The John Street revitalization project has been in the works for years and with a great deal of recent Toronto news devoted to the transit planning war, the final staff recommendations have flown a bit under the radar. On February 6, the finished study put forward a list of recommendations for the "cultural corridor" between Queen and Front streets.

The stated priority of the nearly $30 million redevelopment effort is to beautify the street and to improve pedestrian accessibility by way of widened sidewalks and urban design elements like removable bollards for event-based closures of the street to vehicular traffic.

In the 1850s, despite two brief terms as capital of the Province of Canada, the fledgling town of York was really just a collection of medium-sized businesses and homes with big ambitions. What many felt the community lacked at this stage in its development was a first class, luxury hotel to cater for visitors with money to spare.

Often described as "palace hotels", most North American cities had at least one well appointed, oppulant accommodation decked out with the latest comforts. At the time, the Sword's Hotel and American Hotel on Front Street were the most popular choice for visitors with the money to be looked after.

So yesterday's vote to return to an LRT-based transit strategy for Toronto (one that looks a lot like the former phase one Transit City plans) was kind of a big deal — regardless of which of the competing plans you hoped would win the day. Ranging from elation to frustration, there's been no shortage of reaction to the events at city hall. Here's a quick roundup of what's being said in the aftermath of one the most significant city council decisions in recent memory.

Although Rob Ford continued to proclaim that "taxpayers want subways" the folks on city council proved they don't buy that theory, earlier today adopting a motion put forward by Karen Stintz to return to a LRT-focused transit plan that looks a lot like the first phase of Transit City. After a marathon special meeting at City Hall today, the final tally was 25-18 in favour of the TTC Chair's transit strategy, which includes light rail on Finch Avenue, an at-grade section on Eglinton East and a proposal to investigate the best course of action for Sheppard Avenue East.

City Council has assembled for a special meeting to quarrel about the future of Toronto transit. The City has $8.4 billion worth of provincial dollars to play with, and naturally, there are conflicting ideas on the best way to spend it. While Ford et al. are, of course, touting subways, TTC chair Karen Stinz and a host of other councillors are backing a compromise solution that includes would bring LRT to streets like Finch currently lacking such infrastructure.

We'll periodically update this post as the meeting continues.

The meaning of Toronto street names often comes to mind when my subway train pulls into the station, and I make up stories about the scenery above my head à la Bill Bryson in his book Notes from a Small Island. At Pape there's a community of solemn Catholic nuns; at Donlands I imagine vast grass plains inhabited by the wild Don tribe. Greenwood, my stop, is buried below an beautiful but treacherous forest of towering pines.