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Toronto(toronto)
The GTA extends beyond the city boundaries and includes the regional municipalities of Halton , Peel , York and Durham . The GTA is part of a larger, natural ecosystem known as the Greater TorontoBioregion . This ecosystem is bounded by Lake Ontario, the Niagara Escarpment , and the Oak RidgesMoraine , and includes several watersheds that drain into Lake Ontario. Up until the 1970s , Toronto was the second largest city in Canada, after Montreal . The economic growth of Toronto was greatly stimulated by the completion in 1959 of the St. LawrenceSeaway which allowed ships access to the Great Lakes from the AtlanticOcean. Further growth in the Toronto area is often attributed to the rise of the separatist movement in Quebec and the election of the Parti Québécois in 1976 . The PQ enacted several French-language laws that were unfavourable towards businessesand English-speaking Montrealers, a number of which relocated to the more anglo-friendly Toronto. The current mayor of Toronto is David Miller .
HistoryPre-historyLocated on the northern shore of Lake Ontario , Toronto was originally aterm of indeterminate geographical location, designating the approximate area of the future city of Toronto on maps dating to thelate 17th and early 18thcentury . Eventually the name was anchored to the mouth of the HumberRiver , the end of the TorontoCarrying-Place Trail portage route from Georgian Bay ; this is where thecity of Toronto is located today. The source and meaning of the name remains a matter of debate. Most common definitions claim that the origin is the Huron word toran-ten for "meeting place". However, it is much more likely that the termis from the Mohawk word referring to "the place where trees grow over the water", areference to a specific location at the northern end of what is now LakeSimcoe , then known as Lake Toronto . The portage route up the HumberRiver eventually leads past this well known landmark. As the portage route grew in use, the name became more widely used and waseventually attached to a French trading fort just inland from Lake Ontario on the Humber. Part of this confusion can be attributed to the succession of peoples who lived in the area during the 18th century: Huron, Senecas , Iroquois , and Mississaugas (the latter having lent their name to Toronto's modern-day westernsuburb). Until the beginning of British colonization there were no permanentsettlements, though both native peoples and the French did try, including the construction of another small fort near the mouthof the Humber, currently buried on the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition . European settlementEuropean settlement in central Canada was quite limited before 1788 , amounting to only afew families, but it began growing quickly in the aftermath of the American Revolution . UnitedEmpire Loyalists , American colonists who refused to accept being divorced from the United Kingdom, or who felt unwelcome inthe new republic, often came north to the unsettled lands north of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario ; some had fought in the British army and were paid with landin the region. In 1788 the British negotiated the purchase of more than a quarter million acres of land in the area of Toronto.The site was then chosen by Governor John Graves Simcoe as thecapital of the newly organized province of Upper Canada on July 29 , 1793 . Specifically the town, then known as York, was built inland from the Toronto Islands , a chain of small islands leading into a marsh at their eastern end, with an opening at thewestern end. This formed a natural protected harbour, one that was defended with the construction of Fort York at the entrance onwhat was then a high point on the water's edge with a small river on the inland side (Garrison Creek). The town proper was formedcloser to the eastern end of the harbour, near what is now Parliament Street. Governor Simcoe was concerned with opening military communications between the settlements in the southwest of Upper Canada(notably Niagara-on-the-Lake , then knownas Newark ), and those to the east ( Kingston , then points east to the border with Lower Canada ). Dundas Street was the western route, leading to the town of the samename near Hamilton , but then continued west instead ofsoutheast towards Niagara, and today it ends near the US border at Windsor . Kingston Road today forms the basis of the major Toronto-Montreal route. A third route, Yonge Street , was opened northward to Lake Toronto (later renamed Lake Simcoe ) and cut in three years. Yonge Street now forms the dividing line betweeneast and west in Toronto, and is sometimes called "the longest street in the world" as it snakes its way for 1,896 kilometers to Rainy River , onthe Minnesota border. In 1813 , as part of the War of 1812 ,York was attacked and partially burned. It was in retaliation for this that British forces attacked Washington, DC , the next year. Fort York was lightly manned at the time, and realizing that a defence was impossible, the troops retreated andset fire to the magazine. It exploded as the US forces were entering the fort, and many US soldiers were killed in the explosion.After the US forces left a new and much stronger fort was constructed several hundred yards to the west of the original position.Another attack in 1814 was beaten off with ease, the landing force never being able to approach the shoreline. This newer fortnow lies hundreds of yards inland due to landfill being dumped into the lake, and what was then a high point is largely invisiblebehind the Gardiner Expressway. In 1834 the town reverted to the name Toronto and this was the name the city wasincorporated under on March 6 of that year, with William Lyon Mackenzie as its first mayor. Toronto was the siteof the key events of the Upper Canada Rebellion in 1837 . GrowthGrowth continued to be slow and even in the late 1800s one artist managed to paint amap of the town including every individual building. Nevertheless modern amenities came to Toronto, including an extensive (andstill existing) streetcar network in the city plus long-distance railways and interurban lines (calledradial railways in Ontario). One radial line ran mostly along Yonge Street for about 80 km to Lake Simcoe, and alloweddaytrips to its beaches. At the time Toronto's own beaches were far too polluted to use, a side effect of dumping garbagedirectly in the lake. The Grand Trunk Railway and the Great Northern Railway joined in the building of thefirst Union Station in the downtown area. As the city grew it became naturally bounded by the Humber River to the west, and the DonRiver to the east. Several smaller rivers and creeks in the downtown area were routed into culverts and sewers and the landfilled in above them, including both Garrison Creek and Taddle Creek, which runs through the University of Toronto . At the time they were being used as opensewers, and becoming a serious health problem. The Don has an especially deep ravine, cutting off the east at most points north of the lakeshore. This was addressed in 1919with the construction of the Prince Edward Viaduct, better known today as the Bloor Street Viaduct , linking Bloor Street on the western side of the ravine with Danforth Avenue onthe east. The designer, Edmund Burke, fought long and hard to have a lower deck added to the bridge for trains, a cost the citywas not willing to provide for. Nevertheless he finally got his way, and thereby saved the city millions of dollars when the TTC subway started using the deck in 1966. The Prince Edward Viaduct represented a turning point in Toronto's history. Now linked to what were formerly separate towns,Toronto "filled out" in the first half of the 20th century, becoming a single larger city. In 1904 a large section of the downtown was destroyed in the 1904 Toronto fire , but it was quickly rebuilt. Recent historyAs the rural areas surrounding the city began to be transformed into suburbs during the postwar boom, the need for morecoordination of city services became apparent. As a result, in 1953 , the new Municipalityof Metropolitan Toronto was created, and came into being on January 1 , 1954 , as a new regional level ofgovernment. It encompassed East York , Etobicoke , ForestHill , Leaside , Long Branch , Mimico , New Toronto , NorthYork , Scarborough , Swansea , Toronto, Weston , and York . These thirteen townships, villages and cities continued to exist andprovide services, with the so-called "Metro" government gradually taking over services that crossed municipal boundaries, such aswater supply, transit, and expressways. On January 1 , 1967 , several of thesmaller municipalities were amalgamated with larger ones, reducing their number to six. Forest Hill and Swansea became part ofToronto; Long Branch, Mimico, and New Toronto joined Etobicoke; Weston merged with York; and Leaside amalgamated with EastYork. This arrangement lasted until 1998 , when the regional level of government was abolishedand the six municipalities (Toronto, Etobicoke, North York, East York, York, and Scarborough) were amalgamated into a single'giant' municipality. Many people criticized this change, which came on top of a massive "downloading" of provincial services tothe municipal level, with little to no new revenue sources. The overwhelming majority of the citizens of Toronto opposedamalgamation, as proven by a referendum in that year. However, the Province ofOntario under Premier Mike Harris had the formal power to ignore thisreferendum, and did so. Mel Lastman , the long-time mayor of North York before the amalgamation, was the first mayor of the new ("megacity of")Toronto. At this point the definition of Toronto itself came into some doubt. In the 2000 Toronto municipal elections , over 88% of those voting did so for a mayor thathad discussed forming a new Province of Toronto - thesecond-place finisher Tooker Gomberg (8%) strongly favoured this move,while Mel Lastman (80%) also voiced his support. His statements were far more likely an attack on the provincial government,rather than a serious proposal, however, and after winning the election did nothing to advance this idea. The notion was alsofavoured by urban activist Jane Jacobs . In all probability such a separationis legally difficult or impossible - under the Canadianconstitution the municipalities have no actual power; they are just permitted to make use of provincial authority. This of course was one of the main problems that had concerned the activists - a few small groups, notably the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty ,advocated an extended campaign of property damage and resistance to Ontario's government. This led to Toronto's first large-scaleriot in the summer of 2000 - a violent confrontation in front of the provincial legislature- as well as several smaller such events in 2001 . When prominent federal politiciansincluding Paul Martin and later Jack Layton ( NewDemocratic Party of Canada leader and for 20 years a Toronto City Councillor ) began promising a "new deal for cities", and large banks began issuing paperson it, the rhetoric in general became more muted and support for violent or radical solutions had faded. None of these dealshave, however, been realized. In 2002 Toronto hosted the WorldYouth Day 2002 and Pope John Paul II . The municipalgovernment's two largest unions, Locals 79 and 416 of CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employes) went on strike a few weeks beforethe scheduled event, meaning that services such as libraries, day care, parks programs, and other important services were notavailable. Since city workers also pick up garbage and recycling, city parks were piled high with trash; some parks weredesignated official dump sites for the duration of the strike, while others were used as illegal dumps. The Ontario governmenttabled back-to-work legislation to end the strike, so the city was back to normal before World Youth Day started. In 2003 Toronto was hit by the SARS epidemic.Although the disease was primarily confined to hospitals and health-care workers, tourism in Toronto significantly sufferedbecause of media reports. To help recover the losses the city suffered in industries and tourism, the city held a " SARS Benefit Concert ," colloquiallycalled 'SARSStock,' featuring many famous bands such as AC/DC , Rush , The Guess Who , Justin Timberlake , and headlined by The Rolling Stones . The concert attracted some 450,000 people, makingit one of the largest concerts in history, second only to Woodstock in 1969 (which had 500,000 people). The city was also affected by the 2003 U.S.-Canada Blackout . The results were chaotic, withthe city grinding to a halt, the streets being deserted and power not being restored for more than 12 hours in many cases, and insome areas for three days. In the 2003 Toronto election David Miller was elected to replace Mel Lastman as mayor. In 2004 , Toronto balanced its budget for the first time in years. This came from a GSTexemption for cities, modest property tax increases, and bailouts from higher level governments. Toronto is currently the city with the second-highest proportion of immigrants in the world, after Miami, Florida . Almost half of Toronto's residents were born outside Canada. [1] City IssuesAlthough crime (including violent crime) in Toronto has been steadily decreasing over the past decade, concern over gun andgang related crimes has come to the attention of the media. Although Toronto's homicide levels are extremely low compared tosimilar sized American cities (in 2003 Toronto had 65 homicides, while similar sized Chicago had over 590) and Toronto has lower crime rates than most cities in Canada, there are many calls to takeaction to prevent what is seen as a slide towards an increase in crime. American gang experts have been brought in and increasedfunding for programs in troubled neighbourhoods have been recently initiated. Toronto is also struggling to come to grips with a steadily growing homeless problem. Many programs and responsibilities havebeen recently downloaded to the city from provincial and federal government, with many arguing that new ways for the City toraise revenue need to be given to fund these new responsibilities. Toronto has an extensive public transit system, the TTC , but transit advocates argue very vocally that the system has been grossly underfunded in recentyears. New higher level governments have indicated that they are prepared to fund the system further, so this situation maychange. For decades the development of the Toronto waterfront hasbeen a major issue. The formerly industrial area is now largely vacant and awaiting redevelopment. In The CityLandmarks
Annual Events
Attractions
Performing artsToronto is home to a vibrant theater scene, where such companies as Soulpepper , the Canadian Stage , and Tarragon produceplays; as well, many Broadway theatrical hits originated in Toronto, such as ShowBoat and Ragtime . Toronto also is home to the Toronto SymphonyOrchestra , a major orchestra, which performs at Roy Thomson Hall , as well as the Canadian OperaCompany , and Tafelmusik , aninternationally-known baroque orchestra and chamber choir. HarbourfrontCentre is a major performing arts venue, with several theaters and stages. During the summer, a series of weekend festivalsbrings world music to Toronto. The National Ballet of Canada is based inToronto and performs at the Four Seasons Centre . In recent years, a popular rock concert series, Classic AlbumsLive , has been undertaken, which features local musicians performing an entire classic rock album. Toronto's NeighbourhoodsToronto has upwards of 240 distinct neighbourhoods within its boundaries. The following is a list of its most notable ones.The list has been divided into the former municipalities, the names of which are still known and commonly used byTorontonians. "Old" TorontoThe Old City of Toronto refers to the City of Toronto and its boundaries from 1967 to 1997 . It is sometimes referred to as the "South" or "Central" District.
East YorkEtobicoke
ScarboroughNorth York
York
Toronto's suburbsThe suburbs immediately surrounding Toronto are also known as the "905 belt" or simply "the 905", after their telephone areacode. (Toronto is known as "the 416", despite the fact that there are two area codes, 416 and 647, that serve the cityproper.)
For more information on the suburbs of Toronto, see GreaterToronto Area . Educational InstitutionsToronto is the seat of three universities: There are also many other institutes of higher learning, including:
Toronto is also host to many leading Canadian independent (private) schools, including Branksome Hall, Bishop Strachan School,Crescent School, Havergal College, St.Michael's College School , St. Clement's School, Royal St. George's College and Upper Canada College . TransportationHighways
Public Transportation
Airports
OtherThe Breeze ferry service across Lake Ontario linking Toronto to Rochester, New York launched on June 17 , 2004 . On north-south streets, street numbers increase as you move away from Lake Ontario, with even numbers being on the west side.On east-west streets, they increase as you move away from Yonge Street, with even numbers on the north. SportsToronto is home to several professional sports franchises and annual sporting events, including
NicknamesToronto's nicknames include:
Canadians often pronounce the name as "Toronno" or even "Trono". This merely reflects general local pronunciation (forinstance, "ninety" is often pronounced somewhere between "9-D" and "9-E", rather than "9-T"). It is never incorrect to pronouncedistinctly the second t in Toronto, and many local people do so. Other occasionally heard pronunciations are "Toranna"or "Taranna". Local MediaToronto has a wide range of media outlets in many languages. and is the centre of Canada's English language media industry.See list of Toronto media outlets See also
External links
tornto, ontario, toornto, canada, tornoto, lake, torono, street, oronto, east, torotno, canadian, toonto, west, , one, tronto, college, toronot, world, toroto, airport, troonto, municipalities, otronto, park, toront, fort This article is completely or partly from Wikipedia - The Free Online Encyclopedia. Original Article. The text on this site is made available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation Licence. We take no responsibility for the content, accuracy and use of this article. Anoca.org Encyclopedia 0.04s |
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