Toronto in 1997

[@eremite2693]

Ahhh 'the good old days'. it might be a cliche to say, but to me these truly were the good old days. I could actually afford to live in the city

[@flamingocupproductions5329]

it was near the end of the good ol' days. (1991-1999)

[@leedleleedle6824]

paul bernardo existing during this time frame and getting away with what he did for so long is the good old days to you? Or do these brief snapshots of toronto do you enough justice to ignore all the crimes going around

[@Austyn_Young7]

Fr lll

[@matureyoungman]

a lot of good people were still walking the earth back then

[@duncandmcgrath6290]

@@leedleleedle6824Paul Bernardo was a criminal, he existed before and after this “time frame” . Paul wasn’t an era or a metric to assess the health of a city . Look for some positivity and shed that pessimism ✌️

[@multipass888]

I miss when Toronto was like this. Look how well dressed people are, look how clean the streets are, and Yonge St. looks like a street I enjoyed walking down. It's too bad we now only have the memories...

[@springs9922]

too small of a city leave if u dont like it

[@mark3464]

Are you kidding me? In the 90s? I don’t think so

[@Dividend_Investing2024]

Canada is what's called a legacy country, the only thing propping it up today is it's former reputation. If it doesn't improve fast, it will lose that status and officially become a developing nation.

[@iAMaReaperGotprobZ]

Ok boomer

[@dreamsdocometrue33]

It is still clean

[@gstrdms]

This is when Toronto peaked, honestly. MUCHmusic was a huge cultural cornerstone and its death (due to the MTV-ification of all music television) brought about the end for Toronto as a whole, as it gravitated its identity towards more of a corporate, glass and steel aesthetic and vibe. Late 90s is when the city was truly diverse and not just dominated by 1-2 ethnicities. RIP!

[@mark3464]

How old were you during this time

[@h0neypufff]

@@mark3464 clearly none of your business

[@SpaceTurd69]

100%. electric circus, speaker's corner etc.

[@redrobotmonkey]

@@h0neypufff Why is it none of his business? ARE YOU HIS MOM??

[@Sunny31310]

A city not absolutely flooded with delivery guys on ebikes is such a beautiful sight..

[@thefozzybear]

I don't mind delivery guys on e-bikes but they should stay on the road, not the sidewalk.

[@joseph-the-seventh]

True. A lot more violent crime back then though.

[@BrianShaneRushton]

It's so hard to cycle in the bike lanes now. Their e-bikes with huge bags strapped on them block the entire bike lane and they ride super slow even though they're on e-bikes and they don't have to. When they're going fast they move over and drive on the roads adjacent to the bike lanes and get in the way of the motorists

[@pex3]

Nowhere for kids to ride their bike yet though. At least they fixed Bloor.

[@TheCreatorhascome]

Top Thinker, top comment❤

[@Busbybeats]

My God, what have we done?

[@torontoguy8043]

politicians sold out Canada

[@Brettsforehead]

A communist mayor was voted in ... Olivia Chew

[@HopeLaFleur1975]

Trudeau and its plethora of lies!

[@Meister333]

you've abandoned religion and family, and in turn your society turned to shit, that's what.

[@Thunderpussy1234]

The majority voted for traitors who sold our country out from under us to globalists and "tiny hat" interests. Diversity is their strength.

[@Loyalist1985]

I had just moved to Toronto in the fall of 1997. My first job was in Pickering and I stayed with my mom's sister in Scarborough. That is the Toronto that I remember.

[@dudewithcup]

So you stayed with your aunt

[@OutOnTheTiles]

You mean Pickering! Pickering!Pickering!

[@alankingchiu]

When a townhome was $200,000. Not $2,000,000.

[@daniellai7712]

you meant the detach.... detach costs around 300k back then

[@Shik0njuul934]

Wages were lower to be fair.

[@husainhaider]

200k was way too expensive back then for a townhouse.

[@jasonr.6123]

@@Shik0njuul934 not 10x lower

[@AH-lw2bj]

And minimum wage was $6/hour now it's $17 What's your point?

[@stg9335]

Toronto was so nice and clean back then.

[@EvelynSaungikar]

It wasn’t. On hot days, if it hadn’t rained for a while, Yonge street stank of piss.

[@CanadianEhHole]

@@EvelynSaungikar The whole Kensington area smells of piss 24/7. Then there's areas that just smell like bad weed.

[@IGotN0]

@@EvelynSaungikar Ill take that over it being flooded with invading Indians any day

[@anhbinbaccuc8850]

Rent was affordable, housing was nothing scary, just worked and saved. People line up, they talked to strangers or read books on the buses and subways. Didn't have to crunch numbers at the groceries stores, milk and meat were cheap. Cartoons, sitcoms, TV shows galore. Every day woken up looked out the window knowing I lived in the best country in the world and the best city in the world..........The only scary thing then was Y2K......now just a dream, now everything is scary.......

[@richyq8786]

rent was 300 a month lol

[@sideprojects5924]

@@richyq8786 I doubt it. we were renting 2 bedroom units for 750-900 around 1992 around etobicoke/mississauga. So I doubt youd find apartments that cheap.

[@marajevomanash]

How did people file their taxes back then?

[@SuperHonshu]

Take me back.

[@dancouver23]

This was probably peak Toronto in my opinion, it was just coming on the world stage, cleaned up a bit but had just enough sleaze to be interesting without being sleazy, still some Canadian business chains and lot's of mom and pop and independent retail stores. We didn't know how good we had it.

[@scsi_joe]

I agree, well put.

[@surlyqbear1707]

Beckers, wildcat beer, Stollery’s…ah such memories! I think I saw a sign for luxury townhomes for less that $400,000 near St. Clair too 👀

[@PQV-8898]

What an absolute great place to live then. What's happened to this once great city?

[@MatrixMaster777]

It Has Become Greater: *GTA*

[@torontoguy8043]

politicians sold it out

[@jmcmurrah]

The Ontario Municipal Board decided to bend over and take it up the ar*e from the developers.

[@wilcross50]

Pre collapse

[@NomiSyed1]

Amazing :) Good ol Toronto, good ol simple days :)

[@BloggerMusicMan]

This is the earliest Toronto I have memories of. My aunt and uncle were raising my three cousins in the Beaches at the time, and my family used to bring me and my sister as little kids there to visit them. Watching this brought things back: the Rogers Video store, the fonts on store signs, the cars, the scaffolding. Thank you.

[@AmbiambiSinistrous]

I was so touched, watching all this footage. It is shot and edited as if reminiscing with an old friend. Extremely comforting. Thank you for putting this together and sharing with us.

[@BSDShoes]

I was in Toronto in both 1994 and 1996, video looks much of what I remember. And whoa, Sam the Record Man sighting! I remember that store.

[@lincolnmarklt]

It was so nice before the country was flooded with people we don't need

[@OldTorontoSeries]

Are you needed?

[@iunnox666]

@OldTorontoSeries People who aren't willing to sacrifice our culture and the people who already live here for a welcome mat? Yes. Very much so. It's those who would rather stick their heads in the sand than address the issues who aren't needed.

[@lukemoloney1113]

@@OldTorontoSeries the city is in the shitter

[@shahid8545]

I shed a tear. Everyone was so clean looking, happier, friendlier... streets were clean... the innocence in people was still there. Now... technology, social media, immigration and economic turmoil have destroyed not only Toronto but Canada. Truly sad.

[@oleksii1406]

Someone, who's name is Shahid complains about immigration

[@shahid8545]

That's not my real name. My name is Shaine, I'm 45yrs old from Brantford. Don't judge and don't assume.

[@ZS89908]

so what? immigrants who are actually SKILLED contributed a lot more to this country than you ever have I'm willing to bet ​@@oleksii1406

[@NusoWorld]

Before it became New New Delhi 😞💔

[@scottalexander9853]

My first apartment in Toronto I paid 520 a month in rent at Jones and Gerrard. In 1997. I was 20 years old making only 2000 dollars a month living very comfortably. Fast forward to 2024. JustInflation Trudeau has destroyed this once great City and great Country.

[@Fahmida-Shimu]

Thank you so much for taking us down memory lane 😭... Soooo many memories!!! God bless❤

[@connieh.4212]

There is less than half the number of people walking on the street than there is today. Tells you how much population we are trying to squeeze in the same place.

[@jdhuh1]

My family arrived at Yonge & Eglinton back in 1997 from Mississauga. This is how I remembered my neighborhood, and it was lovely to live there. Now it's an overcrowded, expensive eyesore.

[@LeylaKamath]

How was sauga in ‘97? Was there anything west of square one mall ?

[@C-mac_in_the_6ix]

Back when this city was amazing.

[@sc4739]

I can actually see the sky again and not just 10000000 condos... I miss this Toronto..

[@Aces77777]

Make Toronto safe and great again like this

[@chuth2768]

Our crime rate has actually gone down since 97.

[@joehogan8234]

And much less woke.

[@eurydice72]

im in your walls

[@eurydice72]

you smell divine

[@Etaoinshrdlu69]

It was great if you weren't black, brown, lesbian, gay, trans, bi, or queer. Toronto is better now.

[@mwi875]

People who lived through that time and still here feel like strangers in their own city.

[@DMM6]

Back when Toronto was home... I don't recognize it anymore.

[@kenlan3347]

From the Batman & Robin poster and the overall weather, I can definitely date this video to the final week of June/early July. I really can't believe gas was 57 cents per liter. It's amazing we still get to see Canada Trust, Rogers Videos and the old second hand stores on what is today Yonge-Dundas Square. I wonder what happen to these rickshaws today.

[@jdhuh1]

$124900 for a condo!... if only I were old enough to have bought a condo in 1997 😅

[@NinjaWarriorDude416]

bought my first one for just $151k by Village by the Grange in 2007.

[@Sisima13]

Unfortunately I was wasting time being a newborn back then 😭

[@JC-se8mi]

Forget the condo…buy a house!

[@aaz1992]

I was too busy being -5 years old. Dangit

[@TactDB]

All the places I used to frequent in Toronto have closed. The small Korean pastry shop near Yonge and Sheppard to the Armenian shawarma place I took many dates to. Just like Vancouver it has become a place where memories cannot be built anymore.

[@jameslondos7165]

late 90's in Toronto was amazing. Great time and place to be a young person. Summer 97' the energy in the city was electric, so many amazing raves and parties happening everywhere. I made $10.50/hour, $420 bucks a week, it was enough to rent an apartment in Queen West with one roommate and have plenty of money left over for everything I could ever want. Didn't need a credit card, or a cell phone. Life was cheap, fun, exciting.. Now the city is dirty, everyone is miserable, overcrowded, overpriced, overbuilt. I feel bad for the kids today they don't know that world and how good we had it here.

[@riasat001]

I came to Canada as a teenager with my family in 1996, I really miss those days

[@Allriteyeah12]

Lucky u

[@chrisrose2767]

This video made me depressed as hell. I was born in 1990.

[@Sisima13]

At least you got to experience a bit of the 90s, I was born in 97…I basically missed all of it 😭

[@Etaoinshrdlu69]

The 90s started in 1991 with the fall of the Soviets. The 90s ended on September 11 which is when the 2000s really started and they lasted until 2008 with the election of Obama. Things haven't changed much since 2012ish..streaming video, apps, smartphones, content algorithms, social media

[@00011011100]

This film is Art. The fast cuts, the choice of subjects, the relentless movement. The film rests only briefly while we hear a mediocre rendition of the Canadian National anthem. Sharp, incoherent visual cuts underlined with the shifting drones of traffic. The director's tastes eludes the viewer, teasing us to find any discernible patterns. Sensual scrolls down buildings. A woman fixing her bike. Three fast shots of the same group crossing a busy street. Words. So many words. All the words. A black squirrel. City hall, again, later in the day. It could only be made on a video camera; no one could ever make this on a phone. My favorite was the sequence near the ferry that had 4 fast cuts into an angled shot. It's shocking. It jars us out of our city induced reverie. This is Art. Put it on loop in the AGO. New generations of filmmakers need to see this.

[@meltup3668]

Not a single crackhead in sight, this was truly the time when Canada's politicians cared for Canadians.

[@OldTorontoSeries]

“There are no crackheads”….. you weren’t watching the entire section of porn shops and strip clubs in this? Why comment without watching?

[@meltup3668]

@@OldTorontoSeries lmao those scenes make Jane and Finch look like paradise in Canada

[@Valefolken]

@@OldTorontoSeries Because they decided before even watching the video that they hate everything in the present and this video was meant to be their reassurance.

[@JordanX_97YT]

Back when Paul Bernardo’s trial was going on, great vid

[@MatrixMaster777]

Thanks for pointing that out! Toronto The Good and Bad^^

[@eddiev6013]

The streets are not cratered, almost no traffic. People are well dressed. Peak Toronto. Makes me wish i could go back in time.

[@prossiification]

I remember those days, the city was clean, there wasn't much crime and the rent was low. I worked in a restaurant, my salary was the minimum wage but I still had enough to pay the rent and to spend on the basics.

[@OldTorontoSeries]

Crime rates in 97 and 2023 are almost identical.

[@CanadianEhHole]

@@OldTorontoSeries If you take the stat at face value. A stat is meaningless if you take it at face value and don't consider how it could be twisted. I can assure you, every police chief, mayor, and city council have wanted to report crime as being lower while they're in charge. There's a reason there's a saying, "there are lies, damn lies, and statistics." Stats are easily manipulated and crime stats are no different. Take shoplifting for example. San Francisco put it to anything below $900 and the police won't bother to show up, meaning they don't take down a police report for it. A councilor in a major US city just recently said she doesn't want crime/shooting warnings to be sent to her constituents... crime is up in her ward and she doesn't want her voters to see it. How about when they outright hide it, like the UK hid the grooming gang scandals for well over 10 years? Hidden in all the stats at the time, obviously. Thousands of r*pes, kidnappings, etc. all underreported. How about plea deals? You can have 1 stat include the crime before the deal was made, having the crime categorized as one thing, and then a later stat categorizing it as something different (usually a lesser crime). Which one resembles reality more? Are you also comparing reported crimes with convicted/investigated crimes? How about the fact that a lot of people have lost faith in the police and justice system to actually catch criminals and so perhaps more crimes go unreported now.

[@OK-kw4rv]

​@OldTorontoSeries yup. Just less news/media back then

[@iunnox666]

@OldTorontoSeries At least 1 thing about the city hasn't gotten worse

[@randomrazr]

cant believe hte 90s are considered the good old days now. jesus christ time is a bitch

[@Valefolken]

Bud, the early 2010s are considered the good old days now.

[@concernedcanadian8460]

Things are so bad now, the 90's are starting to look like the 50's.

[@CustomMuscleCarAccessories]

Yup. Those were the days. Social life. Today. It's mostly Social Media.

[@phoenixman8569]

No reality TV, no entitled people with iPhones glued to thier heads recording everything is site, no transients openly shooting up, Saturday morning cartoons were still a thing for kids, and going to the video store to rent a few tapes for the weekend was a treat, as was hanging out at the mall, and this was just a quarter century ago, how time flies...

[@RootsBassCanada]

I was 17. Love the nineties.

[@agentmv]

I was 13 in 1997 and I remember I had no issues and felt comfortable to take the subway from Etobicoke to downtown. These days, not so much for my children who are 13 themselves.

[@wl03bu]

Thanks to whoever must have been carrying a massive camcorder back then!

[@kutter_ttl6786]

This was 1997. Sony Handycams and other compact camcorders were already pretty common back then.

[@dwl1117]

Oh, to be 27 again...

[@Dani-sm8jp]

This is the Toronto I know and Love.

[@Shall0ws]

For those of us fortunate enough to have grown up here in the 90s, we truly lived in the final golden age and didn't even know it

[@jpcm_9654]

It reminds me the good old days. Streets were clean and not crowded. They are exactly the same when I had my walk after lunch during those days. it was beautiful. That is what Canada should be.

[@schitlipz]

Wow! So many places I miss. Senior's was a great steakhouse. And I remember Beckers being everywhere as a convenience store. And I'm only 2 minutes in. Good memories. Nobody holding a phone, awesome.

[@Daniel-eq2mp]

Sadly we will never return to this reality.

[@OldTorontoSeries]

The biggest selling album that year was Spice girls

[@jasonr.6123]

Yeah, but we also got Ok Computer.

[@iunnox666]

@OldTorontoSeries Biggest selling album this year is Taylor Swift.

[@BrianRamotar_1776]

Thank you for the trip down memory lane

[@JCRF]

No bike lanes!

[@ishkaranbrar313]

No cyclists and streetcars

[@jasonr.6123]

That's the one thing that's better about Toronto now. City Council finally realized that drivers aren't the only people who matter.

[@adriannavindra8713]

Back then in 1997 you could actually afford an apartment downtown for 1000.00 and in some cases even less-especially in Yonge and Eglinton...Now...the streets are a haven for homeless addicts and if you cant afford a Condo or a $2,995.00 one bedroom apartment -then you will live in a TENT. Even Jobs were a dime a dozen back then...now most of the work has become Outsourced overseas...not the same Toronto anymore.

[@OldTorontoSeries]

"We're being replaced!" - person who doesn't use his own name because he's scared of bicycles. lol. loser.

[@meleymel]

Not a single soul looking at a mobile screen...what a time to be alive!

[@baska-]

Ah yes, the good old times before the GTA was also known as New Mumbai.

[@cristiano965]

My right ear really enjoyed this!

[@MyViewToronto]

I went to school downtown from 1995 to 2000. We'll never get that vibe again.

[@Change4b]

😢 I miss what it used to be

[@redrobotmonkey]

Uptown theatre! Brass Rail! Memories.

[@CinHalCedHerChance]

Man the nostalgia, wow. Toronto was amazing back then.

[@KE-yq2eg]

They're gonna play this in schools in 2050 at 2x speed and people won't be able to picture themselves there.

[@noisackda2564]

1997 doesn't even seem that long ago to me but this footage looks ancient

[@duncandmcgrath6290]

I can almost hear the City TV guy voice over …Hogtown memories

[@GOODJMR]

Let's all appreciate for a moment the epic walk that guy had to make down Yonge! Just because he thought maybe in the future people would like to see what it was like then. Thank you. ❤

[@fireshorts5789]

I grew up just a few blocks East of Mt. Pleasant, off of Eglington E. I'll never look back on this as the "good old days" cause it wasn't but I'll admit that Toronto was very different back then.

[@Tam...]

WOW! My first summer in Toronto, Canada, at the age of 16... So much has changed, but somehow it feels like it was yesterday. 1997, you will always hold a special place in my heart.💖

[@doeeyes2]

Crazy how i recognize Toronto from 30 years ago, more then I do Toronto today or even last 10 years. Like I know exactly every singke location. If you showed me this same video but updated in like 2016 .. i wouldnt have a clue. Very sad

[@SandiByrd]

I watch these and wonder what I was doing in this moment and time while they were filming the sights and sounds of my city. I would've been 21 in this one 🥰

[@JC-se8mi]

Final days of HS in 97; myself and a bunch of friends went ROLLARBLADING down Spadina towards the Toronto Island Ferries. What a crazy, great time. ❤

[@Mushin_mind]

Great replacement

[@FlavorTownResident]

Crazy how far its fallen in such little time since then

[@jahnome]

Wow! Two years after I was born down the road at Mount Sinai! I’m working on a short film of vintage Toronto and would love some of these clips 😭

[@JustFluffyQuiltingYarnCrafts]

This one was special for me. This was the last year that I lived in Toronto. Strangely, I recall all the signs for new condominium development and never foresaw what we have there now. I don’t think one can see much of the sky downtown anymore. 😕

[@andrewmccoll1582]

The year and city I was born in. Sad I never got to see it in better shape like this.

[@tevster1316]

I remember seeing Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat back then with Donny Osmond

[@SailorGreenTea]

11:21, why?

[@DJ_CYBER_Drolf]

I've been to Toronto so many times it feels like it's my second home. I live outside of Toronto (about a 35 minute drive where I live). I remember seeing how beautiful Toronto was for the first time when I was a kid back in the 90's. And it felt like it was a very affordable city to live in. It was my dream to move to Toronto when I grew older. Toronto is still my all time favorite city to go to

[@iunnox666]

*Still*? Why? We have good food, that's about it.

[@user-cf1se1kk5x]

This is pretty much how I remember Toronto. I lived there in 1998-2000

[@vertiian]

1997 is "old" now? oh..

[@BhatakteeAtma]

I wish there was some footage of Petro Canada. Just curious what was the gas price 27 years ago. I remember it was 65C/Litre for 87 Octane in the year 2000.

[@missj2045]

Great time to be alive ❤

[@pokedude104]

unrecognizable now. Toronto is its own little third world country now... about as safe as one too. I don't dare visit anymore you couldn't pay me to

[@OldTorontoSeries]

Record tourism in 2023 - and a crime rate similar to this video. Stop being such a drama queen.

[@k.s.333]

I used to hop on a GO bus to TO and walk around, felt safe and really enjoyed exploring the city. Last time I was there was in 2012.

[@rezwan9329]

Bring old Toronto back ❤

[@Derek_Reynolds]

what is the main thing you notice

[@Lucas-ho4ld]

Easy there Goy, wouldn't want an "accident" to happen to you for questioning immigration.

[@OldTorontoSeries]

The countless porn shops and people listening to Spice girls?

[@Derek_Reynolds]

@@OldTorontoSeries yeah it was lit

[@Lucas-ho4ld]

@TjSemeniuk I was in Mississauga yesterday and it's completely overrun.

[@AK.__]

I liked the vibe. Speedy garages and 90-s cars.

[@JianxunDang]

although I didn't witness it in person, I can feel the vibe in front of the screen. I like it.

[@The1mbeany]

they will fight tooth and nail to tell you the past was never better remember that

[@reg8288]

I moved there in 2000, I recall everything - lived close to eaton ctr

[@EvelynSaungikar]

No orange cones! Driveable streets!

[@Joseph-n4c5l]

Not a bicycle lane anywhere. Beautiful.

[@OldTorontoSeries]

You find bicyclists scary? lol.

[@Joseph-n4c5l]

@user-tr4jj9pt7x Somewhat, especially their careless and petulant-riding behaviors. I'm more scared of bike lanes.

[@lbanaei]

Omg Rogers Video ❤

[@ariangh815]

Wow. The streets looked much much cleaner those times. I guess people weren't yet accustomed to carrying so many single use cups and bottles.

[@HopeLaFleur1975]

The real Oh 🇨🇦 CANADA. there was ‘diversity’. Canadians were at peace!!! No one was divided. Everyone had opportunity to live in Canada. 🇨🇦 Canada of was moral !! Under the leadership our country was divided and turned upside down Lots of people lived together in unity. So the proof of this!!!❤

[@TheDudecof]

Where’s the dispensaries and Ubers??

[@FocusedRap]

No big brother watching over everyone.