Chris Bateman

Toronto Bike Month 2012 is upon us, so if you haven't already dusted off your helmet and climbed back in the saddle, now is definitely the the time to do it. The festivities kick off Monday with a group commute from Yonge and Bloor to downtown, and …

Time to pump up the tires and lube up the chain, Bike Month is here again. From May 25 to June 25, hundreds of cycling-related events will take place across the GTA. From tune-ups, to repair workshops, to Polish-themed bicycle rides around the city's …

The York Hotel at King and Berkeley was one of the first hotels in Toronto. Opened 1805, just 12 years after the founding of the Town of York, the timber-framed, two-storey building briefly housed the Upper Canada legislature meetings after the first …

Navigating the Toronto subway at the height of rush hour is a major headache, but the TTC has a few weapons in its arsenal designed to manage the crowds. Among them: plastic barriers, megaphones, and reversible escalators. TTC spokesman Brad Ross …

The Googie architectural movement didn't last long. For about two decades, starting in 1940s post-war Southern California, the distinctively whimsical building style became the go-to aesthetic for motels, drive-thrus, gas stations, and other (mostly) …

A few years ago David Snaith was walking on the beach near Sunnyside with his young son when they came across a coconut washed up on the sand. It was intact, and showed no hint as to its origins. "I'm from Australia, and a coconut washed on the beach …

The signs along Highway 5 point the way for drivers headed to Pearson Airport. Turn left for Terminal 1, keep going straight ahead for Terminal 3. But what about Terminal 2? Why does Canada's busiest airport appear to be missing a critical …

The electorate has spoken: Stephen Harper is out and Justin Trudeau is in. Just four years after being obliterated under Michael Ignatieff (remember him?) the Liberal party has rebounded in a big way, taking the majority of the seats in the House of …

With the 2015 federal election now just days away, candidates across Toronto are making a final push for votes. This year, tweaked riding boundaries and the creation of two new electoral districts within the city have resulted in several seriously …

Very few publicly-funded Toronto mega projects get built without cash from the federal government, so that makes the outcome of next week's election especially important. The future of John Tory's SmartTrack, the relief subway line, and jet air …

In October 1798, John Sullivan was sent to the town gallows on King St. E. The unfortunate crook, an illiterate tailor, had been convicted of passing a forged banknote worth three shillings and ninepence, slightly less than a dollar, and conspiring …

Toronto looks like something out of Tron if you colour each building based on its height, like map maker and open data enthusiast Pat Forestell did this weekend. Forestell, who also made the map of Toronto travel patterns, says he decided to put the …

It's only been here for 10 years, but already the annual Scotiabank Nuit Blanche art festival has grown from a modest local attempt to emulate a successful European arts festival to an economic and cultural behemoth, drawing hundreds of thousands of …

Toronto city council has voted to investigate regulating Uber and other ride-sharing services like it. After a lengthy six-hour debate full of bluster and high emotions, a motion by Mayor John Tory to look at ways of regulating "alternate ground …

Toronto subway stations are getting special bike repair stops as part of a pilot project launched this morning by the TTC. The bright red repair stands include a pump for inflating flat tires, a selection of wrenches, Allen keys, and screw drivers …

Old City Hall at Queen and Bay streets could be turned a shopping mall when the provincial and municipal courts clear out of the building some time in the next decade. Nothing has been decided yet, but a real estate brokerage firm hired by the city …

Toronto never really embraced the aerial walkway. In fact, it's been official city policy for decades to discourage and even suggest the dismantling of such structures. While Calgary developed the world's largest network of overhead pedestrian …

During the 10 years between 1960 and 1970, the area around Queen and Bay streets in Toronto underwent a drastic modernization. Neighbourhood cinemas, burlesque theatres, stores, and hole-in-the-wall restaurants on the south side of Queen gave way to …

If you were to stand at the intersection of King and John 55 years ago, chances are you would spot a Canadian Pacific locomotive before you would find gourmet meal. In the early 1960s, the strip was a unglamourous collection of railway sidings and …

After years of study, consultation, lobbying, and pleading by cyclists, Bloor Street is on course to get its first ever bike lane between Shaw and Avenue Road as part of a pilot project that could clear a major hurdle this week. The Bloor lanes form …