I know what you mean. I've found a great collection of photos from the late 1970s into the 1990s
on this Flickr user's photostream. For anyone who likes looking at historical photos of Toronto online, the collection is a must-see. They're photos taken by an archivist, perhaps working at the City archives. They're mostly black and white but feature aspects of Toronto rarely photographed by the public: storefronts, abandoned buildings, and Victorian residential and industrial areas. For instance, there are some great photos of Mill Street and the Distillery District in the 1980s when it was an unrefined and dirty industrial area. I also found old photos of the Stockyards by search for photos on St. Clair Avenue West, which I found meaningful as a Junction resident.