Tom Swift
Tom
Tom Swift
I'm a computer consultant living in Toronto Canada. Fascinated by Location based technologies and virtual GeoCaching. This forum is not exactly that but is closest I have found to recording odrinary experiences of far off lands in an organized way and is free. Have done a lot f travelling - UK, Spain, Germany, France, US, Caribbean but not travelling much right now. Would have loved to have had a site like this when I was instead of lugging a travel book around could use a PDA (like Palm or Pocketpc) which is less conspicuous. Want to detail some info about Toronto might help travellers visiting here. As well I like to look at Travel guides to learn more about the city it is so large there is lots to do and discover. I've lived here for many years but not originally from here so technically am on an extended journey in this largest city in Canada. Noticed Canada was not listed though we have lots of tourists and immigrants so hope my input will help. Can't guarantee you will have the same response as me or even the accuracy or completeness but hope it offers a personal perspective. As time allows will add info about some of the other places I've been or am going to.
There are many sites and GPS software with city specific info but Toronto is not often offered so would like to try share my interest in the place so if one finds themselves at a main intersection and wonders "what is around here" they can get an idea. I did have a PDA when I travelled but at 9600 speeds using GSM and infrared, it was painfully slow and expensive. Now adays with GPRS, 1XRTT, WiFi and sites like this a PDA user
can gain a lot more. Mobiles phones might even have access to this through a wap gateway. One is less conspicuous as a visitor getting info from these devices at least in Toronto locals use these a lot in daily work and life.
Toronto streets are laid out in a grid pattern for the mostpart (similar to New York though unlike Washington DC which has diagonals as well). I will list NorthSouth/EastWest street intersections so if you were at that spot you could get an idea of what is around. I am also intersted in how the city is changing and evolving and would like to indicate where things used to be in some cases. A rough "map" of the bottom of the city (will expand as time allows loads faster on a PDA than a bitmap):
General Coordinates:
Latitude / Longitude
43° 41' N / 79° 38' W
(Mapquest.com has options to search by Lat/Long)
A B C D
8 + + + +
7 + + + +
6 + + + +
5 + + + +
4 + + + +
3 + * + +
2 + + + +
1 + + + +
~~The Lake~~
(The Islands)
(North/South)
A=Spadina
B=York/UniversityAve*
C=Bay
D=Yonge
*not to be confused with York University which is far north on Steeles Ave. UniversityAve is so called because it leads to UofT. York street because Toronto was once called York. These roads start at the same point and go north parallel.
(East/West)
8-QueenStreetWest
7-Richmond
6-Adelaide
5-KingSteet
4-Wellington
3=Front Street
2=Lakeshore
1=Queen's Quay
If you have a laptop and good bandwidth more details can be had at www.toronto.com but hopefully my entries will allow quick searching using a PDA, which a tourist would more likely carry around than a laptop. Hope other visitors and interested people will add to mine and share about Toronto.
For WiFi usage here see Spotnikglobal.com, bell.ca/accesszone (free for 2003),netwireless.ca. An interesting site with info on certain locations using voice on your mobile is murmurtoronto.com