Philosopher's Walk, Toronto

[J. Will]

Not counting my terrible camera on my phone, I haven't had a working camera in ages. I got one as a gift, so I thought I'd test it out on my way home through Philosopher's Walk. I didn't want that annoying timestamp. I hope I figure out how to turn it off before I use it again.















In the distance you can see the new Four Seasons:



In the background you can see a bit of the northern end of the downtown skyline around Yonge and Bloor:

























A few bonus shots from Bloor Street near the northern end of the walk:

[Nouvellecosse]

Looks like a very beautiful, gpeaceful, green area with an interesting variety of architecture!

And on a more personal note, it's nice to see you back on the forum after your little sabbatical. It seems you've used your time away productively.

[arkitekte]

Thanks for the tour!

[SpongeG]

nice set

is this building wavy? or is it just an illusion?

[J. Will]

No it's not wavy. Maybe my hand was just shaking. I don't know. This walk is about 5 minutes in a straight line. Something like that (no cross streets) in the middle of most city's downtown grids (as opposed to near a shoreline, cliff, etc.) wouldn't be possible in most city's downtowns. It can exist in Toronto because of the huge variation on the size of the city blocks. There are blocks in the middle of the downtown grid nearly 0.5 km long. Not only this, but the block bounded by McCaul, Dundas, St. Patricks Streets and Renfrew Place for example.

[giovanni sasso]

don't think i've ever heard of this part of toronto before. pretty good stuff. the unintentional wavy pic is wild.

[J. Will]

It's a really nice walk. It's too bad it's not a little longer. It's only 5-6 minutes to walk the length of it.

[DuluthJon]

I'm having very little luck finding access to anyplace to get good photos of downtown (including a couple places where you can take a picture of someone with the city in the background). CN Tower is somewhat deceiving as you're looking through thick panes of glass (no real 'observation deck') and its almost too high to get a good clear shot of downtown. A couple other places have rooftop decks, but it feels weird in that these places are either dress-up restaurants/lounges or are very busy.

Coming from a city like Duluth, I'm used to having natural observation decks with our high hillsides overlooking downtown and Lake Superior; I know Toronto has some good scenic views from the islands, but if anyone knows of good spots to snap some photos, could you let me know?

Thanks!!
Jon

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by DuluthJon

I'm having very little luck finding access to anyplace to get good photos of downtown (including a couple places where you can take a picture of someone with the city in the background). CN Tower is somewhat deceiving as you're looking through thick panes of glass (no real 'observation deck') and its almost too high to get a good clear shot of downtown. A couple other places have rooftop decks, but it feels weird in that these places are either dress-up restaurants/lounges or are very busy.

Coming from a city like Duluth, I'm used to having natural observation decks with our high hillsides overlooking downtown and Lake Superior; I know Toronto has some good scenic views from the islands, but if anyone knows of good spots to snap some photos, could you let me know?

Thanks!!
Jon

As in any city, parking garages can offer some good - or at least "different" - skyline/cityscape views, of course, you're only going up 5 or 6 stories at the most. I've made a map showing the location of some (marked in blue - in my opinion the two on left and one on the bottom-right are the best, the rest are more surrounded by high-rises). Marked some hills with decent viewpoints too (in red).

There are also other attractions like Casa Loma or the AGO that offer some great views (marked in green). Of course, you have to pay to get in. There are various other semi-public buildings (mainly university buildings and the like - especially Robart's Library at UofT, marked in purple) with views as well.

How long are you here for? If you're still here next weekend its Door's Open, in which a whole bunch of normally inaccessible buildings are open to the public, including high-rises with all sorts of views.

Oh yeah, there's also the Dragon City Mall at the southwest corner of Dundas & Spadina. Just walk up to the top and there's a pretty sweet view.

[J. Will]

Originally Posted by DuluthJon

I'm having very little luck finding access to anyplace to get good photos of downtown (including a couple places where you can take a picture of someone with the city in the background). CN Tower is somewhat deceiving as you're looking through thick panes of glass (no real 'observation deck') and its almost too high to get a good clear shot of downtown. A couple other places have rooftop decks, but it feels weird in that these places are either dress-up restaurants/lounges or are very busy.

Coming from a city like Duluth, I'm used to having natural observation decks with our high hillsides overlooking downtown and Lake Superior; I know Toronto has some good scenic views from the islands, but if anyone knows of good spots to snap some photos, could you let me know?

Thanks!!
Jon

Yeah, it's tough. To try to get even just all of the downtown skyline in one shot in Toronto is probably tougher than anywhere. You can get a shot from out on the water, but then you're only seeing the southern end of the skyline, as the rest us blocked from view.

[DuluthJon]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

As in any city, parking garages can offer some good - or at least "different" - skyline/cityscape views, of course, you're only going up 5 or 6 stories at the most. I've made a map showing the location of some (marked in blue - in my opinion the two on left and one on the bottom-right are the best, the rest are more surrounded by high-rises). Marked some hills with decent viewpoints too (in red).

There are also other attractions like Casa Loma or the AGO that offer some great views (marked in green). Of course, you have to pay to get in. There are various other semi-public buildings (mainly university buildings and the like - especially Robart's Library at UofT, marked in purple) with views as well.

How long are you here for? If you're still here next weekend its Door's Open, in which a whole bunch of normally inaccessible buildings are open to the public, including high-rises with all sorts of views.

Oh yeah, there's also the Dragon City Mall at the southwest corner of Dundas & Spadina. Just walk up to the top and there's a pretty sweet view.

It's such a gorgeous Victoria Day - I'm just itching to get out and take some photos. Last night someone told me about the 'Docks' (11 Polson St) and Leslie Spit, I'm going to skip the 'Y' today and make this long hike my workout instead.

I will check out the library and AGO this week (I'm here til June 6; at St. Michael's College..but I'm taking a side trip to Ottawa next weekend b/c I'm running the marathon - which means I'm missing Open Doors - rats!).

Ever seen that show 'Off Limits' on Travel Channel where the host gets to check out all these old structures with amazing views and nobody's been in the buildings for like 100 years? That's the kind of travel I'd love to do! I see all these structures downtown in Toronto or (especially) Detroit & Buffalo and wonder 'what was this place? What happened? How did this downtown go from the 5th largest in the US to now 105th, etc?

Thanks for the map!! I'm downloading it now; I'll report back with pictures!

Jon