Toronto
From WikidToronto
Toronto is a Canada|Canadian city and the Provinces and territories of Canada|provincial capital of Ontario; it is located on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. With a population of 2,481,494, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fifth most populous in North America (after Mexico City, New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.) The population of the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) is estimated at 5,304,100 in 2005 (Statistics Canada). The Greater Toronto Area (GTA), slightly larger than the Toronto CMA, is defined by provincial authorities for urban planning purposes. Residents of Toronto are called Torontonians. The city is part of the Golden Horseshoe, a densely populated region in Ontario of over eight million people. Approximately one-quarter of the Canadian population lives within the Golden Horseshoe, and about one-sixth of all Canadian jobs lie within the city limits. It currently holds the tallest freestanding structure on land in the world in the CN Tower, and the first ever stadium to have a retractable roof, the Rogers Centre (formerly the SkyDome), which was built in 1989.
Toronto is a global city, exerting significant regional, national, and international influence, and is one of the world's most multicultural and ethnically diverse cities: 42% of the population was born outside of Canada. Toronto is Canada's financial centre and economic engine, as well as one of the country's most important cultural, art, and health sciences centres. In January 2005, it was designated by the federal government as one of Canada's cultural capitals.
In 1998, the current City of Toronto was amalgamated from its six prior municipalities and regional government. The current mayor of Toronto is David Miller.
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History
Template:Main articles The Toronto area was a meeting place as well as home to a number of First Nations groups who lived on the shore of Lake Ontario. The first European presence was the French trading fort Fort Rouillé established in 1750. The first large influx of Europeans was by United Empire Loyalists fleeing the American Revolution. In 1793 Toronto, then known as York, was named capital of the new colony of Upper Canada. The city steadily grew during the nineteenth century, becoming one of the main destinations of immigrants to Canada. On March 6, 1834, the Township of York became the City of Toronto. In the second half of the twentieth century Toronto surpassed Montreal as the economic capital of Canada and as its most populous city.
According to a United Nations report, Toronto has the second-highest proportion of immigrants in the world, after Miami, Florida. Almost half of Toronto's residents were born outside Canada. The resulting cultural diversity is reflected in the numerous ethnic neighbourhoods of the city. The proliferation of shops and restaurants derived from cultures around the world makes the city one of the most exciting places in the world to visit. Moreover, the relative tranquility that mediates between such diverse populations is a testament to the perceived tolerant character of Canadian society.
Demographics
Toronto is the most multiculturalism|multicultural city in the world. In 2004, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ranked Toronto second, behind Miami, in its "List of World Cities with the Largest Percentage of Foreign-born Population". Though ranking first, Miami's foreign-born population is mostly Hispanic, whereas Toronto's is significantly more diverse. Toronto also ranked ahead of Los Angeles, Vancouver, New York City, Singapore, and Sydney.
Toronto represents a multicultural mosaic. The 2001 Canadian census indicates 42.8% of Toronto's population being of a visible minority. In March 2005, Statistics Canada projected that the visible minority proportion will comprise a majority in both Toronto and Vancouver by 2012.
Small majorities still claim their origins from Britain, Ireland and Italy. Significant populations of Portuguese, Jamaicans, Croatians, Chinese, East Indians, Sri Lankans, Latin Americans, Armenians, Romanians, Russians, Filipinos, Iranians, Vietnamese, Somalis, Poles, Guyanese, Macedonians, Pakistanis, Greeks, Serbs, Koreans, West Africans, Arabs, and Trinidadians, amongst others, exist throughout the city. Areas like Koreatown, Chinatown, Little Jamaica, the India Bazaar or Little India, Portugal Village and Corso Italia and Little Italy are examples of these large cultural populations.
Roman Catholicism is the largest faith in the city of Toronto (not the Census Metropolitan Area), accounting for 31.4% in 2001, followed by the Anglican Church (20.1%) and other Christian denominations (Pentecostal, Baptist, Church of God etc. (10.8%). Other faiths such as Islam account for 6.7% of the population, Hinduism (4.8%), Jewish (4.2%) and other communities like Buddhism, Sikhism and Eastern Religions account for 4.0% of the population. 18.8% had no religious affiliation.
While English is the predominant language (51.8%) spoken by Torontonians, Statistics Canada reports that other language groups are significant, including Chinese, Portuguese, Tamil, Persian, Spanish, Punjabi and Italian. Only 1.4% of city residents claim French (Canada's other official language) as their mother tongue.
Geography and climate
When an HTTP client (generally a web browser) requests a URL that points at just a directory rather than at a file within a directory the web server will generally serve up some kind of main or index page.
index.html is the traditional filename for such a page, but most decent webservers will allow a list of filenames to be configured. If a server is set up to support server-side scripting then there will usually be entries in the list to allow dynamic content to be used as the index page (for example: index.php, index.shtml, default.asp). In the popular opensource web server Apache the list of filenames is controlled by the DirectoryIndex directive in the configuration file.
If the webserver cannot find a page with any of the names its set to try then it may either return an error (generally 404 (Not Found) ) or create its own index page of the files in the directory. This is usually also a configuarable option.
In order to allow relative links to work correctly the URL for a directory must end with a slash. If it does not then most webservers will send a http redirect to add the slash.
http://www.mysite.tld is not really a valid url but almost all browsers will turn it into http://www.mysite.tld/ automatically and this will then result in the serving up of the index page from the root directory of the website. Thus, the home page is usually index.html, and is often called an “index page” (despite that it is usually more like a table of contents than an index).
The City of Toronto covers an area of 641 km² (247 square miles) and is bounded by Lake Ontario to the south, Etobicoke Creek and Highway 427 to the west, Steeles Avenue to the north, and the Rouge River to the east. In addition to Etobicoke Creek and the Rouge River, the city is intersected by two major rivers and their tributaries, the Humber River in the west end and the Don River just east of the central core. The concentration and protection of ravines allows for large tracts of densely forested valleys with recreational trails within the city.
Toronto's climate is moderated by its southerly location and its proximity to Lake Ontario; its climate is among the mildest of any place in Canada east of the Rocky Mountain range. However, the daily weather is highly variable, particularly during the winter months. Mild periods often occur throughout the winter (temperatures in the 5-10 °C range (40s°F) or even higher are not uncommon) triggering regular melting of snow on the ground, so that there are snow free periods even in mid-winter. The average January maximum temperature is -2 °C (28 °F). There are usually two or three bitter cold snaps each year, where maximum temperatures only reach into the -10°C to -15°C range, often accompanied by strong winds making it feel even colder. In the summer, daytime temperatures rarely climb higher than 35°C (95°F), but high humidity often causes the equivalent humidex value to be 40°C (104 °F) or even higher. The average July maximum temperature is 27°C (80°F). Autumn is considered by many people to be the best season of the year, offering pleasant daytime temperature followed by refreshingly cool nights. Spring is typically the shortest season of the year. The average yearly precipitation is not much above 760 millmeters (30 inches), with an average annual snowfall of about 115 centimeters (46 inches). Precipitation is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year, but summer is usually the wettest (and also sunniest) season. Severe weather phenomena include periods of intense cold in winter or heat in summer (such temperature extremes are usually short-lived, however), freezing rainstorms, thunderstorms, and hail. Toronto is rarely affected by the remnants of Atlantic hurricanes, although Hurricane Hazel in 1954 produced widespread flooding and damage throughout the area.
Government
When an HTTP client (generally a web browser) requests a URL that points at just a directory rather than at a file within a directory the web server will generally serve up some kind of main or index page.
index.html is the traditional filename for such a page, but most decent webservers will allow a list of filenames to be configured. If a server is set up to support server-side scripting then there will usually be entries in the list to allow dynamic content to be used as the index page (for example: index.php, index.shtml, default.asp). In the popular opensource web server Apache the list of filenames is controlled by the DirectoryIndex directive in the configuration file.
If the webserver cannot find a page with any of the names its set to try then it may either return an error (generally 404 (Not Found) ) or create its own index page of the files in the directory. This is usually also a configuarable option.
In order to allow relative links to work correctly the URL for a directory must end with a slash. If it does not then most webservers will send a http redirect to add the slash.
http://www.mysite.tld is not really a valid url but almost all browsers will turn it into http://www.mysite.tld/ automatically and this will then result in the serving up of the index page from the root directory of the website. Thus, the home page is usually index.html, and is often called an “index page” (despite that it is usually more like a table of contents than an index).
Torontonians elect representatives to the federal, provincial, and municipal levels of government. 22 Members of Parliament (MPs) representing Toronto sit in the House of Commons in Ottawa, and another 22 Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) sit in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in Queen's Park, located in Toronto. Being Ontario's capital, many provincial offices are located in the city.
Toronto's local government consists of 44 elected councillors (representing around 55,000 people each), who along with the mayor, make up the Toronto City Council. Toronto elects a new government every three years, in November. The City of Toronto represents the fifth largest municipal government in North America, and has an operating budget of $7.1 billion CDN. This operating budget is comprised of $2.5 billion dollars of funds from the Government of Ontario for purposes they mandate such as Toronto Public Health, $2.0 billion for special purpose bodies including the Toronto Public Library and Toronto Zoo, $1.7 billion of directly controlled money, and $0.9 billion for capital financing and non-programs [1].
The current municipal government is rooted in the creation of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto (known more popularly as "Metro") in 1954. This new regional government, which encompassed the smaller communities of East York, Etobicoke, Forest Hill, Leaside, Long Branch, Mimico, New Toronto, North York, Scarborough, Swansea, Toronto, Weston, and York, was created in light of the need for more coordination of city services. The postwar boom resulted in suburbanization, and it was felt that a coordinated land use planning strategy, as well as shared services, would be more efficient.
The Metro government began taking over management of services that crossed municipal boundaries, most notably highways, water, and public transit. This arrangement lasted until 1998, when the regional level of government was abolished and the six municipalities (Toronto, Etobicoke, North York, East York, York, and Scarborough) were amalgamated into a single municipality or "megacity".
Economy
When an HTTP client (generally a web browser) requests a URL that points at just a directory rather than at a file within a directory the web server will generally serve up some kind of main or index page.
index.html is the traditional filename for such a page, but most decent webservers will allow a list of filenames to be configured. If a server is set up to support server-side scripting then there will usually be entries in the list to allow dynamic content to be used as the index page (for example: index.php, index.shtml, default.asp). In the popular opensource web server Apache the list of filenames is controlled by the DirectoryIndex directive in the configuration file.
If the webserver cannot find a page with any of the names its set to try then it may either return an error (generally 404 (Not Found) ) or create its own index page of the files in the directory. This is usually also a configuarable option.
In order to allow relative links to work correctly the URL for a directory must end with a slash. If it does not then most webservers will send a http redirect to add the slash.
http://www.mysite.tld is not really a valid url but almost all browsers will turn it into http://www.mysite.tld/ automatically and this will then result in the serving up of the index page from the root directory of the website. Thus, the home page is usually index.html, and is often called an “index page” (despite that it is usually more like a table of contents than an index).
Toronto is a commercial, distribution, financial and industrial centre. It is the banking and stock exchange centre of the country, and is Canada's primary wholesale and distribution point. Its importance as a seaport increased after the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway, but has since diminished and is disused (see: Waterfront). Ontario's wealth of raw materials and hydroelectric power have made Toronto a primary centre of industry. The city and its surrounding area produces more than half of Canada's manufactured goods.
Until the 1970s, Toronto was the second largest city in Canada, after Montreal. The economic growth of Toronto was greatly stimulated by the development of the auto industry and of large mineral resources in its hinterland, and by the completion in 1959 of the St. Lawrence Seaway which allowed ships access to the Great Lakes from the Atlantic Ocean.
As the business and financial capital of the country, Toronto hosts the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), the third largest stock exchange in North America by market capitalisation and sixth in the world (see List of stock exchanges for complete rankings). The TSX has led North American exchanges by being the second to trade electronically and the first to become listed publicly; in the last decade, it has also generally outperformed various major stock exchanges worldwide. The Toronto financial industry is based on Bay Street, the city's equivalent to Wall Street in New York.
Education
When an HTTP client (generally a web browser) requests a URL that points at just a directory rather than at a file within a directory the web server will generally serve up some kind of main or index page.
index.html is the traditional filename for such a page, but most decent webservers will allow a list of filenames to be configured. If a server is set up to support server-side scripting then there will usually be entries in the list to allow dynamic content to be used as the index page (for example: index.php, index.shtml, default.asp). In the popular opensource web server Apache the list of filenames is controlled by the DirectoryIndex directive in the configuration file.
If the webserver cannot find a page with any of the names its set to try then it may either return an error (generally 404 (Not Found) ) or create its own index page of the files in the directory. This is usually also a configuarable option.
In order to allow relative links to work correctly the URL for a directory must end with a slash. If it does not then most webservers will send a http redirect to add the slash.
http://www.mysite.tld is not really a valid url but almost all browsers will turn it into http://www.mysite.tld/ automatically and this will then result in the serving up of the index page from the root directory of the website. Thus, the home page is usually index.html, and is often called an “index page” (despite that it is usually more like a table of contents than an index).
Toronto's elementary and high schools are operated by the Toronto District School Board and the separate Toronto Catholic District School Board. As a large city it is also home to a number of post-secondary educational institutions such as the University of Toronto, Ontario College of Art & Design, York University, Ryerson University, Seneca College, Humber College, Centennial College and George Brown College. The city of Toronto also has a fantastic public library system to keep the minds of both young and old fresh and clean.
Transport
When an HTTP client (generally a web browser) requests a URL that points at just a directory rather than at a file within a directory the web server will generally serve up some kind of main or index page.
index.html is the traditional filename for such a page, but most decent webservers will allow a list of filenames to be configured. If a server is set up to support server-side scripting then there will usually be entries in the list to allow dynamic content to be used as the index page (for example: index.php, index.shtml, default.asp). In the popular opensource web server Apache the list of filenames is controlled by the DirectoryIndex directive in the configuration file.
If the webserver cannot find a page with any of the names its set to try then it may either return an error (generally 404 (Not Found) ) or create its own index page of the files in the directory. This is usually also a configuarable option.
In order to allow relative links to work correctly the URL for a directory must end with a slash. If it does not then most webservers will send a http redirect to add the slash.
http://www.mysite.tld is not really a valid url but almost all browsers will turn it into http://www.mysite.tld/ automatically and this will then result in the serving up of the index page from the root directory of the website. Thus, the home page is usually index.html, and is often called an “index page” (despite that it is usually more like a table of contents than an index).
There are many forms of transportation in the city of Toronto. These include highways and public transit. Toronto's primary airport is Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ). It is along the western boundary with Mississauga. The Government of Ontario operates an extensive rail and bus transit system called GO Transit that links the outlying areas to the city core. 38 trains on 7 train lines run 179 trips, and carry over 160,000 passengers a day. An additional 288 buses feed the main rail lines. Toronto is home to Canada's very first subway line. The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) currently operates the public transit system in Toronto. The current transit system in Toronto is comprised of the original subway line running north-south through the city in a "U" shape, a second line running east-west through the southern part of the city, a third line running east-centre through the northern part of the city, and the Scarborough RT (Rapid Transit) mini-train line running through the eastern part of the city (Scarborough). The system also includes an extensive network of buses and streetcars. The TTC is famous for it's renowned "transfer ticket", on which you can transfer to several buses, trains, and streetcars, paying only once at the start of your trip.
Attractions
Toronto's most famous landmark is the CN Tower, a 553 metre (1,815 ft) tall steel and concrete transmission tower, the tallest free-standing land structure in the world. Directly west of it is the Rogers Centre (formerly SkyDome), the world's first sporting arena to feature a fully retractable roof. It is currently home to the Toronto Blue Jays and the Toronto Argonauts. Nearby, the Air Canada Centre is the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Toronto Raptors, and the Toronto Rock. It was originally built to replace the legendary Maple Leaf Gardens.
Toronto's City Hall is one of the city's most distinctive landmarks. Built to replace its predecessor — now known simply as Old City Hall — its modernist style still impresses today. (It has been used as a backdrop in American films to depict a city of the future.) Directly in front of City Hall is Nathan Phillips Square, a public space that frequently houses concerts, art displays, a weekly farmers' market, and other public events. It is also the site of a reflecting pool that, during the winter, becomes a popular skating rink. Dundas Square, nearby, is the city's newest and flashiest public square, located across the street from the Toronto Eaton Centre, a large, popular shopping mall. Another popular shopping mall, Yorkdale, even has its own subway station, which can be reached using the convenient TTC subway system. Queen's Park, a historic scenic park and public space, surrounds Ontario's Legislative Assembly.
The Toronto Islands form part of the largest car-free urban community in North America. Accessible by ferry, "the Islands" include a public park and a children's amusement park, Centreville. The Islands are also home to the Toronto City Centre Airport. The city has several large parks, the best known being High Park to the west of downtown. The city is crisscrossed by a network of ravines that are still almost wholly undeveloped.
Other popular attractions include the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Ontario Science Centre, the Leslie Street Spit, the Toronto Zoo, Little Glenn, and the city's oldest cathedrals, the Roman Catholic St. Michael's Cathedral and the Anglican St. James' Cathedral, both on Church Street. Casa Loma, a castle overlooking downtown Toronto, is one of the city's most popular tourist attractions.
Culture
When an HTTP client (generally a web browser) requests a URL that points at just a directory rather than at a file within a directory the web server will generally serve up some kind of main or index page.
index.html is the traditional filename for such a page, but most decent webservers will allow a list of filenames to be configured. If a server is set up to support server-side scripting then there will usually be entries in the list to allow dynamic content to be used as the index page (for example: index.php, index.shtml, default.asp). In the popular opensource web server Apache the list of filenames is controlled by the DirectoryIndex directive in the configuration file.
If the webserver cannot find a page with any of the names its set to try then it may either return an error (generally 404 (Not Found) ) or create its own index page of the files in the directory. This is usually also a configuarable option.
In order to allow relative links to work correctly the URL for a directory must end with a slash. If it does not then most webservers will send a http redirect to add the slash.
http://www.mysite.tld is not really a valid url but almost all browsers will turn it into http://www.mysite.tld/ automatically and this will then result in the serving up of the index page from the root directory of the website. Thus, the home page is usually index.html, and is often called an “index page” (despite that it is usually more like a table of contents than an index).
Toronto is a city of many museums, theatres, events and sports. It is also one of the most ethnically diverse cities in Canada and the world. This means that there are many cultures which bring along their traditions and music. It is also home to the Canadian National Exhibition one of Canada's largest outdoor fairs.
Sports teams
See also: List of sports teams in Toronto
| Logo | Club | League | Venue | Established | Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image:CFL Argonauts.gif | Toronto Argonauts | CFL Football | Rogers Centre | 1873 | 15</td> |
| Image:Toronto Maple Leafs.gif | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL Hockey | Air Canada Centre | 1917 | 13 |
| Image:TorontoBlueJays 100.png</td> | Toronto Blue Jays | MLB Baseball | Rogers Centre | 1977 | 2 |
| Image:TorontoRaptors 100.png</td> | Toronto Raptors | NBA Basketball | Air Canada Centre | 1995 | 0 |
| Image:Lynx.gif | Toronto Lynx | USL Soccer | Centennial Park Stadium | 1997 | 0</td> |
| Image:TorontoStMichaelsMajors2.GIF | Toronto St. Michaels Majors | OHL Ice Hockey | St. Michael's College School Arena | 1998 | 0 |
| Image:Toronto rock logo.gif</td> | Toronto Rock | NLL Indoor Lacrosse | Air Canada Centre | 1998 | 5 |
| Image:Toronto marlies 200x200.png</td> | Toronto Marlies | AHL Ice Hockey | Ricoh Coliseum | 2005 | 0 |
Defunct Teams:
- Toronto Blizzard (1979-1995)
- Toronto Falcons (1968)
- Toronto Huskies (1946-1947)
- Metro Junior A League (1961-1963)
- Toronto Maple Leafs (former baseball team) (1896-1967)
- Toronto Metros (1971-1974)
- Toronto Phantoms (2001-2002)
- Toronto Roadrunners (2003-2004)
- Toronto Toros (1973-1976)
City issues
When an HTTP client (generally a web browser) requests a URL that points at just a directory rather than at a file within a directory the web server will generally serve up some kind of main or index page.
index.html is the traditional filename for such a page, but most decent webservers will allow a list of filenames to be configured. If a server is set up to support server-side scripting then there will usually be entries in the list to allow dynamic content to be used as the index page (for example: index.php, index.shtml, default.asp). In the popular opensource web server Apache the list of filenames is controlled by the DirectoryIndex directive in the configuration file.
If the webserver cannot find a page with any of the names its set to try then it may either return an error (generally 404 (Not Found) ) or create its own index page of the files in the directory. This is usually also a configuarable option.
In order to allow relative links to work correctly the URL for a directory must end with a slash. If it does not then most webservers will send a http redirect to add the slash.
http://www.mysite.tld is not really a valid url but almost all browsers will turn it into http://www.mysite.tld/ automatically and this will then result in the serving up of the index page from the root directory of the website. Thus, the home page is usually index.html, and is often called an “index page” (despite that it is usually more like a table of contents than an index).
Toronto's violent crime rates are low compared to its neighbouring US cities. But crime and gang violence has been on the rise. Due to a spike in gun-related crimes/murders over the summer of 2005, largely attributed to the rise of gangs and the failure of Canadian officials to stem the rising tide, concern over gun- and gang-related crimes has received increased local media attention recently. There have been calls for increased policing, gun control, and stiffer sentences to help deal with the problem. Gang violence has been the main reason for the outburst of violence in Toronto, between 1997-2005 over three hundred gang related deaths have occurred.
Toronto is a city also struggling to come to grips with a nagging homeless problem which has ebbed and flowed throughout the years. Toronto has a considerably larger homelessness problem than many cities of similar size. In 2003, 31,985 individuals stayed at least once in a Toronto homeless shelter. [2]. Many programs and responsibilities have recently shifted to the city from the provincial and federal governments, with many arguing that the city must come up with new ways to raise revenue to fund these new responsibilities.
For decades, the disuse of the Toronto portlands and lack of development of the Toronto waterfront (also known as the harbourfront, though not to be confused with Harbourfront Centre), has been a major issue. Toronto's central business district is separated from the waterfront by an expanse of open railway and by an elevated highway, the Gardiner Expressway. Many contend that a series of condominium towers built along the waterfront in the 1990s and 2000s contribute to this separation. Parts of the formerly industrial area are now vacant and awaiting redevelopment. In 2004, investments from the Ontario government were made to encourage further development. In the area south of the Keating Channel (outflow for the Don River), known as the "Portlands", there have been many controversial approvals and proposals in the last few years. Because this area was entirely man-made and industrial (some remains so but most is vacant land), soil remediation is necessary before it can be put to other non-industrial uses so the redevelopment process is slow. Currently, a movie studio is being built on the site of the inactive Richard L. Hearn Power Plant and the fight continues over the proposal to build a 550 mW gas fired co-generation plant on the same site.
Another important issue is the city's garbage. As the city's last remaining landfill site, Keele Valley, neared capacity during the 1990s, it was found that no other municipality in Southern Ontario was willing to accept the garbage, but there was also no political support for a change to incineration. A deal was eventually made to ship Toronto's garbage to the Adams Mine, an abandoned open pit mine in Northern Ontario, once the Keele Valley site closed. But objections grew into vociferous controversy as the time neared, and eventually the agreement was cancelled.
In 2005, Toronto switched from a "blue box" (plastic and metal) and "grey box" (paper) program to a unified recycling system. The city also introduced in 2005 a green bin program to recover compostable materials. However, the green bin program has come under criticism by watchgroups due to its cost, which is three times per tonne more to operate than currently shipping to Michigan.
Over the last couple of decades, vehicle and (in particular) highway traffic has been increasing steadily in the Greater Toronto Area, however road and transit investments have been limited to small projects such as on the 404, the 407, Sheppard subway, and York Region's VIVA bus service. Urban sprawl is a major factor: some commuters travel significant distances within the city and GTA for employment. Another major issue is the discontinuity between transit authorities across various municipalities or perceived inefficiency of transit as a viable alternative for commuting. This contributes to gridlock: many single-occupant vehicles idle en route, adding to travel times and smog. A recent study showed that gridlock costs the GTA's economy approximately $6 billion annually in lost revenue. Agencies such as the CAA (Canadian Automobile Association), OTA (Ontario Trucking Association), other commercial transportation interests and some citizens believe that much of the current congestion can be traced to the fact that Toronto's ultimate freeway system as proposed originally was never completed. This camp believes today's network includes huge gaps, and after cancellation of the north-south Spadina Expressway in 1971, successive "anti-car" city councils have not addressed the issue, electing instead to direct funding to transit initiatives and encourage greater pedestrian/cycling/transit usage.
Toronto and area
City suburbs and neighbourhoods
When an HTTP client (generally a web browser) requests a URL that points at just a directory rather than at a file within a directory the web server will generally serve up some kind of main or index page.
index.html is the traditional filename for such a page, but most decent webservers will allow a list of filenames to be configured. If a server is set up to support server-side scripting then there will usually be entries in the list to allow dynamic content to be used as the index page (for example: index.php, index.shtml, default.asp). In the popular opensource web server Apache the list of filenames is controlled by the DirectoryIndex directive in the configuration file.
If the webserver cannot find a page with any of the names its set to try then it may either return an error (generally 404 (Not Found) ) or create its own index page of the files in the directory. This is usually also a configuarable option.
In order to allow relative links to work correctly the URL for a directory must end with a slash. If it does not then most webservers will send a http redirect to add the slash.
http://www.mysite.tld is not really a valid url but almost all browsers will turn it into http://www.mysite.tld/ automatically and this will then result in the serving up of the index page from the root directory of the website. Thus, the home page is usually index.html, and is often called an “index page” (despite that it is usually more like a table of contents than an index).
From 1954 to 1998, the City of Toronto was one city within a larger federation of cities and municipalities called Metropolitan Toronto. When Metropolitan Toronto was amalgamated by the Ontario provincial government under Mike Harris to become one government, the City of Toronto was enlarged to include the former cities and municipalities of York, East York, North York, Etobicoke, and Scarborough. All of these former cities or municipalities still maintain, in some ways, their own distinct identities; their names are still used by their residents. The areas within the former City of Toronto prior to the merger are still referred to as the old City of Toronto, the Inner City, Toronto Proper, or Downtown Toronto.
The former City of Toronto is still the most densely populated area of the current city of Toronto. It is also the business and the entertainment centre of Toronto.
The former inner ring suburbs of York and East York are older, predominantly middle-class areas, and they are also highly ethnically diverse. Much of the housing stock in these areas consists of post-WWI single-family houses and high-rises. Rosedale and the Bridle Path are upscale neighbourhoods located within the inner ring many of these houses have had extensive remodeling and renovations done to them.
The outer ring suburbs of the former cities of Etobicoke, Scarborough, and North York are much more suburban, although they largely retain the grid patterns of the streets laid down before post-war suburbanization, many from towns that existed prior to their creation as cities.
Toronto has over 200 neighbourhoods within the current city borders. This is why Toronto is often locally described as "a city of neighbourhoods."
Toronto's "905" exurbs
Before 1993, the telephone area code 416 included the entire Golden Horseshoe region from Clarington to Niagara Falls, Ontario. The area code was then split, with Metropolitan Toronto (now Toronto) alone remaining in 416, while the rest of the area became 905. In informal usage in Toronto, "905" quickly began to be used as shorthand for the belt of suburbs and exurbs surrounding the city, but not for places like Niagara Falls or Hamilton. Toronto itself may similarly be referred to as "416". (Subsequently both area codes 416 and 905 were overlaid with new codes, 647 and 289 respectively, but popular usage has not been affected by this.)
Toronto's exurbs, the major "905" municipalities surrounding the city (roughly from west to east), are: