A Photowalk Before The Lockdown

Hello everyone, it’s been a while since our last blog. Here’s a look back at how the streets were empty in an effort to fight Covid-19. These were taken in mid-March. We have also gone in to our archives to give you an idea of what these areas would look like if we weren’t taken action. Or better put, to show as a collective society how we have taken action to combat Covid-19.

Our photo walk on March 18 2020 shows just how life changed in the City of Toronto since our previous walk ---Toronto Islands March 12, 2020 ---.

March 18th 4:11pm

This is where we start our walk. This is the corner of Sheppard Ave. And Yonge St. We are standing on the southeast side looking toward the northwest side of the intersection.

The building that is vacant used to be a 7-11 convenience store. There is a man standing on the corner with a mask waiting to cross the intersection. It seemed very quiet. At this point in the pandemic citizens and businesses had been advised that social distancing was required in all public settings.

December 11, 2015 1:05pm

As you can see this photo was taken in late fall of 2015 from the North West side of the intersection, looking south, just to give some perspective of the crowds of people that should be present at 3 pm in the afternoon. Bear in mind that during the week of March 18 2020 the official March break was on, there should have been more people out and about. But this is the Pandemic reality!

March 18 4:13pm

Here’s the point we’re trying to make, on March 13th, 2020 the Government of Canada issued a global travel advisory to avoid non-essential travel abroad. Canadians were advised to return to home soil as soon as possible. You would think that if people couldn’t travel during their March Break there would be more people out.

Taken December 11 2015 12:03pm

Here is another picture from 2015, it is at a different time of day on a weekday. There is one really stunning difference - vehicle traffic. In the picture, there are roads full of cars. That’s what the previous picture should look like if this weren’t a pandemic.

March 18 2020 4:16pm

Something that has been more noticeable - more sports cars and motorcycles on the road. This is a picture of Mercedes-Benz AMG GT R Coupe.

March 18 2020 4:16pm

This is a view of The Service Canada building at Yonge St. and Elmhurst Ave. As you can see there aren’t a lot of people or cars. A look below will give you an idea of what this area should look like.

Taken December 11 2015 at 11:58am

Now, this picture was taken 3 hours earlier in the day and we do realize that.

Taken March 18 2020 4:21pm

This is a major street that connects to a major highway ( the 401). This is the start of the afternoon-evening rush hour. There certainly should have more traffic during normal times.

Taken December 11 2015 12:59pm

This picture is just North of Dewhurst Ave. which was taken in the fall of 2015. There are way more cars and people out. If we had taken this at 3:21 on this day back in 2015 there are points were you wouldn’t be able to walk on the sidewalks. There are usually many many more cars.

Taken March 18 2020 4:28pm

This is the Joseph Shepard Federal Building which has offices for service Canada. It gives citizens access to Federal services in-person. This building is important to civilians to access money for people laid off or who have lost their job during the pandemic. On March 26th 2020, all Service Canada offices were closed because employees that worked in these offices were concerned for their safety. All services have been moved on-line.

March 18 2020 4:18

Looking south along Yonge Street at the very few people standing on the corner.

March 18 2020 4:18

As we zoom in on this picture you can see a person looking inside the mall doors to see if the Mall is open. And this is something that people will be caught doing for the next week or so as people were confused as to what was open and what is not.

Taken March 18 2020 4:19pm

We didn’t take any pictures inside the Sheppard Centre as there were still businesses opened at this time and we weren’t sure if they were suppose to be opened or closed due to the recommendation given by Toronto Public Health.

Taken March 18 2020 4:29pm

On the other side of Yonge Street (the west side) looking north there is some vehicle traffic and almost no one walk on the side walks. The picture below will give you an idea of what the traffic should look like.

Taken December 11 2015 12:57pm

This was a beautiful sunny December day with a lot of swirling wind. This didn’t people home.

Taken March 18 2020 4:31

Here are a few pictures looking south down Yonge Street.

Taken March 18 2020 4:31

Taken March 18 2020 4:33

Taken December 11 2015 1:03pm

This is the last comparison picture for this area before we get on the subway. This just gives you an idea of what this area should look like.

Taken March 18 2020 4:33

In the early days of the lockdown customers and advocacy groups were calling on all levels of the government to make the TTC free. This has not happened to date.

Taken March 18 2020 4:45pm

Down the stairs, we go to the subway and there it was, the sign of the times! “Be Safe”. This would become the thing that you say to someone who had/has to work during the lockdown.

Taken March 18 2020 5:03pm

That was a quick ride to Yonge and Bloor Station. There weren’t very many people on board the train.

As you can see it’s 5:03pm and the station is almost empty. With fewer people travelling on the train and with some businesses shut down there isn’t a need for people to be out.

The picture below gives you a better idea of what this station should look like at this time.

Taken April 15 2019 5:26 PM

Taken March 18 2020 5:08pm

We made our way up and out on to the street. Outside of the entrance to the subway, you can see the streets are almost empty of people but there seems to be a lot of pigeons - hungry pigeons looking for something to eat.

Taken March 18 2020 5:08pm

The street to your right is Bloor Street east of Yonge Street. As you can see, it is really quiet with very few people. They were so empty we forgot to take a picture facing the other way. The picture below gives you an idea of what this area should look like.

Taken December 19 2015 4:14pm

This is usually a busy, if not the busiest, corner in Toronto. This is a view of the North-East corner of Bloor St intersecting with Yonge Street. To the left notice in particular the vehicle traffic. In comparison to the pictures previously with the pigeons.

Taken March 18 2020 5:09

This is the intersection of Yonge and Bloor. Right now you are looking South down Yonge Street From Bloor Street. There are very few people out.

Taken March 18 2020 5:11pm

The other thing that is very noticeable is the very few cars that are on the road. This is a busy intersection for traffic and for the time that we there. The picture below will give you a better idea of what it looks like.

Taken April 4th 2019 5:54pm

This picture was taken with a Canon Fisheye wide-angle lens. If you look to the left and to the right of this in the distance you can see crowds of people.

Taken March 18 2020 5:14pm

As we walk south on Yonge street here is a view of some people walking down the street. It looks like a couple is socially distancing from others. As a comparison to what this area should look like view the picture below.

Taken December 19 2015 4:28pm

At a comparable time, there are many more people out.

Taken March 18 2020 5:20pm

This is a view of a few people crossing Charles Street West. As you can see, there aren’t a lot of people and cars at this time.

Below is a comparison.

Taken December 19 2015 4:29pm

This is a more realistic view of what this area would look like in normal times. Here in this picture, we are looking south on Yonge Street. The photo above is view this same area but we were standing on the south corner of Charles Street West.

Taken March 18 2020 5:22pm

Some stores looked open and yet there didn’t appear to be anyone inside and most importantly the doors were locked.

Taken March 18 2020 5:23pm

Walking down Yonge Street, she/he was eyeing us. This is the new ruler of the empty streets of Toronto. Pigeons are free to use our streets because there aren’t enough people or cars to keep them from off the streets as usual. They are very noticeable during our walk on this date.

Taken March 18 2020 5:24pm

The Pigeon and this empty street really started to get us wondering how are we, as people, are going to financially survive?

Taken March 18 2020 5:25pm

This is a view standing in the middle of Yonge st. looking south. To continue with the thought of our survival, in this picture you can see a few pigeons on the right on the road looking for food. It really makes you wonder how long will this pandemic last and how will it effect on the economy ?

Taken March 18 2020 5:24pm

We zoomed to the left just to give you an idea of some of the difficulties that people were having in socially distancing themselves while walking along the streets of Toronto. Some people were calling for Yonge Street to be partially or fully closed to allow people to be able to socially distance themselves.

Taken March 18 2020 5:25pm

Looking to the right now, you can see that there a more people on this side farther down the street. It looks like they are distancing themselves.

Taken March 18 2020 5:25pm

As you can see these are wide sidewalks but there are things like bicycle lock rings that are a bit of a hindrance. There are those pigeons again. Also of note in this picture is the man walking his dog. It is something that certainly has been more noticeable during this pandemic. Is it because people are walking their pets more or is it because they are more noticeable because there are fewer people on the street?

Taken March 18 2020 5:25pm

There was also the question of should we all be wearing masks? Something that all levels of government’s health officials were consistent on was that we didn’t need to wear masks. We were told we should all be keeping our social distance ( 6feet / 2 meters) from each other. Reasons given for not wearing masks were that the front line workers needed them and that the entire country was short on PPE. Then all levels of governments asked for citizens and organizations to donate unused PPE and N95 masks to help fill supplies while Canada waited for shipments of PPE to arrive and Canada to start producing our own.

So what kind of masks are these 2 people in this picture wearing masks? Where might they have gotten those masks? There is an underground market of stores selling these masks that look like they are hospital masks. They are very cheap to by 2 for a $1. We wouldn’t call them high quality either - they last about five minutes before they fall apart. Would a homemade mask be better?

As of May 20th, 2020, Dr. Tam, the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, recommends using a mask in situations where it is difficult or impossible to keep 6 feet away from someone not from your household.

Taken March 18 2020 5:26pm

Some pigeons making a landing on the street.

Taken March 18 2020 5:26pm

A view of some stores that are closed or shut down permanently.

Taken March 18 2020 5:33pm

In the foreground here is a flyer for the “Global Climate Strike” scheduled for April 3rd 2020 at Queens Park at 12pm. This didn’t happen due to the Covid-19 restrictions that were brought in by the Provincial and Municipal Government. Crowds can not be any larger then 5 people. They have moved to online activism.

At this point in our walk we could not help but wonder if the issue of climate change and climate crisis would lose momentum and be swept under the rug, so to speak, with all the fear of Covid-19 and the economic loss. There is one positive thing that has come out of the lockdown globally and that is the reduction of pollution.

Global News did a story on the data released from the Europeoan Space Agency that should time lapsed. Imagery over the China that has shown No2 levels going down then back up again. The link to the story is below: https://globalnews.ca/news/6704818/air-pollution-declined-china-coronavirus/

Taken March 18 2020 5:35pm

In view here is a Cash Shop and Clothing store that has shut down permanently. This picture certainly hit the point home on what we are all going to do with stores closing due to Covid-19. Short term loans will not be the answer if you are not earning anything. On the right is the closed down clothing store, this is something that will become more common during the lockdown in Toronto. The entire business community has been affected by Covid19 and the lockdown so it will come as no surprise that more and more businesses will permanently close. The Toronto Star has an excellent column on this: https://www.thestar.com/business/2020/04/16/the-gta-businesses-that-have-been-permanently-lost-to-covid-19-a-growing-toll.html

Taken March 18 2020 5:36pm

We continue our walk down Yonge Street.

March 18 2020 5:38pm

One of the few stores still left open, Nick's Sports Shop & Central Surplus.

Taken March 18 2020 5:40pm

More closed stores.

Taken March 18 2020 5:41pm

As we get closer to Wellesley Street, there were visibly more people but they seemed to be there for only a moment.

Taken March 18 2020 5:43pm

Crossing Wellesley Street on the west side of Yonge Street there weren’t any people on our side as we look east to see a very small group of people crossing on the east side of Yonge Street.

Taken December 19 2015 4:42pm

This is a view of people crossing the road on the west side of Yonge Street in the fall of 2015.

Taken March 18 2020 5:48pm

We continue down Yonge street now on the east side.

Taken March 18 2020 6:01pm

We have arrived at Carlton Street on the left and College Street on the right of Yonge Street which we are standing on looking south.

Below is a comparison picture.

Taken November 11 2018 3:42pm

This was taken from the South East Corner of Yonge and Carlton Street looking North. It was a rainy November day on the 11th 2018. There were certainly more people out.

Taken November 11 2018 3:42pm

This is looking to the west from the same corner.

Taken March 18 2020 6:03pm

Crossing the street looking west along College Street. The picture below gives you an idea of what this busy intersection should look like.

Taken November 11 2018 3:42pm

Taken March 18 2020 6:04pm

Walking now below Carlton St. / College St. there is a view of a tent.

Taken March 18 2020 6:04pm

A close up now of a tent that is in the middle of the street on Yonge Street. This image certainly touches on an issue that our city has, a housing crisis! There have been more clusters of tents popping up all over the downtown core over the last couple of months. People do not want to stay in shelters so they stay in tents.

Taken March 18 2020 5:08pm

Here we are at Yonge Street and Gerrard Street looking west. It is as it appears quiet, really quiet. Below is a look at what is should look like.

Taken December 11 2017 7:21pm

On a cold winter night, there are more people out then during the pre-lockdown times in Toronto.

March 18 2020 6:13pm

Continuing down Yonge street we arrive just below Gerard. From this view, we were wondering how long will this last?

Taken December 11th 2017 7:20pm

How long will it be until we see better days? Sort of like the one in this picture.

Taken March 18 6:13pm

And when will there be toilet paper on the shelves again?

Taken March 18 6:13pm

There was a 3 week period of time during March and early April that toilet paper was sold out everywhere in Canada. Things that you would never imagine having a shortage of but that’s the way this year has gone.

Taken March 18 6:14pm

Taken December 11 2017 7:20pm

There will be better days with plenty of toilet paper for everyone!

Taken March 18 2020 6:19pm

There will be a time where we don’t have to stay 6 feet / 2 meters apart.

This is Gould Street looking west toward Yonge Street. As you can see, it is really quiet here too! This is normally a busy area of Toronto at this time of year. This is the entrance area to Ryerson’s Sheldon & Tracy Levy Student Learning Centre.

Taken November 1st 2018 3:54pm

Yes, these 2 pictures are taken at different times of the day they still give you an idea of how busy it can be regardless of the weather.

Taken March 18 2020 6:20pm

In the centre of this picture is the door to Roundabout Canada - Toronto's Most Authentic Escape Room. The Pandemic has brought the feeling of wanting to escape somewhere, anywhere but in the Pandemic war zone.

Taken March 18 2020 6:20pm

In view here is The Silver Snail Comics & The Black Canary Espresso Bar.

Continuing our thought on the war zone, people are looking for the superheroes to come along and wipe out the invader. Superman and Wonder Woman or Optimus Prime. But good news, we now have more time to watch more streaming services.

Taken March 18 2020 6:38

Finally we arrive at Yonge St and Dundas Street. We are standing on the South East corner. Its not very busy here. Bellow are a few pictures to give some perspective as to what it should look like.

Taken December 19 2017 5:04pm

Standing on the North East corner of Yonge and Dundas looking west.

Taken November 1st 2018 3:56pm

Looking south at Yonge and Dundas on a rainy day in November 2018.

Taken December 11 2017 7:20pm

Looking West on Dundas toward Yonge Street.

Taken December 12 2017 6:16pm

Looking North on Yonge Street at Dundas Street.

Taken March 18 2020 6:27pm

Here is a view of Yonge and Dundas Square. There are 2 LED screens with Covid-19 advisories.

Below are some of the top stories of the day.

—-Left off here——

On a more serious note, there are the Heroes in the war on Covid-19, they are the (essential frontline workers and doctors)

Taken March 18 2020 6:27pm

“Stimulus Plans Sparks Calls To Protect Renters”

Taken March 18 2020 6:27pm

“OHL and WHL Cancel Season”

Taken March 18 2020 6:27pm

NHL Player Tests Positive for Covid-10”

Yes that’s right- a Covid-19, typo.

Taken March 18 2020 6:37pm

Certainly the pigeons were on their best behaviour as you can see here in the picture. Maintaining social distance from others.

Taken March 18 2020 6:54pm

We are now inside the Eaton Centre and it’s very quiet.

Taken March 18 2020 6:55pm

We’ve seen the inside of this mall when the mall has been closed for Holidays but there was something different about seeing it closed this time.

Taken March 18 2020 6:56pm

It was still strange that there were people in the mall walking around and sitting either by themselves or with another person. Why? We don’t know.

Taken March 18 2020 6:58pm

We did speak with one security guard who said there were a few stores still open and that the mall would be closing shortly.

Taken March 18 2020 6:58pm

This is what the face of war looks like during the Covid-19 pandemic in Toronto. This is how this war has been fought. With empty malls and empty streets. There is an ugly truth in this picture and that is-like all wars there are casualties. There are lives that will be altered and changed for ever because they can’t work. There are lives lost from Covid-19 or as a result of not being able to get treatment for another medical issue. Empty malls mean a down-turn in the economy and that hurts everyone - rich or poor. The difference is that the rich will be able to endure more loss than the less fortunate.

Below is a picture from better days.

Taken June 1st 2019 4:21pm

This was certainly an exciting time not only for Toronto fans of The Raptors but for our entire country.

We know we will win the war but it’s not certain how much damage we will endure. The war to fight Covid19 It’s up to all of us together to make good decisions. we are all on the same side.

March 18 2020 7:00pm

It’s important to reflect on where we are today June 11 2020, there were little small protests in Canada and the America about re-opening the economy in the month of May 2020. And then there was death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA on May 25th 2020. There have been protesters in the streets of America for 16 days. Regis Korchinski-Paquet died on May 27th 2020 and Toronto has seen Protests here in support of transparency into what happen in a police interaction with Regis Korchinski-Paquet and to also support the pursuit of justice for George Floyd. These protests also serve as reminder that there are still issues within Canada that need to be addressed. Who would have thought that during a pandemic a social justice movement would start. And people all over the world still realize that the pandemic is still here and are wearing masks. People are still trying to do their part while fighting for equal rights. Covid-19 has certainly brought about an awareness of where we as a country need to change but it has certainly shown us all that we have not lived up to our responsibility to insure that everyone within Canada has equal rights. We shouldn’t need a lockdown during a global pandemic to figure out what is wrong with our country or the world.

The idea of this Blog was conceived in early April. We did it because we wanted to show that in the early days people were doing their part by staying home, even before everything was forced into lockdown. Look where we are today, we are starting to re-open the Province.

This is our last picture for this blog we thank you for for looking and reading. We will see you next time.