It’s a surreal feeling.

One thing I really enjoy about Toronto is that you can disappear. You see so many people every day, but you don’t actually know them.

We all kind of coincidentally live together. And coexist.

One morning, Randy and I woke up to the most beautiful sunrise over the city. So we decided to go to the Island.

We saw a street called Omaha Avenue. Randy is from Omaha, Nebraska. We loved that. A couple days later we went back and did a photoshoot there.

Then we built a terrible bonfire on the beach, and had baguettes and brie. And drank wine.

The Island reminded me of when I lived in New Brunswick. And when I lived in the Yukon. It’s a little community there.

Where everyone knows their neighbour.

It’s a symbolic place for me. Of the blissfulness of being a kid. And at the same time, the beauty and tranquility of being older and wise.

I love that there’s that little escape in Toronto.

Thanks to Sara Anne for sharing her story. Check out her boudoir photos on Instagram.

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This was one of the first places I found authentic, Parisian-style baked goods. Near my home.

When I worked at House & Home Magazine, I walked through Trinity-Bellwoods Park every day. A welcome breath of nature in the great big city.

The CN Tower poking its head in the distance. It’s always a great reminder of where I am.

On the way to work or on the way home, I would stop to get an almond croissant at Nadège. I turned the whole office onto them!

The whole aesthetic was clean and inviting. It made me happy to be here.

Nadège and Trinity-Bellwoods are the perfect pairing.

Thanks to Amy for sharing her story. Make sure to pick up a copy of her book, Toronto Cooks, celebrating Toronto’s thriving restaurant scene!

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This is the place that made me decide to stay in Toronto.

Spadina Avenue.

It was 1969 when I came to Toronto. I hated it. My wife hated it.

At the time, the city was a boring, dull place.

But around the world, interesting things were happening. There were demonstrations in France that brought the government down. South of the border, opposition to the Vietnam War was growing.

We had a ‘Europhile’ contempt for Toronto.

After traveling to Central America, we tried to scratch a living in New York. And then ran out of money. The only place I knew I could get some money was Toronto.

In those days, you could just phone up your friend at university to ask for a job, and they’d give you a job. So he gave me a job. And I really enjoyed it.

A lot of things had happened to me at that point. In terms of my view of the world.

I remember walking up Spadina, and suddenly feeling that this was the place where I wanted to spend the rest of my life.

The part of Spadina I walked up was between Grossman’s and the El Mocambo. Right outside here. It was a nice spring morning like today.

I realized it was an interesting city. 

A generation later, I’m a happily married man with a lovely family.

Xam Yu was our Sunday spot. The kids would get bored with our adult conversation. Their schtick was they’d tie all of our shoelaces together. Adults on the upper deck, kids on the lower deck. Giggles at both levels. 

I’ve always held this particular restaurant in great affection.

Thanks to Joe for sharing his story. Check out the local and international urban planning work done by his firm, Urban Strategies. And read about the seven ways to make Toronto a world-class city again in Joe’s recent Globe and Mail op-ed.

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I moved to the area around Allan Gardens, with Tim. Years ago. It was great to live together. But it was tough times.

We were walking north of our apartment one day, and came to this beautiful building. Wondering what it was, we approached the doors.

We would come here in the winter. Even just for five minutes, we’d run up and run inside. And breathe deeply.

The conservatory was an oasis. This warm, inviting building, full of life.

It was a thing of hope. Of beauty. When we couldn’t find it elsewhere.

Thanks to Allyson for sharing her story. Watch her on Mohawk Girls and Teenagers. And make sure to check out her website too!

Across from Allan Gardens is the Miziwe Biik, an employment and training centre for aboriginal peoples. Learn about their great work here.

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When I came to Toronto for the first time, I was in my first year of high school. It was for a music trip.

The first place we went was Yonge-Dundas Square. The minute we got there, I took a picture. 

I loved the people. The busyness. The buildings.

I knew I wanted to live in Toronto. I just loved it.

When I moved here with my best friend for school, we would hop on the subway and just go somewhere different. To explore and learn about the city.

We’ve seen so much, but there’s still so much to see. 

Thanks to Stephi Mary Jean for sharing her story. Check her out on Instagram to see some of her makeup and modelling work.

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Moving from Montreal proved to be somewhat of a challenge.

When I came here, I found myself lonely in a new city.

The winter blues were getting to me. I didn’t know my place in Toronto. What my life was going to look like. It was hard without my family and my friends here. 

But I found some comfort when I came to the AGO with my boyfriend for the first time. I feel like arts and culture are lost on our generation. So we make a point of coming here regularly.

The first time we came, we went to the Basquiat exhibit. I was able to relate to the pain and the darker stuff in his art. It made me take a step back and think about how I was feeling. It momentarily helped me forget what was causing me anxiety.

Thanks to Tara for sharing her story. Check out her website to read her blog and see her amazing photography and design work.

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I just love animals. There is so much we can learn from them.

Being in this space is grounding.  It inspires me. Especially with the paintings I’m working on now.

About two summers ago I first met Lucy the Goat in Riverdale Farm.

When we were leaving home, my partner told me to take a bag of organic rolled oats. I broke the rules. Lucy was the first one to come running. She loved the oats.

In my book of children’s illustrations, I’ll be illustrating Lucy.

Thanks to Sam for sharing his story. Visit Intuitive Dreams & Beyond to see his beautiful illustrations.

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This is a love letter to the Toronto Public Library. 

Illustration was an excuse to explore every corner of the city. 

The Riverdale Branch was one of the last libraries I drew. I was a seasoned library traveler by this point in the project.

It’s beautifully situated. The Don Valley is right behind it. I really feel like the Riverdale Branch is the gateway to downtown.

You cross over the bridge, and then you’re in a whole different area.

When I was drawing the Riverdale Branch, I was across the street at the bank. Lots of people came up to me, interested in what I was doing. They talked about their experiences with the Riverdale Branch.

On that day, I spoke with a woman while I was drawing. The library was like a home for her. A safe space. You could see the glint in her eye when she told me. 

Thanks to Daniel, the Urban Geographer, for sharing his story. Check out All the Libraries Toronto to see his amazing illustrations. He drew every single one.

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Before I moved to Toronto, I had always imagined what ‘success’ meant to me.

It was an image of myself, walking across a scramble crossing, holding a coffee.

Four years later, I ended up being in the middle of an intersection, but in a totally different way.

Yonge and Bloor was the epicenter of Open Streets TO, a program that I helped start. The program opens streets to people by closing them to cars.

It’s a really magical thing that happened in our city.

Open Streets programs encourage people to get active without thinking about it, because they can explore their city in a new way.

It also might encourage behaviour on other days, outside of Open Streets. It’s a really transformational thing for the city.

On August 31st, at 11:30am, on the south-east corner I actually had a moment to close my eyes, take it all in, and see what was happening.

There was an African drumming band with a huge crowd drumming around them. There was a woman learning how to long-board. She was around 50 or 60 years old. There were kids running around doing chalk art in the intersection.

I actually witnessed that we had turned the intersection of Yonge and Bloor into a place for people to stop, chat, bike through, or skate through, or perform music in.

Thanks to Aly for sharing her story. Read more about Open Streets TO, and check out the amazing work that Aly does at 8-80 Cities.

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Having fires here has always been a really special thing to do, even before Brighid was born.

Just being able to have a fire in the city, and sing songs and tell stories around a fire. It’s not something that we really equate with an urban experience.

When I found out I was going to have a child, I wanted to be close to this park. Because I wanted that experience to be a regular part of our life.

It’s been a big part of Brighid’s life.

If you’re Christian, you have your baptism, and if you’re Jewish, you have a bris. We aren’t religious in a traditional way, but I feel like it’s important to have rites of passage. 

When she was three months old, we had the naming ceremony here. All kinds of people came. We told the story of the goddess that she was named after, and people made pledges. And now we still come here. We book the fire pit and have sing-alongs.

Thanks to Brighid and Kim for sharing their story. Check out Brighid’s website to hear some of her folk music!

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