You could soon own a piece of the Toronto streetscape

Until now, the only way to take home a Toronto street sign was to shimmy up a hydro pole in the middle of the night with a screwdriver between your teeth. But you can forget all that now thanks to a proposed scheme working its way to council via the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee that will save you the hassle.

If it clears the necessary hurdles, the city will start storing and selling street name signs for $20 on a first-come first-served basis over the phone and online. The only catch is you'll have to sign a waiver promising not to put the sign up on the street, even if it's really tempting to confuse tourists or rename parts of your neighbourhood (think of the photo ops!).

There's no precise timetable for the sale to begin but if the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee gives the thumbs up it should be a shoo-in at city council. The plan to sell old signs was put forward by Councillor Adam Vaughan and seconded by Councillor Shelley Carroll in response to numerous requests to buy old street furniture. Expect popular downtown street signs to be a big seller.

Photo by Danielle Scott in the blogTO Flickr pool