When Kokyo had a patio on Alexander in the former building, sitting on the patio was a bit of a challenge noise-wise. The din of Yonge Street and the rumbling from the subway conspired to compromise one's sense of Wa.
A large part of the allure of Yonge Street was the record stores. They were responsible for a lot of foot traffic, especially around Dundas and to a lessor extent, Bloor.
I think for many of us of an age, it was the demise of the newspaper honour boxes that signalled Toronto's decline into anarchy. For those unfamiliar with the term, honour boxes had no lock on them to be opened with coin, but rather had a slot into which the coin was deposited and ones honesty...