Yonge and Dundas, Toronto, 1984

This part of Toronto’s Yonge-Dundas Square is unrecognizable today, but this is how it looked in 1984. The photo was taken on Dundas East, looking west toward the intersection of Yonge and Dundas, and the Eaton Centre.

The Square was created in 2003 in an effort by the city to create a version of New York’s Times Square, or London’s Piccadilly Circus. The block of buildings on the left (with the Coles sign) was demolished, and the seven foot bronze sculpture “Bird of Spring” by Inuit artist Abraham Etungat was moved to the nearby Ryerson Community Park (aka the Quadrangle). The trees were also removed–critics of the development said that the city missed out on the opportunity for more green space in the downtown core.

There was a lot more open space in the city back in 1984, which meant more light on the downtown streets. It was about ten years before the start of the condo boom. There is a PCC streetcar (known as the Red Rocket) visible down at the intersection. People are out walking in the the September sun. Change and progress are inevitable, but I like to remember the Toronto of the 1980s. Call me nostalgic!

Here is what Yonge-Dundas Square looks like in a 2014 photo. The 1984 photo was taken below the red billboard on the right.