History
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Women’s urban citizenship: the history of purpose-built apartments for women
From turn of the century boarding houses to today’s condo boom, housing has long been both the gateway and the barrier to the city for single working...
By Kate Nelischer -
REID: On Public Etiquette
It’s not a coincidence that words for people who understand good etiquette – polite, urbane – are related to classical words for cities (Greek polis...
By Dylan Reid -
Stories, Struggles and Song: Cantonese Opera in Toronto
Cantonese opera is in my genes. Whenever my mother put me and my two younger sisters down for our afternoon nap, she’d crank up the turntable and play an...
By Arlene Chan -
Doug Ford’s TTC subway upload and Margaret Thatcher’s cautionary tale
As the province contemplates major structural change to Toronto’s transit system, I want to offer London’s rocky history with transit...
By Tricia Wood -
Guest Op-ed: Building a Waterfront City in Toronto
OP-ED: By City Councillor Joe Cressy Revitalizing our waterfront is the largest and longest-lasting project that we will leave for future generations of...
By Spacing -
The Bloor Street Viaduct
As the City celebrates the centennial of Toronto’s most recognizable pieces of infrastructure with the unveiling of a historical plaque, Spacing...
By Spacing -
REID: Heritage beyond a building’s walls
Hidden in the Distillery District, behind the unremarkable door of 36 Distillery Lane, is a staircase-museum. The simple stairway, necessary as an...
By Dylan Reid -
The complicated history of Canadian blackface
In 1841, travelling American circuses came to Toronto for the first time and blackface came with them. According to University of Toronto theatre...
By Cheryl Thompson -
Marcus Garvey’s place in Toronto’s history
For the past several years, 355 College Street has been home to Thymeless Bar, a reggae nightspot situated just steps from Kensington Market. What many...
By Cheryl Thompson -
Freedom abound: celebrating Emancipation Day in St. John’s Ward, 1845–1860
by Natasha Henry August 1, 1852 At sunrise, a large crowd gathered for an early church service at the British Methodist Episcopal Church on Sayer Street...
By Spacing -
PODCAST: Spacing Radio 025, “Until We’re Safe”
In this episode, we discuss the problems with policing in Toronto. Alok Mukherjee was Chair of the Toronto Police Services Board from 2005-2015. In that...
By Spacing Radio -
Why I revived the Bureau of Municipal Research
Ten years ago, as a grad student researching the history of Toronto’s waterfront, I came across a study, published in 1977, that could very well have been...
By Gabriel Eidelman