Toronto's Unusual Names

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  • Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025

Комментарии • 143

  • @demize95
    @demize95 4 месяца назад +57

    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!

    • @MisterMister5893
      @MisterMister5893 2 месяца назад

      This sounds like an interesting story. Can you elaborate?

    • @demize95
      @demize95 2 месяца назад

      @ If you follow Avenue Road south, it turns into Queens Park at Bloor, then Queens Park Crescent after Charles, and then when the halves of the circle join back up at College, it turns into University Avenue. They’re all contiguous: from the perspective of the road, it’s just name changes, not actually changes in what road you’re on.

    • @demize95
      @demize95 2 месяца назад

      @ oops, dropped your name from my reply somehow 😅

  • @TorontoBoris
    @TorontoBoris 4 месяца назад +16

    Steve is a Toronto gem.

  • @GoldenSlumber474
    @GoldenSlumber474 4 месяца назад +41

    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 😉

    • @fakeologist1
      @fakeologist1 4 месяца назад +3

      Yes that was awesome

    • @arrghhscott
      @arrghhscott 4 месяца назад +3

      Very creative and fun!

    • @notsmoothsteve
      @notsmoothsteve  4 месяца назад +10

      I figured it was about time to clone myself!

  • @jdm1505
    @jdm1505 3 месяца назад +5

    Did not know we had a Sesame Street! Thanks!

  • @TheChiizu
    @TheChiizu 4 месяца назад +9

    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.

    • @davidimrie239
      @davidimrie239 4 месяца назад

      My Aunt worked for Peak Freen's.

  • @ScrizzDubb
    @ScrizzDubb 4 месяца назад +13

    I love your shirt almost as much as I love this video! Thanks Steve and keep up the great work!

  • @waynemullally6423
    @waynemullally6423 4 месяца назад +3

    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

  • @arrghhscott
    @arrghhscott 4 месяца назад +9

    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.

    • @shidiwen9329
      @shidiwen9329 4 месяца назад

      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!

  • @frizzel4
    @frizzel4 3 месяца назад +2

    My favourite is Euclid Ave.

  • @alrightthen
    @alrightthen 4 месяца назад +4

    Love your videos, dude. Also love the shirt as someone from Newfoundland.

  • @anonymousmask1208
    @anonymousmask1208 4 месяца назад +3

    Your channel is a fantastic historical capsule. Thank you for keeping Toronto culture alive.

  • @pyrazine
    @pyrazine 3 месяца назад +2

    i was always wondering how main street station came to be! the more you know!

  • @thomasblak5315
    @thomasblak5315 4 месяца назад +6

    Make a part 2 as this was excellent.

  • @R.C_msj
    @R.C_msj 4 месяца назад +3

    I moved to Korea for work, but love this channel lol. I really hope you cover the Bluffs one day.

  • @captainjoshuagleiberman2778
    @captainjoshuagleiberman2778 4 месяца назад +5

    Also that building in the middle of Spadina Crescent is where Banting and Best discovered Insulin.

  • @orty-xb9qz
    @orty-xb9qz 4 месяца назад +2

    Toronto fascinates (and overwhelms!) me a lot, and can't express how much I love your content Steve!

  • @RyanStonedonCanadianGaming
    @RyanStonedonCanadianGaming 4 месяца назад +14

    You scared me for a second.
    Thank goodness Peek Freans still exists.

    • @mtlicq
      @mtlicq 4 месяца назад +3

      The factory still makes good cookies, but the ownership & name is Mondelez or something now.

    • @kutter_ttl6786
      @kutter_ttl6786 4 месяца назад +1

      I remember back in the day, going there and buying bags of the rejected misshapen cookies for really cheap.

    • @johnandrews3568
      @johnandrews3568 4 месяца назад

      I used to live on Squires Avenue and it was really torture waking up to the smell of fresh baked cookies.... ALL. THE. TIME.

  • @mtlicq
    @mtlicq 4 месяца назад +6

    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 🛑

    • @notsmoothsteve
      @notsmoothsteve  4 месяца назад +2

      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

    • @Islington_Express_Bus
      @Islington_Express_Bus 4 месяца назад +1

      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.

  • @87royalgigolos
    @87royalgigolos 3 месяца назад +2

    Hey Steve, I saw you today on the Eglinton bus I was on 🤙🏽 keep up the Great Work

    • @notsmoothsteve
      @notsmoothsteve  3 месяца назад +2

      You saw me on my way home from shooting a video that will be coming out in the next few months!

    • @87royalgigolos
      @87royalgigolos 3 месяца назад +2

      @@notsmoothsteve nice 🤙🏽 can't wait

  • @kennethkllau
    @kennethkllau 4 месяца назад +2

    Need more videos. These are addictive for binge watching

    • @notsmoothsteve
      @notsmoothsteve  4 месяца назад

      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.

    • @kennethkllau
      @kennethkllau 4 месяца назад +1

      @@notsmoothsteve incredible and entertaining work! Very informative. Keep it up!!

  • @fiftyfour2488
    @fiftyfour2488 4 месяца назад +2

    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.

  • @JohnUnit
    @JohnUnit 4 месяца назад +3

    Absolutely ELITE shirt choice, especially in a video inspired by a family member suggestion

  • @tokki.93
    @tokki.93 4 месяца назад +2

    Thank you for such wonderfully informative videos, notsmoothsteve! Very insightful as someone who knows (shamefully) not much about this city!

  • @daviddunn4638
    @daviddunn4638 4 месяца назад +4

    Great video 😊

  • @gabrielcarter8065
    @gabrielcarter8065 4 месяца назад +3

    Your videos are killer, always informative!

  • @r.g.carter3908
    @r.g.carter3908 3 месяца назад

    spadeena rd, spah dina ave. this use to be a marker for upper class people to note who was from toronto, and who had old money, i love it when people erroneously correct my pronunciation. it gives me a huge smug sense of self satisfaction

  • @puirYorick
    @puirYorick 3 месяца назад +1

    I was waiting for you to show that rude avenue name in Scarborough that was borrowed from England.

  • @loweffortplunderphonics9619
    @loweffortplunderphonics9619 3 месяца назад +2

    Thanks for making these really informative videos! Any idea on the history of the laneway that runs South off of Dupont, between Christie & Bathurst, with the name Cream Top Ln.? I've always wondered about that little street.

    • @jdm1505
      @jdm1505 3 месяца назад +1

      It was named after the old Willard's Cream Top Dairy on Dupont Street. I think the name is part of a project to name all the laneways in the city to make it easier for emergency services.

  • @rmay7
    @rmay7 25 дней назад +1

    I had no idea about the duplicate addresses until I moved to York and started getting deliveries for a house in North York with the same address. They even once sent an Uber to pick up one of the wrong deliveries except it ended up at a similar address in East York (that one is a Drive rather than Avenue).

  • @SaturnCanuck
    @SaturnCanuck 4 месяца назад +2

    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

    • @mtlicq
      @mtlicq 4 месяца назад +3

      Wilson and Wilson Heights still gets me confused.

    • @fakeologist1
      @fakeologist1 4 месяца назад

      Good one

  • @danahashcroft9482
    @danahashcroft9482 4 месяца назад +3

    I lived in weston. So much duplicate names there. There is a random road in etobicoke. It's my fav. street

  • @randybourdon2791
    @randybourdon2791 4 месяца назад +1

    Great video Steve!

  • @tombikes4164
    @tombikes4164 4 месяца назад +1

    Fun and informative..thanks!

  • @ej7654321
    @ej7654321 4 месяца назад +1

    Love the video Steve!

  • @jonchius
    @jonchius 4 месяца назад +4

    Sesame Street in Toronto has no house number 123: I checked ;)

  • @rated89
    @rated89 4 месяца назад +3

    Saw t-shirt, liked video

  • @captainjoshuagleiberman2778
    @captainjoshuagleiberman2778 4 месяца назад +7

    I was hoping you would cover Baby (pronounced Bobby) Point. But I don't want to argue.😂

    • @johnandrews3568
      @johnandrews3568 4 месяца назад +1

      my parents always pronounced it 'bobby' and so i do as well.

    • @SimiDavid95
      @SimiDavid95 4 месяца назад +1

      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.

  • @KangaRueProductions
    @KangaRueProductions 4 месяца назад +4

    I'm surprised you didnt include Cummer Ave and Old Cummer GO Station in this video

  • @Pyotyrpyotyrpyotyr
    @Pyotyrpyotyrpyotyr 4 месяца назад +2

    Hey! I've been to Dildo Newfoundland as well! 😁 Great work with the channel. Love to see it.

  • @shidiwen9329
    @shidiwen9329 4 месяца назад +22

    Have you already done a video on Old Cummer Avenue?

    • @JohnRoscoeYT
      @JohnRoscoeYT 4 месяца назад +5

      Just named after my old man

    • @GordonSlamsay
      @GordonSlamsay 4 месяца назад +3

      that's my favorite avenue

    • @stoddard1953
      @stoddard1953 4 месяца назад +4

      He needs to go to Yonge/Cummer first and talk about the history of the "yonge' cummer.

    • @drmodestoesq
      @drmodestoesq 4 месяца назад +2

      And Coxwell? Bragging again are you?

  • @sidneygreenstreet6368
    @sidneygreenstreet6368 3 месяца назад +1

    Nice Shirt.

  • @tomg5516
    @tomg5516 4 месяца назад +1

    I like all your videos.

  • @MrTipss
    @MrTipss 4 месяца назад +2

    Do a video about the history of all the different stadiums and arenas in Toronto

  • @davidimrie239
    @davidimrie239 4 месяца назад

    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.

  • @KatieMcInroyThorne
    @KatieMcInroyThorne 4 месяца назад +1

    The correlation of wearing the shirt in this video is now apparent 😊

  • @notaname320
    @notaname320 4 месяца назад

    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.

  • @AlanBacklund
    @AlanBacklund 4 месяца назад +2

    OK Avenue road makes sense, what about Park Lane Circle?

  • @ashi133
    @ashi133 4 месяца назад +2

    i liked and subscribed

  • @Ash-um8er
    @Ash-um8er 4 месяца назад +1

    love the shirt

  • @ken7cat
    @ken7cat 4 месяца назад

    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.

  • @tstraw48
    @tstraw48 4 месяца назад +1

    Love the content. Maybe something on GTA airports?

    • @mtlicq
      @mtlicq 4 месяца назад +1

      YES including Lynn Laird in East York. Also he should make a different video about Danforth

    • @notsmoothsteve
      @notsmoothsteve  4 месяца назад +1

      Something like that is on my ideas list, so there could be a video about it at some point!

  • @itcu185
    @itcu185 4 месяца назад

    I like that Tim Hortons in the background of Strange ST. , go do a filmed coffee in there

  • @tonycash8544
    @tonycash8544 4 месяца назад +2

    Nice shirt .

  • @mtlicq
    @mtlicq 4 месяца назад +1

    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.

    • @notsmoothsteve
      @notsmoothsteve  4 месяца назад

      Thanks for the suggestion! I have an idea for a video that might include that.

  • @cookedtoast1312
    @cookedtoast1312 4 месяца назад

    Theres also Busy Street, which contrary to its name is not busy at all!

  • @anthonystpierrecomposer
    @anthonystpierrecomposer 4 месяца назад +2

    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!)

  • @Leo1903able
    @Leo1903able 4 месяца назад

    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?

  • @Abinyah
    @Abinyah 4 месяца назад +2

    Surprised you didn’t mention Strachen ave… 😂

  • @drmodestoesq
    @drmodestoesq 4 месяца назад

    And also Toronto Street. Which is actually quite short.

    • @notsmoothsteve
      @notsmoothsteve  4 месяца назад

      It sure is. It made an appearance in one of my previous videos: ruclips.net/video/3L6CB2B1OWA/видео.html

  • @slasher5273
    @slasher5273 4 месяца назад +3

    another unsual name would be danforth and danforth

  • @terryc522
    @terryc522 4 месяца назад +5

    But did you take the Spadina Bus while listening to the Shuffle Demons?

    • @johnandrews3568
      @johnandrews3568 4 месяца назад

      it's called the spa-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-SpaDINAH bus.

    • @notsmoothsteve
      @notsmoothsteve  4 месяца назад +2

      There's a reference to that in my video on Spadina station!
      ruclips.net/video/vq11033vrcc/видео.html

  • @Angultra
    @Angultra 4 месяца назад +1

    No Strachan Ave? I couldn't pronounce that forever lol

  • @ThomasJM
    @ThomasJM 4 месяца назад +1

    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

    • @notsmoothsteve
      @notsmoothsteve  4 месяца назад

      Maybe they should do the same for what their announcement calls "DUN-dus".

    • @ThomasJM
      @ThomasJM 4 месяца назад +1

      @@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.

    • @notsmoothsteve
      @notsmoothsteve  4 месяца назад

      @@ThomasJM or maybe they're just leaving it until Dundas and Dundas West stations get renamed and the problem solves itself.

    • @ThomasJM
      @ThomasJM 4 месяца назад

      @@notsmoothsteve i doubt it . I don't really think they are going to rename them either.

  • @jakegarvin7634
    @jakegarvin7634 4 месяца назад

    No, I'd definitely still call it Road St.

  • @actng
    @actng 4 месяца назад

    man you should do standup lol

  • @karolw.5208
    @karolw.5208 2 месяца назад

    New immigrants often adopt the 'Spadeena' version. I was one, but then I followed the crowd ...

  • @alfred5674
    @alfred5674 4 месяца назад

    I’m surprised cummer ave wasn’t included

  • @Mmwindowcleaners
    @Mmwindowcleaners 4 месяца назад

    I thought you'd mention Queen's Quay

  • @dirtydove250
    @dirtydove250 4 месяца назад

    I came here hoping to learn more about Old Cummer Station... :(

  • @Coltoid
    @Coltoid 4 месяца назад +1

    It’s always bothered me that College/Carlton has two names when none of the other major streets that cross Yonge Street do.

    • @notsmoothsteve
      @notsmoothsteve  4 месяца назад +3

      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.

    • @kenkur27
      @kenkur27 4 месяца назад

      Several minor streets though: Empress and Park Home, and Church and Churchill. Both in Willowdale.

    • @Islington_Express_Bus
      @Islington_Express_Bus 4 месяца назад

      The only other major street that changes is Wilson/York Mills.

  • @Novaheart1998
    @Novaheart1998 3 месяца назад

    Avenue Road should have been named Avenue Avenue. 🎉😅💃

  • @JohnRoscoeYT
    @JohnRoscoeYT 4 месяца назад +2

    You should set up a "Buy me a coffee" so youtube doesn't take a cut

  • @canar7
    @canar7 4 месяца назад

    I pronounce the street in Toronto - Sumach Street wrong apparently. I say "Shoemack". My son told me I was wrong.

    • @johnandrews3568
      @johnandrews3568 4 месяца назад

      I find a lot of people older than 70 generally pronounce sumach as shoemack. The tree is pronounced sue-mack.

    • @canar7
      @canar7 4 месяца назад +1

      @@johnandrews3568 Yes my son pronounces it "sue-mack" 🙂.

  • @drmodestoesq
    @drmodestoesq 4 месяца назад

    Atomic Avenue didn't get a shout out? Maybe it's just me.

  • @DanTheCaptain
    @DanTheCaptain 4 месяца назад

    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…

    • @notsmoothsteve
      @notsmoothsteve  4 месяца назад

      Indeed - it's derived from a person's name, and not from anything else :-P

  • @AceBoogyStacks
    @AceBoogyStacks 4 месяца назад +1

    no trethewey?

  • @markryan2475
    @markryan2475 4 месяца назад

    Great video. Please consider doing a video on the streets named after Sir John Lakeshore, the second governor of Upper Canada.

    • @notsmoothsteve
      @notsmoothsteve  4 месяца назад +2

      That guy sure got around, even though he never travelled very far inland.

  • @drmodestoesq
    @drmodestoesq 4 месяца назад

    Bergamot Avenue ends in a Tee. Earl Grey....Hot...Make it so.

  • @natashaw401
    @natashaw401 4 месяца назад +1

    Lolll sorry about that eh

  • @kidmohair8151
    @kidmohair8151 4 месяца назад +1

    hmmm. i'm the 409th like and the 45th comment.
    completely meaningless, right?
    but a comment feeds the algo-deity...

  • @dackpack6956
    @dackpack6956 4 месяца назад

    This video is the way I find out peak freans isnt running anymore?

    • @notsmoothsteve
      @notsmoothsteve  4 месяца назад

      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.

  • @pex3
    @pex3 4 месяца назад

    I've heard it pronounced "Ish PAH DINN Ah"

  • @Coltoid
    @Coltoid 4 месяца назад

    It’s called “Roncesvale”, drop the S off the end

  • @Ericc804
    @Ericc804 4 месяца назад +1

    I love your shirt! Dildo, Newfoundland!

  • @Allister2000
    @Allister2000 3 месяца назад +1

    A video about unusual names and you wear a Dildo tshirt. Perfection!

  • @288theabe
    @288theabe 4 месяца назад

    No love for Old Cummer, eh? 😂

  • @badcgi4624
    @badcgi4624 4 месяца назад +1

    Old Cummer

  • @wisemage0
    @wisemage0 4 месяца назад +1

    So we're not going to talk about the intersection formerly known as Younge and Dundas?

  • @gododoof
    @gododoof 4 месяца назад +2

    Dildo referenced!

  • @hickorydickory
    @hickorydickory 4 месяца назад

    we are presently in an ice age

  • @MrCyclist
    @MrCyclist 4 месяца назад +1

    Keep them coming, Steve. Time to change Dundas to someone humane.

    • @travisazzopardi8024
      @travisazzopardi8024 4 месяца назад +13

      Or better yet, leave it alone and save the city the cost.

    • @mtlicq
      @mtlicq 4 месяца назад +11

      ​@@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.

    • @drmodestoesq
      @drmodestoesq 4 месяца назад +1

      @@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.

    • @marklittle8805
      @marklittle8805 4 месяца назад +1

      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