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TAKE A GUESS: name this intersection

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Since our current issue is all about intersections we thought it would be fun to play a game (Shawn Micallef tried it out a few weeks ago).

We want you to identify this intersection. Leave your guess in the comments section: we’ll hold on to your opinions until 3pm when we’ll unveil the answer. If you want to see a larger version of the photo check it out on Spacing Photos.

UPDATE AT 3pm: The guessing game is now closed and the intersection is revealed in the first comment.  Thanks for taking part. We’ll do this again each morning starting at 9:30am for the rest of the week.

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60 comments

  2. College and Spadina – looking west on College?

  4. I’m going to guess Queen and Bathurst, looking north on Bathurst.

  9. Bathurst and Queen, looking north.

  10. Queen and Bathurst, looking north, isn’t it?

  11. Bathurst and Queen, looking north.

  12. Queen and Bathurst? The bank on the left is making me think that… pretty distinctive.

  13. Is is King Street East near Toronto St.?

  19. looking north at queen and bathurst

  25. The curve in the streetcar track makes me think College and Spadina, but I don’t think that’s actually where this is.

    I really want to say Bathurst and something (Bloor? Queen?), but I’m probably way off.

    Part of me suspects you picked somewhere along Yonge or Bloor/Danforth, hoping the existence of trolley tracks would throw us off.

    I’m going to feel pretty dumb once everyone can read this, aren’t I? 🙂

  28. I’ve probably just exposed myself as hopelessly west-centric.

  30. Oh man, this sounds way off but I’m going to say Queen + Bathurst… that looks kind of like the CBC building on the NW corner.

    I feel like it is more plausibly something in the east end, though, like Queen + Parliament

  32. My guess = King and Bathurst, facing east on King.

  34. im going to guess that its dundas west at ossington, looking east.

  37. Queen & Bathurst looking north up Bathurst???

  43. I’d guess this is looking north from Bathurst & Queen. Don’t know when exactly, but the cars look like they are from the 1930s.

  45. My guess is Bathurst and Queen looking north up Bathurst.

  46. I would have to go with Queen and Bathurst. Although the building on the right hand side of the photo I dont think still exists.

  49. I think it’s Queen W and Bathurst!

  50. Bathurst and Queen, looking north, I think. ??? Good one! Then again…

  51. Anyone know when they stopped using the streetcar on Bathurst? Anyone know why the spadina street car isn’t 24 hours? The Spadina bus used to run late when I first moved here in 1994.

  54. I’m sure it has nothing to do with demand: I am certain a 24 hour Spadina streetcar would be very popular, just like a 24 hour subway.

    *Hint* there are supposedly going to be either two 24 nights or two free nights this year…

  56. Wow I can’t believe I guessed correctly!

    And i’ve only lived here for two years!

    I thought recognized the building on the left… you know, the one with the aboriginal arts & crafts in the window.

  57. Kev — it has *everything* to do with demand. “Popular” is much different than cost-effectiveness.

    If there is not enough riders to support running the streetcars, paying the drivers, taking on the financial costs associated with wear and tear (both on the streetcar and the road itself), the electricity that powers them, then there is no financial reason to run them 24 hours. Same goes for the subway.

    No matter how much we want to ignore the monetary constraints of the TTC, these issues are not going to go away. I hate talking about finances but this is the reality of the TTC at the moment. It wasn’t always this way, but there is also no end in sight.

  58. I would assume the Spadina streetcar isn’t 24 hours because it starts and ends in subway stations, both of which would be closed overnight.

  59. I live two blocks east of Bathurst and have no idea why I thought the street car was no longer running on that route. Maybe staring at a computer all day affects your perception of reality 🙂
    Anyone know how much it would cost to keep the trains running (frequently) all night? (weekends?) As a city, we must spend a fortune on cabs.

  60. Shaunpierre, a 24-hour TTC is not about cost. It’s about maintenance. The TTC can barely do all the work required to keep the system running now because of the small window of time when trains don’t run.

    The only potentially viable alternative that m familiar with was from Howard Moscoe when he was making his last ditch effort to keep his chairmanship. Moscoe proposed 24-hour service, albeit at heavily reduced levels, that would run on a single track. I’m not sure if the idea is indeed viable and, if so, where it has gone since November when he floated it.

    Otherwise, in response to the question, “can you keep the subway system open later?” the response is, “Sure but that means we’ll have to start it just as many minutes later, too.”