2014 began with a horrendous ice storm and power outages everywhere but, as the year went on, things got much better around here.  Canada’s largest city has a lot to celebrate.  Here’s my list of 75 – mostly good, some not so good – reasons to say ‘well done, TORONTO!’

JANUARY/2014
1. Ryerson University’s photographic preservation program expands to include movies
2. Saks Fifth Avenue’s Canadian flagship store will open downtown at Queen and Yonge
3. TORONTO voted #4 out of 140 cities on The Economist’s ‘World’s Most Liveable Cities/2014’ list

FEBRUARY/2014
4. City sets new records in international and Canadian tourism
5. A giant Nordstrom store is moving into downtown’s Eaton Centre, replacing Sears
6. Basketball fans discover the Raptors
7. Royal Ontario Museum announces 4 major projects to mark its centennial

MARCH/2014
8. A ‘Sardine Award’ for overcrowded public transit goes to Ontario’s Minister of Transport
9. A high-speed, ‘open access’ network is announced for the Waterfront neighbourhood
10. Cisco makes TORONTO 1 of 4 new global ‘internet of everything’ innovation centres
11. Xtra!, Toronto’s LGBTQ bi-weekly newspaper celebrates its 30th year in business
12. The Don Jail Annex is demolished
13. Eastern section of Metrolinx Crosstown underground LRT begins construction
14. Seattle’s ‘Walk Score’ says TORONTO has one of North America’s finest public transit systems
15. Then-mayor Rob Ford is roasted on ABC’s ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ show
16. New York Times finds TORONTO an easy city to love – Travel Section, March 2

APRIL/2014
17. Principal Dancer Evan McKie leaves Stuttgart Ballet for the National Ballet of Canada
18. Nine city projects take Ontario Association of Architects ‘Excellence in Design Awards’
19. Frances Loring & Florence Wyle sculpture studio goes on the market for $4.8-million
20. Our red and white streetcars take a lead role in new IMAX documentary

MAY/2014
21. Frank Gehry and David Mirvish get a go-ahead for 2 towers on King Street West
22. Princess of Wales Theatre & Frank Stella murals are saved from the wrecking ball
23. Cawthra Square Park is totally renovated in time for World Pride/2014
24. Streetcar Developments buys the Victorian-era New Broadview Hotel and will preserve it
25. A row of Victorian houses on Glen Road are rescued from oblivion
26. Nash The Slash, multi-instrumentalist & TORONTO eccentric, dies at 66
27. First Air Canada Dreamliner arrives at Pearson International Airport
28. Royal Ontario Museum salvages a Blue Whale carcass in Newfoundland
29. $15-million makeover is announced for downtown’s Grange Park

JUNE/2014
30. WorldPride/2014 is a smashing international success
31. Casa Loma hosts the largest same-sex wedding in North America – June 26
32. The Toronto Star donates a million vintage photographs to the Toronto Public Library
33. Ontario elects Kathleen Wynne, its first woman & openly gay premier, with a majority gov’t
34. Sotheby’s London auctions Peter Doig’s Don Valley rainbow culvert painting for $15-million
35. $2-million is the new $1-million now in TORONTO’s housing market

JULY/2014
36. ‘Nyctophilia’ light sculpture sparkles in a dark corner of post-industrial Weston Road
37. University of Chicago publishes a new book on TORONTO as a movie-making centre
38. TORONTO’s Opera Atelier pays its 3rd visit to Versailles, as well as Salzburg & Milan
39. Countdown Clock for the Pan-Am Games is unveiled at city hall
40. Centre Island Park’s labyrinth is recreated thanks to a $200,000 gift
41. Regent Park state-of-the-art playground opens
42. Royal Canadian Mint celebrates Casa Loma’s stained glass dome
43. Sam The Record Man’s iconic neon sign is coming back to Yonge and Dundas
44. Bay Street Financial District expands to booming South Core below Front Street

AUGUST/2014
45. TORONTO Symphony Orchestra tours Amsterdam, Helsinki, Vienna, Wiesbaden & Reykjavik
46. Two new air-conditioned streetcars go into service on Spadina Avenue; 205 of them are on order
47. 7,000 new condo units are approved by city council
48. 180 acre Corktown Common Park boasts a living marsh, playgrounds, bike paths & athletic field
49. A Vancouver developer gives big bucks for art and Berczy Park renewal
50. TORONTO ties San Francisco and Los Angeles on Forbes’ “most influential cities’ list
51. TORONTO is named ‘Intelligent Community of the Year/2014’

SEPTEMBER/2014
52. New York Times bids farewell to Mayor Rob Ford in a column by Canadian Bruce McCall
53. The Aga Khan’s Museum opens at 77 Wynford Drive
54. Phase 3 of Regent Park development begins
55. The El Mocambo, legendary nightclub, announces its closure
56. Vogue Magazine selects TORONTO’s West Queen West as ‘second coolest neighbourhood in the world’
57. After 35 years, TORONTO-based National Ballet of Canada returns to New York’s Lincoln Center
58. Moviegoers flock to TORONTO’s International Film Festival; over 350 films screened

OCTOBER/2014
59. The Royal York Hotel gets a $100-million top-to-bottom renovation
60. Lonely Planet puts TORONTO on its 2015 ‘Top 10 Must-See Cities’ list
61. Art Gallery of Ontario collaborates with London’s Dulwich Gallery on Emily Carr exhibition

NOVEMBER/2014
62. Some TORONTO art galleries expand into bigger spaces in post-industrial neighbourhood
63. Delta opens a 46 storey, 4-star hotel in the South Core Financial District
64. Spacing Magazine opens a shop celebrating TORONTO & other Canadian cities
65. TORONTO drops to second place behind New York City in skyscraper construction

DECEMBER/2014
66. John Tory is sworn in as Mayor of TORONTO on December 2
67. John Tory declares war on our traffic nightmare
68. John Tory scores a 74% approval rating after less than a month in office
69. Toronto-Dominion Bank donates $1.3-million to city’s Bike Share Program
70. TORONTO designer Andrew Jones wins New York City’s Battery Park chair competition
71. Tip Top Tailor’s sign is re-installed above Lakeshore Boulevard lofts
72. Tickets for the Pan-American Parapan Games go on sale
73. Mayor Tory and Premier Wynne head Toronto Life’s list of ’50 Most Influential People’
74. Owner of Rosedale’s Integral House, James Stewart, dies on December 3
75. Average price of a detached house in the City of TORONTO reaches $951,792