They are right at the height of my hands. I also walked into one once when I was walking with a couple of friends.

I would like to ride a bike but I am too scared of cars.