hkskyline's 2018 in #TorontoStrong

[hkskyline]

On April 23, 2018, a white van mounted the curb on Yonge Street and ran down pedestrians enjoying a warm, spring day. It moved almost 2km before the driver was arrested but 10 people ranging from 22 to 94 were killed.

On April 29, a vigil was held at Mel Lastman Square, which was along the section of Yonge where this incident happened. Various religious leaders as well as the political elite attended to show the city's resilience.











A citizen's memorial has appeared across the street near where the van first mounted the sidewalk at Yonge and Finch. Among the 10 killed were a South Korean international student and a Jordanian visiting his son.















I have actually covered North York in one of my previous Toronto threads. For more on this part of Yonge Street from my 2017 collection, click here or visit my website.

I have been quite lucky with the flight paths so far this year with many aerial opportunities over the city. Some of the close-ups might give you a perception Toronto is a very dense city, but step back a bit, and you will soon see there are so many lowrises even in the centre of town.







Then there is all that unsustainable suburban sprawl.





Strip malls line the main corridors. This is a stretch of Hwy 7 in Markham, a northern suburb.





Heading west, the landscape becomes more industrial. A recent subway extension opened to this part of town recently. Why they chose this instead of intensifying or finishing a half-done subway line in the city is a mystery. Politicians are not good transit planners.



On December 17, 2017, the 8.6km Line 1 subway extension opened to Vaughan, marking the first time the subway has crossed the Toronto city border. Of the 6 new subway stations, 2 are located in York Region, accounting for 2.4km of track. The $3.2 billion extension was funded by the federal, provincial, and municipal governments. During my visit, the trains and stations were mostly empty.









Guess they couldn't afford platform-screen doors either.







Let's head downtown for a more urban experience. St. Lawrence Market has a number of cooked food places to grab a lunch. One particular restaurant always has a line. I tried their lobster roll and it was quite good. They didn't cheap out on the materials!



Fresh Canadian oysters from PEI could be shuckled in front of you for as low as $2.25 each! They're more expensive than the Sydney Fish Market but tasted just as fresh.





Satisfied with lunch, I explored around for some more culinary inspiration.

















The market is close enough to the financial district for office workers to reach during the warmer months.







These old streetcars have been around for way beyond their life expectancy. Manufacturing issues have delayed the implementation of new rolling stock so they will continue to ply the streets for some time to come.







With more residential developments appearing downtown, hopefully the streetcars can fill up a bit more. Transit ridership growth hasn't been quite good in recent years.

















For more photos, visit my website : http://www.globalphotos.org/toronto.htm