Toronto is one of North America’s great transit cities, and nowhere is that clearer than along the Yonge Street corridor. This is a stretch where every subway stop has a development story attached to it and where the relationship between transit and neighbourhood infrastructure has been playing out for over 70 years.

This two-hour walking tour, supported by UrbanToronto, traces that story from Union Station to Eglinton Station, stopping at five sites that together explain how transit shapes cities: where density comes from, why some buildings get torn down and others don’t, what happens when ambitious projects run short on cash, and why cranes appear in a neighbourhood years before transit options catch up.

Along the way you’ll see Canada’s first supertall skyscraper mid-construction, a 1930 Art Deco interior that survived a department store’s collapse and is finally getting the tower it was always meant to have, and a 47-storey tower whose design challenges everything typical about how Toronto builds near transit.

No architecture background required is required! Just curiosity about the city and how transit catalyzes development.