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UrbanToronto is celebrating 20 YEARS throughout October with stories and images looking back over the last two decades. Today we look at what's kept your attention more than other things over the last many years.
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On a monthly basis, we report back to you on which stories, threads, and database files have seen the most activity every month. On a month-to-month basis, the threads and database files have often been repeats of the previous month, especially the top-most numbers in the counts, so that if there were any changes, that would be the news. What does that mean though, for tracking the numbers over many years? Well, in some cases, no surprise at all… but still there are some things you might never guess will pop up here and there.
For this story, we're taking a more nuanced look at the Top Tens, with a couple added (or expanded) categories, just to catch more trends over time. So, sit back, and prepared to be alternately blown-away and not-surprised-at-all as we reveal the All Time Top Ten UrbanToronto Everything!
Lets start with UrbanToronto's Top Ten News Stories, but split into Three Categories
All Time Top Ten Stories About Projects
This is what we do more of than anything else, so let's dig right in; stories about things being built or proposed:
17 • Major Redevelopment Plans in the Works for Bayview Village
Who doesn't love it when vast swathes of surface parking are proposed to be replaced with something better? Only monsters really, so when this story broke in August 2017, the good readers of UrbanToronto lapped it up. It's been a long wait since then for anything to happen here though, but the first condo sales centre is now on its way.
16 • Oxford Properties Launches 'Canada's Largest Development in History' at SquareOne in Mississauga
It's nearly the same thing here — vast areas of parking (for a much larger mall) are going to be redeveloped as an urban centre, but this 2020 story is being acted on more quickly, with the first phase now being built by Daniels on the last greenfield block within this masterplan.
15 • More Details Emerge on Massive 81-141 Bay Street Development
When what became CIBC SQUARE was first announced in 2015, it turned heads. Now that the first tower is complete and second tower is well under construction, it's still turning heads with its diamond-faceted exteriors.
14 • Ontario Government Lines Up New Toronto Transit Plan
We love a transit story when it includes putting new Tunnel Boring Machines in the ground…
13 • Toronto To Quebec City High Frequency Rail Soon To Be a Reality?
…and are happy to hear that there will be better ways to get to Ottawa and Montreal some day... but we'll believe when we see it, and high speed too please!
12 • Mirvish+Gehry Development Resubmitted as Two Supertalls
We love tall buildings… especially ones designed by a top tier starchitect…
11 • Canada’s First Supertall 'The One' Shooting to be Supertaller
…and especially especially when they shoot for taller.
10 • Toronto’s First Car Condo is On its Way in Etobicoke
We have mixed feelings about cars, so maybe there was some morbid fascination that drove this story all the way into the upper tier of our most-read stories.
9 • Ambitious Redevelopment of Yorkdale Shopping Centre Presented to Design Review Panel
This early 2022 story was about another massive mall parking lot redevelopment, this time as the design went to Toronto's Design Review Panel for comment. Despite us having reported in the DRP many times, a lot of people think that the Design Review Panel can order changes, or that they always speak unanimously. They can't and they don't. Those people should read all of our DRP stories to learn about how the panel does operate… …and put more DRP stories into our Top Ten.
8 • Toronto Community Housing Bringing Affordable Rental to CityPlace
Affordable Housing has long been a hot topic on UrbanToronto, from even before people were willing to admit we had a crisis. This 2012 story looks at one of TCHC's most ambitious projects.
7 • First Capital Submits Urban Vision for 28-Acre Christie’s Plant Site
We also love a good masterplan, and this looks like a really, really good one. This 2019 story about the high profile site along the Gardiner in Etobicoke that used to be the source of a good percentage of Toronto's cookie supply, should soon be supplying the first new homes as the construction of phase one nears.
6 • BCimc’s QuadReal Plans 64-Storey Commerce Court 3 Tower
Some buildings are a longer wait. Now stuck in limbo owing to the higher office vacancy rate post-lockdowns, there's no telling when this tower may go ahead now.
5 • First Look at Air Canada Centre’s Scotiabank Rebrand
We're always interested when something big is going to happen to our sports stadiums and arenas, so readers were itching to know what the new naming rights would mean for our hockey and basketball palace.
4 • Metrolinx Unveils Plans for Four More Ontario Line Stations
Transit returns to the fore here, showing that in 2021, Torontonians really were getting impatient to get more access to GO in this city…
3 • How Toronto Came to Have the Largest Subway Expansion Program In North America
…and in that same year were eager to read more about what new subway lines will do for us too, eventually, some day, it's coming, honestly!
2 • Cresford Unveils Plans for 98-Storey Tower at Yonge and Gerrard
Now we're back to tall... and in 2017 this meant a very sleek KPF-designed tower added to the height peak created by Aura a few years earlier. Six years later, this tower is now rising, but as a shorter redesign, due to shadowing concerns, at 85 storeys, by a new developer…
…and finally, we end up with — you didn't guess it, no-one did except if you live in Vaughan near Bathurst and Centre streets, maybe, but I bet you're surprised too:
1 • Promenade Mall Redevelopment Plan Submitted to Vaughan (2018)
Sometimes a story you wouldn't predict to go so big simply gets shared by everyone in a certain area, and this is one of those. Congrats Promenade Mall Redevelopment, you're our all time top project story subject!
All Time Top Ten Stories About Groups of Buildings
We sometimes do listicle pieces. These have been the most read:
7 • Growth to Watch for 2017: Beaches, Leslieville, & The Danforth
We did several years worth of Growth to Watch For Stories. They were usually very well read, and this particle edition was the most read of all of them, for whatever mysterious reason. It's always gratifying when articles are well read, and especially in the case of this comprehensive series, because they took an incredibly long time to research and write. If we ever start them up again, you'll know we're in a masochistic mood.
6 • Toronto’s Ten Tallest Buildings Now Under Construction
No explanation necessary for this 2015 piece being so popular…
5 • Toronto’s Top Ten Towers Waiting In Line For Approval
…nor for this 2021 one.
4 • Toronto Now Fourth Largest City in North America
Passing Chicago in population in 2013 was some much needed justification for our latent smugness, and allowed it to truly flower. Despite the numerous issues we face as we grow, Torontonians still point to overtaking Chicago's population (one way of counting it, anyway) as reassurance when nearly everything else seems a little weird.
3 • Toronto 2022: A Skyline Transformed
Of course, the easiest way of visually identifying our progress, is through our ever-changing skyline, as these top-most three articles attest. Above, models by UrbanToronto Forum contributor Steveve, and below, overall skyline renderings by UrbanToronto Forum contributor 3Dementia, have always attracted a lot of attention, with these two from 2017 and 2012 respectively attracting the most eyeballs over the years.
2 • Stunning Rendering of Toronto’s Future Skyline
Finally, our top listicle type story is a roundup from 2015 of all the snazziest renderings of the tallest towers we were expecting next, at the time. How many have been built in the last 8 years? 2 are done, 5 are under construction, and 3 will never be built;
1 • Top Ten Tallest Towers Coming to Toronto’s Skyline
All Time Top Ten Stories About Where to Get Skyline Shots
This could have been in the category above, but it's a little different, plus it's our most read story overall, ever:
1 • Grab your camera for Toronto’s best Skyline Vantage Points
So that's it for stories. The Database Files and Top Threads (in two categories) we'll run with little commentary:
Top Ten Most Searched Database Files
24 • Mirvish Village (Honest Ed's Redevelopment)
23 • Massey Tower Condos
21 • Eau-du-Soleil
20 • E-Condos
19 • 88 Scott Street
18 • Residences of 488 University
17 • 1 Yorkville
16 • Sugar Wharf Condominiums Phase 1
15 • L Tower
13 • Sun Life Financial Tower and Harbour Plaza Residences
12 • Forma (formerly Mirvish+Gehry)
11 • Concord Sky (formerly YSL)
10 • Union Station Revitalization
8 • CIBC SQUARE (formerly Bay Park Centre, remember that name?)
7 • M2M Condos
5 • One Bloor East
4 • The Well
3 • Ripley's Aquarium of Canada
Huh, really? Gordon Woods Condominiums? Maybe bots? Maybe local NIMBYs in sheer panic? (This has been planned for a very tony area of Mississauga… but it's not gone anywhere.) As astonishing as our second most searched Database file is, there's no surprise with number one, just fanfare:
1 • The One
Threads
Okay, time to move on to our Top Ten Forum Threads of all time… and in this case we're going to look at two sections of our Forum, keeping them separate as people approach them differently: our Buildings Forum, and our Transportation and Infrastructure Forum. The former is our busiest forum, currently with 5,992 threads, one for each project ever followed on the forum. The average lifespan of a Buildings thread is about 8 years, from first proposal to developers handing over the keys to the suites. Our Transportation and Infrastructure Forum is our second busiest, with 2,264 threads. As the typical thread in this forum follows such things as transit lines and operators, and road expansion, the average lifespan of a thread here is THEY NEVER DIE.
It's also worth mentioning that some threads in our Politics Forums (Toronto Issues, or Politics and Diplomacy) also rack up huge, massive, scandalous numbers, specifically the ones entitled Mayor (Name)'s Toronto, or Premier (Name)'s Ontario, fill in the blanks. One thread in particular was the go-to-place on the internet during the our-mayor-is-a-crackhead years, where the tea was constantly spilled first before sending reporters scurrying off to donut shops and diners in Rexdale to try to confirm the details. It's by far our longest, most read thread overall. Oh, them was the days, thankfully past now.
Okay, let's first dig into the these-never-end threads of…
All Time Top Several Threads (Transportation and Infrastructure)
9 • Union Station Revitalization
6 • TTC Other Items
5 • VIA Rail
4 • Scarborough Subway Extension
2 • Ontario Line 3
1 • Eglinton Line 5 Crosstown LRT
All Time Top Few Threads (Buildings)
10 • The Well
8 • 10 Dundas East (formerly Metropolis)
7 • Forma (formerly Mirvish+Gehry)
6 • L Tower
5 • CIBC SQ
4 • One Bloor East
3 • St Regis Toronto Hotel and Residences (formerly Trump)
1 • The One
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UrbanToronto will return tomorrow with another story celebrating 20 YEARS. In the meantime, check back often to our front page and Forum to keep an eye on all the current and emerging trends, and you can always leave your comments in the space below.
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Thank you to the companies joining UrbanToronto to celebrate our 20 years in business.
