On Younge Street

[Westernstar9]

For those of us who have never been there, would those that have please describe Younge Street, both the urban and rural sections?

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[Gord]

There are no rural sections of Yonge Street. It basically runs from Newmarket Ontario down to Lakeshore Blvd in Toronto where it meets Lake Ontario.

Yonge Street has a number of shops and restaurants and everything else in between, also it is where you get to Massey Hall. You go to Dundas and Yonge and a block towards Union Station is where you will find Shuter Sreet. Also in this area is the old Maple Leaf Gardens on Church and Carlton Streets.

[char]

here's some sites to check out: http://www.boldts.net/Tor7.shtml http://www.toronto.com/profile/146227/

Char
Yonge st. is a retail paradise mostly - lots of shopping. skyscrapers block out most of the sun and it can get very windy. panhandlers, homeless people and druggies are part of the hustle and bustle everyday. toronto is probably the most culturally diverse city in the world. at last count there was about 180 different ethnic groups in toronto i think. some toronto schools have 80 different languages in them! And there are restaurants for every one of them.

as yonge st. leaves toronto there are more suburbs but even off yonge in toronto there are the old neighbourhoods that are so wonderful.

Char

[Westernstar9]

I mentioned rural sections of Younge Street as I heard it ran for some 500 miles. I could have misunderstood that part. At any rate, is there any section of Younge Street that appears as follows:

This would be in mid-October; leaves on the ground, people out walking around at night bundled up for a northern autumn evening. Gas-lit or pseudo gas-lit (electric) lamps trimmed in brass. People behaving in such a civil manner towards one another to the point of being polite. Park benches all around, wooden not steel.

There. Someone can burst my bubble, or soothe my imagination or simply think "Boy, what a hopelessly romantic rube!"

Thanks. Which ever way it goes!
Mike a/k/a Westernstar9

[TheWatchman]

I think that I read in the above link that long ago, Yonge Street was much, much longer that what it is today. As is the case with many roads these days, they are slpit up and divided and re-routed as people build and main routes and freeways are put in. There probably was a time when your description was pretty accurate.

[char]

YONGE STREET: Pronounced like YOUNG) http://www.torontotourism.com/about/visitor_fun_facts.asp

Yonge St. is now called Hwy.#11 north of Toronto.
I'm sure that info was from a time quite a while back. It's all electric and there aren't any benches in the Toronto are on Yonge St. Lightfoot's offices are on Yonge St. - just north of the downtown area.

Char

[Westernstar9]

I guess I am a prime example of what happens when one thinks Junior Samples is an American example of a poet laureate (sp?). I tended to simply sound out Young and add a silent "e". I stand corrected. And because it was right there in front of me, a bit embarassed. Thanks for setting me straight on Yonge Street, even if I was a tad bit disappointed about there being no turn-of-the-century park located there.

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[DMD3]

I'd always wondered if Younge Street was a real place or not. Normally, I'd have thought not, but the song sounded too real and too "describing"(that's the only way I knew how to put it) for it to be fake, so I really wasn't sure. But now I know that it is. http://www.corfid.com/ubb/smile.gif

[searam]

I confess I had a romantic notion of what the street looked like. Anyone have any pix of Gord's office? Is it still there?
Sean

[StingRay]

This is a vey interesting post, and I could not help but put my little bit of local history knowledge in. I live in the Barrie area, and in 1954 they put the 400 series highway in. Prior to this date anyone travelling north from Toronto would have to follow the infamous Highway 11 route north to Muskoka or other summer destinations. Present day Highway 11 goes North from Barrie at the 400 Extension. Before 1954 people travelling north from Toronto would travel north on Yonge St through Bradford and other small towns before reaching Barrie. When you got to Barrie you would have to go through town, making several turns to get back out to Highway 11 to Orillia. Apparently there was quite the traffic problem in town on weekends before they put the 400 in. We don't have any brass lamps here any more, and the wooden park bench probably has a homeless person sleeping on it, but yes you can still follow most of the original route. Yonge St is still called Yonge St here, for at least a portion of the original route. The official name is Simcoe County Road 4 south of Barrie now, but everyone still calls it Highway 11. And yes it does run for hundreds of kilometers north of here too, the Trans Canada Highway is both Highways 11 and 17 in places way north of us. For a version more like what you are looking for, try the Ridge Road (city folks call it Shanty Bay Road) in Oro-Medonte Township (between Barrie and Orillia) in the fall when the leaves start to turn. Just a little bit of snap in the air, smelling the first woodstove smoke. Very picturesque and well worth the visit. I would imagine Westernstar9 that the Yonge St / Highway 11 that I know wouldn't be to far off from say in about 1950. Things don't change here as fast as other places.