Another reason I like “Avenue Road” is because it ultimately turns into University Avenue, which means the name is accurate in a couple different ways!
Aunt used to work by the cookie factory by Bermondsey, place always smelled amazing. Also, never knew my dad was actually pronouncing Spadina the right way.
AWESOME!!! Well done!!! So many things to say. I always wondered about Avenue Road. Also, I had a friend who came from overseas, thinking Main Street was Toronto's main street and found a place to stay for a while! Ha !!! Also, I remember meeting a friend at Leslie & Steeles. There are two of them! Ha !!! And another friend had before-&-after pictures of Birchmount and Danforth LOL ! Ha !!! Same Birchmount, -- different Danforth -s!!! What gets me though, some of the same physical street has different names at different places. For me, Ellesmere and York Mills and Wilson are essentially the same street. (And its not just Toronto. In the east, Salem Road north of 401 is the same as Pickering Beach Road south of the 401, and its actually in Ajax, not in Pickering.) I like how you ended your video, right where there was a stop sign 🛑
Thanks! Many of those "same street, different name" things are the result of streets being altered so that streets that originally weren't connected became connected. Like College and Carlton - that jog at Yonge Street was for this reason. But sometimes they just renamed the whole thing after one street, like in my Dundas video: ruclips.net/video/LTEf8OROyns/видео.html
From East to West, Ellesmere becomes Parkwoods Village Drive, which becomes York Mills Road, which becomes Wilson Avenue, which becomes Walsh Avenue, which becomes Albion Road...which continues into Caledon as Highway 50.
Strange street used to follow the railway tracks at street level all the way down to Eastern ave before the railway embankment was built. It may have continued south of that before my time. They finally took the tracks out crossing Eastern and cut of Strange 10 or so years ago when a storage place was built that legend said was the secret home where much of David Mirvish's art collection was housed. That was demolished recently to make way for one of the new and massive Metrolinx stations now being built (and probably for the next twenty years). Cheers for your love of Toronto. P.S. you're getting smoother Steve
Nice. Here's one for you. The creation of Wilson Heights Blvd. During WWII when de Havilland Canada had to extend the east/west runway (gone now) to let the de Havilland Mosquito they built there land and take off. Originally there were lights to stop traffic as planes landed, but that was dangerous. So they took out Dufferin and then added Wilson Heights Blvd to the east. Fun stuff
There are at least two Simpson Avenues, one in the former Village of New Toronto, later Etobicoke, and the City of Toronto. The other runs east of Broadview Avenue to Carlaw Avenue, in the old East End. There are two Cavell Avenues, both named for Edith Cavell, a British Nurse executed by the Germans for espionage in The Great War. One in old Mimico, running off Royal York Road, the other running east from Carlaw Avenue, crossing Pape, dead ending at Earl Grey School.
The origin of St. Clair Ave's name is also quite strange- it's not named after any saint clair or clare for that matter, and not even directly after the uncle tom's cabin character, but rather it originated from a practical joke by two young members of the Grainger family who were inspired after watching a theatre adaptation of the novel.
Future video topic: Danforth ! We have 2 or more... I heard a rumour that there was a winding trail blazed by the British (Canadian) military forces during the war of 1812 when the Americans took over for a while, burned down the Upper Canada Parliament buildings (which were in Toronto at that time, and a street there was named Parliament Street), North-East away from Fort York, which went along what is now Danforth Ave, to Danforth Road, to Painted Post, to Military Trail (hence the name "Military Trail"), to Colonel Danforth Trail. Some time later in that war of 1812 the British returned the favour in D.C. ...and thereafter, they decided to move Canada's parliament buildings to the hinterlands, away from the US border, up in Ottawa, and built the defendable Rideau Canal to get to it efficiently.
Stranger than street names are the pronunciations of some. How do people get 'buh-LOI-ul' from "Balliol?" What about 'BEZ-buh-ruh' from "Bessborough," or 'OZ-ing-tun' from "Ossington?" (Even the TTC announces the latter incorrectly!)
There is a street in West Toronto called Hounslow Heath Rd. It is a curiously long name and on some of the street signs, there are too many letters in the name, so Rd is dispensed with. It seems likely that there must be a story behind the choosing of this unusually long name?
Not gonna lie, I was hoping for an appearance of Cummer Ave and Okd Cummer Ave. But I’ll chock this one up to modern day slang giving it a new meaning while it’s probably named for something inconspicuous…
When the TTC switched to speech to text programs for stop announcements and other ones they had to spell out Spadina phonetically so it would be said the way we say it. They also had to put in the way we say the numbers for bus and streetcar routes, the later being that for everything from 100 down we say that number but for everything else it's the first number then either saying o instead of zero and whatever the next number would be like for example 505 Dundas is said as five - o five and not five hundred and five or 510 Spadina is said as five - ten and not five hundred and ten
It's gone through a series of owners over the years and it still exists as a brand name; it's just part of a global conglomerate (Mondelez) now instead of being its own company. And the cookie outlet store on Bermondsey is still there.
@@travisazzopardi8024 DUNDAS WAS HUMANE ! His descendants are defending against the name change. Dundas helped against slavery by recommending the means by which slavery could become abolished. Without his input, there were reasons they would not abolish it. Changing the name is preposterous and unnecessarily costly. Lies against Dundas don't fix anything for anyone, but help to promote misunderstanding and promote unnecessary racial hatred.
@@mtlicq Exactly. I propose all Dundas street signs have a sign attached underneath them that says, "WAS HUMANE." That would cost the city very little. And you wouldn't have to change any maps.
Judging people from the early 1800's with 2020's sensibility is childish and not understanding the reality of the 1800's. No one from that era would stand up to the scrutiny of today and it isn't fair to judge them for an era they couldn't even conceive
Another reason I like “Avenue Road” is because it ultimately turns into University Avenue, which means the name is accurate in a couple different ways!
I like the new “Steve vs Steve” split-screen feature in this video. It reminds me of Spy vs Spy in the Mad magazines I once read 😉
Yes that was awesome
Very creative and fun!
I figured it was about time to clone myself!
Steve is a Toronto gem.
You scared me for a second.
Thank goodness Peek Freans still exists.
The factory still makes good cookies, but the ownership & name is Mondelez or something now.
I remember back in the day, going there and buying bags of the rejected misshapen cookies for really cheap.
I used to live on Squires Avenue and it was really torture waking up to the smell of fresh baked cookies.... ALL. THE. TIME.
Love the way you've integrated the maps, it really helps in the clarity of the video. Especially to those that may not know the city as well as you.
Yes, for too long I’ve looked at his maps and filed to find the location before we’ve moved on. This is much improved. Keep it up Steve!
I love your shirt almost as much as I love this video! Thanks Steve and keep up the great work!
Need more videos. These are addictive for binge watching
Thanks! I'm working on it, but this isn't my real job, just a hobby, so it has to take a back seat to real life.
@@notsmoothsteve incredible and entertaining work! Very informative. Keep it up!!
Aunt used to work by the cookie factory by Bermondsey, place always smelled amazing. Also, never knew my dad was actually pronouncing Spadina the right way.
My Aunt worked for Peak Freen's.
Make a part 2 as this was excellent.
Your channel is a fantastic historical capsule. Thank you for keeping Toronto culture alive.
Also that building in the middle of Spadina Crescent is where Banting and Best discovered Insulin.
Toronto fascinates (and overwhelms!) me a lot, and can't express how much I love your content Steve!
Love your videos, dude. Also love the shirt as someone from Newfoundland.
AWESOME!!! Well done!!! So many things to say. I always wondered about Avenue Road. Also, I had a friend who came from overseas, thinking Main Street was Toronto's main street and found a place to stay for a while! Ha !!! Also, I remember meeting a friend at Leslie & Steeles. There are two of them! Ha !!! And another friend had before-&-after pictures of Birchmount and Danforth LOL ! Ha !!! Same Birchmount, -- different Danforth -s!!! What gets me though, some of the same physical street has different names at different places. For me, Ellesmere and York Mills and Wilson are essentially the same street. (And its not just Toronto. In the east, Salem Road north of 401 is the same as Pickering Beach Road south of the 401, and its actually in Ajax, not in Pickering.) I like how you ended your video, right where there was a stop sign 🛑
Thanks! Many of those "same street, different name" things are the result of streets being altered so that streets that originally weren't connected became connected. Like College and Carlton - that jog at Yonge Street was for this reason. But sometimes they just renamed the whole thing after one street, like in my Dundas video: ruclips.net/video/LTEf8OROyns/видео.html
From East to West, Ellesmere becomes Parkwoods Village Drive, which becomes York Mills Road, which becomes Wilson Avenue, which becomes Walsh Avenue, which becomes Albion Road...which continues into Caledon as Highway 50.
Have you already done a video on Old Cummer Avenue?
Just named after my old man
that's my favorite avenue
He needs to go to Yonge/Cummer first and talk about the history of the "yonge' cummer.
And Coxwell? Bragging again are you?
Strange street used to follow the railway tracks at street level all the way down to Eastern ave before the railway embankment was built. It may have continued south of that before my time. They finally took the tracks out crossing Eastern and cut of Strange 10 or so years ago when a storage place was built that legend said was the secret home where much of David Mirvish's art collection was housed. That was demolished recently to make way for one of the new and massive Metrolinx stations now being built (and probably for the next twenty years). Cheers for your love of Toronto. P.S. you're getting smoother Steve
Absolutely ELITE shirt choice, especially in a video inspired by a family member suggestion
The correlation of wearing the shirt in this video is now apparent 😊
I moved to Korea for work, but love this channel lol. I really hope you cover the Bluffs one day.
I was hoping you would cover Baby (pronounced Bobby) Point. But I don't want to argue.😂
my parents always pronounced it 'bobby' and so i do as well.
TIL I’ve been pronouncing it wrong all this time. And this is a street I’ve passed by several times over the years while driving down Jane.
Great video Steve! There's a street up on the border of Vaughn called "Chesswood Dr" that I've always thought was a strange name.
Great video 😊
Thank you for such wonderfully informative videos, notsmoothsteve! Very insightful as someone who knows (shamefully) not much about this city!
Your videos are killer, always informative!
Fun and informative..thanks!
Great video Steve!
Love the video Steve!
I'm surprised you didnt include Cummer Ave and Old Cummer GO Station in this video
Nice. Here's one for you. The creation of Wilson Heights Blvd. During WWII when de Havilland Canada had to extend the east/west runway (gone now) to let the de Havilland Mosquito they built there land and take off. Originally there were lights to stop traffic as planes landed, but that was dangerous. So they took out Dufferin and then added Wilson Heights Blvd to the east. Fun stuff
Wilson and Wilson Heights still gets me confused.
Good one
I like all your videos.
I lived in weston. So much duplicate names there. There is a random road in etobicoke. It's my fav. street
Sesame Street in Toronto has no house number 123: I checked ;)
Saw t-shirt, liked video
Hey! I've been to Dildo Newfoundland as well! 😁 Great work with the channel. Love to see it.
i liked and subscribed
There are at least two Simpson Avenues, one in the former Village of New Toronto, later Etobicoke, and the City of Toronto. The other runs east of Broadview Avenue to Carlaw Avenue, in the old East End. There are two Cavell Avenues, both named for Edith Cavell, a British Nurse executed by the Germans for espionage in The Great War. One in old Mimico, running off Royal York Road, the other running east from Carlaw Avenue, crossing Pape, dead ending at Earl Grey School.
The origin of St. Clair Ave's name is also quite strange- it's not named after any saint clair or clare for that matter, and not even directly after the uncle tom's cabin character, but rather it originated from a practical joke by two young members of the Grainger family who were inspired after watching a theatre adaptation of the novel.
Do a video about the history of all the different stadiums and arenas in Toronto
Love the content. Maybe something on GTA airports?
YES including Lynn Laird in East York. Also he should make a different video about Danforth
Something like that is on my ideas list, so there could be a video about it at some point!
I like that Tim Hortons in the background of Strange ST. , go do a filmed coffee in there
OK Avenue road makes sense, what about Park Lane Circle?
love the shirt
man you should do standup lol
Future video topic: Danforth ! We have 2 or more... I heard a rumour that there was a winding trail blazed by the British (Canadian) military forces during the war of 1812 when the Americans took over for a while, burned down the Upper Canada Parliament buildings (which were in Toronto at that time, and a street there was named Parliament Street), North-East away from Fort York, which went along what is now Danforth Ave, to Danforth Road, to Painted Post, to Military Trail (hence the name "Military Trail"), to Colonel Danforth Trail. Some time later in that war of 1812 the British returned the favour in D.C. ...and thereafter, they decided to move Canada's parliament buildings to the hinterlands, away from the US border, up in Ottawa, and built the defendable Rideau Canal to get to it efficiently.
Thanks for the suggestion! I have an idea for a video that might include that.
Stranger than street names are the pronunciations of some. How do people get 'buh-LOI-ul' from "Balliol?" What about 'BEZ-buh-ruh' from "Bessborough," or 'OZ-ing-tun' from "Ossington?" (Even the TTC announces the latter incorrectly!)
But did you take the Spadina Bus while listening to the Shuffle Demons?
it's called the spa-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-SpaDINAH bus.
There's a reference to that in my video on Spadina station!
ruclips.net/video/vq11033vrcc/видео.html
I love your shirt! Dildo, Newfoundland!
Surprised you didn’t mention Strachen ave… 😂
Nice shirt .
In the 90’s the Sesame Street signs were raised higher off the ground as they were often stolen. Not sure if that’s still the case.
Theres also Busy Street, which contrary to its name is not busy at all!
another unsual name would be danforth and danforth
You should set up a "Buy me a coffee" so youtube doesn't take a cut
And also Toronto Street. Which is actually quite short.
It sure is. It made an appearance in one of my previous videos: ruclips.net/video/3L6CB2B1OWA/видео.html
There is a street in West Toronto called Hounslow Heath Rd. It is a curiously long name and on some of the street signs, there are too many letters in the name, so Rd is dispensed with. It seems likely that there must be a story behind the choosing of this unusually long name?
Well, Hounslow Heath is a place in London.
It’s always bothered me that College/Carlton has two names when none of the other major streets that cross Yonge Street do.
They were originally separate streets and didn't even meet Yonge at the same point. The jog is there from realignment to make them meet.
Several minor streets though: Empress and Park Home, and Church and Churchill. Both in Willowdale.
The only other major street that changes is Wilson/York Mills.
I came here hoping to learn more about Old Cummer Station... :(
Not gonna lie, I was hoping for an appearance of Cummer Ave and Okd Cummer Ave. But I’ll chock this one up to modern day slang giving it a new meaning while it’s probably named for something inconspicuous…
Indeed - it's derived from a person's name, and not from anything else :-P
hmmm. i'm the 409th like and the 45th comment.
completely meaningless, right?
but a comment feeds the algo-deity...
I’m surprised cummer ave wasn’t included
No, I'd definitely still call it Road St.
Lolll sorry about that eh
I've heard it pronounced "Ish PAH DINN Ah"
I thought you'd mention Queen's Quay
No Strachan Ave? I couldn't pronounce that forever lol
When the TTC switched to speech to text programs for stop announcements and other ones they had to spell out Spadina phonetically so it would be said the way we say it. They also had to put in the way we say the numbers for bus and streetcar routes, the later being that for everything from 100 down we say that number but for everything else it's the first number then either saying o instead of zero and whatever the next number would be like for example 505 Dundas is said as five - o five and not five hundred and five or 510 Spadina is said as five - ten and not five hundred and ten
Maybe they should do the same for what their announcement calls "DUN-dus".
@@notsmoothsteve i think that could be something that may not be able to be easily changed. I think if it was they would have done it by now.
@@ThomasJM or maybe they're just leaving it until Dundas and Dundas West stations get renamed and the problem solves itself.
@@notsmoothsteve i doubt it . I don't really think they are going to rename them either.
Atomic Avenue didn't get a shout out? Maybe it's just me.
I pronounce the street in Toronto - Sumach Street wrong apparently. I say "Shoemack". My son told me I was wrong.
I find a lot of people older than 70 generally pronounce sumach as shoemack. The tree is pronounced sue-mack.
@@johnandrews3568 Yes my son pronounces it "sue-mack" 🙂.
You missed Strange Street on Queen Street East
I stand corrected.
Dildo referenced!
This video is the way I find out peak freans isnt running anymore?
It's gone through a series of owners over the years and it still exists as a brand name; it's just part of a global conglomerate (Mondelez) now instead of being its own company. And the cookie outlet store on Bermondsey is still there.
It’s called “Roncesvale”, drop the S off the end
Bergamot Avenue ends in a Tee. Earl Grey....Hot...Make it so.
No love for Old Cummer, eh? 😂
Great video. Please consider doing a video on the streets named after Sir John Lakeshore, the second governor of Upper Canada.
That guy sure got around, even though he never travelled very far inland.
no trethewey?
Too dangerous to go there
Old Cummer
So we're not going to talk about the intersection formerly known as Younge and Dundas?
we are presently in an ice age
Keep them coming, Steve. Time to change Dundas to someone humane.
Or better yet, leave it alone and save the city the cost.
@@travisazzopardi8024 DUNDAS WAS HUMANE ! His descendants are defending against the name change. Dundas helped against slavery by recommending the means by which slavery could become abolished. Without his input, there were reasons they would not abolish it. Changing the name is preposterous and unnecessarily costly. Lies against Dundas don't fix anything for anyone, but help to promote misunderstanding and promote unnecessary racial hatred.
@@mtlicq Exactly. I propose all Dundas street signs have a sign attached underneath them that says, "WAS HUMANE."
That would cost the city very little. And you wouldn't have to change any maps.
Judging people from the early 1800's with 2020's sensibility is childish and not understanding the reality of the 1800's. No one from that era would stand up to the scrutiny of today and it isn't fair to judge them for an era they couldn't even conceive