Toronto CAMH Discovery Centre | 41.6m | 7s | CAMH | KPMB

MetroMan said:
Re: "White Squirrel Way". This addresses a popular Queen St. W. urban myth (or maybe a truth?) that the very rare albino squirrels hopping around Trinity-Bellwoods Park were the result of mutated squirrels eating toxic waste from the asylum. They were at one point plentiful but eventually, expanding developments ongoing on the CAMH grounds chased the quasi-blind rodents across the street to the park. Many never made the blind gamble, were run over and never made the migration... hence the rarity of these little boogers.
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The Urban Decoder wrote about this:
The other day in Trinity Bellwoods Park, I saw a snow white squirrel with bright red eyes leaping around in a rather agitated fashion. Am I seeing things? If not, was there something wrong with it? —Meredith Abbott-Richards, Little Portugal
Posted on June 1, 2003

Consider yourself blessed. What you saw was one of Queen West’s elusive and much admired albino squirrels. First spotted circa 1985, the fair beasts initially lived in a tree on the grounds of the Queen Street Mental Health Centre, before bravely migrating across the street to Trinity Bellwoods. Over the years, they’ve attracted a following, with disciples believing the rodents portend good fortune. For a while, the squirrels’ population swelled, until by the mid-’90s there were some 25 to 30 in the area. Alas, in recent years the albinos have been felled by genetic problems related to their blanched condition—which may explain why the specimen you saw seemed indisposed. Congenitally poor eyesight, in particular, is a bane to a species whose primary talent is the acrobatic leap. Today, appearances are rare; the ruby-eyed may soon live on only in legends—or nightmares.
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The toxic cause of the mutation was probably made up because mutations will simply happen every number of births. They're rare because the mutation has put them at a disadvantage, for example, with the poor eyesight. Finally, a visual is important:



That's the old asylum wall in the background.
 
Living across from the park, I have seen them quite often... enough to question their rarity really.

I remember walking by the park, seeing one and cursing that I didn't have a camera on me. The next day I took my camera to my walk by the park in case I saw another one and I did! I got tons of hi-res photos with my SLR.
 
If they wanted to make up names like "White Squirrel Way" and "Freedom Drive", why didn't they just use those names on the new east-west streets rather than not continuing the street names from the other side of Queen St?

Personally, I dislike when a street changes names when it crosses another street. If anyone is familiar with my area, there is a Sir Monty's Drive that turns into Bancroft Drive when it crosses Creditview and then becomes Cantay Drive when it crosses Mavis. I think one name would suffice. Another example: former Second Line West became Silken Laumann Way north of Britannia, Terry Fox Way south of it, and something else south of Eglinton. And Bristol Rd E becomes something else on the east side of Kennedy Rd. There's countless examples of this.
 
Coruscanti Cognoscente said:
If they wanted to make up names like "White Squirrel Way" and "Freedom Drive", why didn't they just use those names on the new east-west streets rather than not continuing the street names from the other side of Queen St?

Personally, I dislike when a street changes names when it crosses another street. If anyone is familiar with my area, there is a Sir Monty's Drive that turns into Bancroft Drive when it crosses Creditview and then becomes Cantay Drive when it crosses Mavis. I think one name would suffice. Another example: former Second Line West became Silken Laumann Way north of Britannia, Terry Fox Way south of it, and something else south of Eglinton. And Bristol Rd E becomes something else on the east side of Kennedy Rd. There's countless examples of this.
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I find it very frustrating too, especially when there's no logical need for it. Try explaining Ellesmere-York Mills-Wilson-Albion!
 
Sure!

They were all separate streets. Albion is an old road, almost a contination of diagonal Weston Road. Wilson and Albion don't even meet - there's one block where it's called Walsh (before the 401, Wilson met Weston at a right angle).

Wilson ended for a long time at Yonge Boulevard, which at one time, was the main diversion around Hogg's Hollow. York Mills and Wilson did not meet. And York Mills ends at Vic Park on a straight line, Parkwoods Village Drive was built to connect the uneven concession grids of York Township and Scarborough Township.

So you are missing two streets in your route - it should be Albion-Walsh-Wilson-York Mills-Parkwoods Village-Ellesmere. I think James Alcock suggested renaming Walsh-Wilson-York Mills-Parkwood Village-Ellesmere Wyme Avenue, of course, requiring something to be done with the old remander of York Mills near Vic Park.

Mississauga is horrible for this, especially when dreaming up names for Second Line WHS. York Region has the same problem in parts - how about Rutherford-Carrville-16th Avenue?

Now to get back on topic, Freedom Avenue is a dumb name. It sounds like it almost belongs a few blocks south, along with Liberty and Jefferson. I guess it's because Ossington (originally Dundas) originates at Queen, and would mess up the street numbering.
 
Coruscanti Cognoscente said:
If they wanted to make up names like "White Squirrel Way" and "Freedom Drive", why didn't they just use those names on the new east-west streets rather than not continuing the street names from the other side of Queen St?
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Totally agree. I think they're doing what you're suggesting in Regents' Park to, you know, not stigmatize that area any further by suggesting that it is an enclave of the underprivileged.

Also, we can't make up good names for streets anymore. "Wind Dancer Boulevard" and stuff like that sounds so wussy.
 
SeanTrans said:
I guess it's because Ossington (originally Dundas) originates at Queen, and would mess up the street numbering.
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Very good point. Extending Ossington south of Queen would require all the numbers on Ossington to shift south. What a hassle!
This is not to mention there may legal blocks to requiring people to switch the addresses they have on their business cards, custom number signs, switching their address records.... wow... that would be a pain!

The only thing that could be done is naming it Ossington South but that wouldn't make much sense for just a two block extension to Adelaide.

If such an operation were to be undertaken, it better be a final change. If they were extending Ossington to the lake, this could be justified.
 
Very good point. Extending Ossington south of Queen would require all the numbers on Ossington to shift south. What a hassle!
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No it wouldn't. Just name it Lower Ossington. That's what they did with Sherbourne and Jarvis when the city went south of Front.
 
Given the location, why don't they use names like "Screwy Street" or "Nutty Terrace" or "Loco Lane"

[cue "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down"]
 
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