2013 was yet another solid year of construction, proposals and general city growth in the Greater Toronto Area. With cranes popping up all over the region in volumes rivalled only by Tim Horton's locations, more and more Torontonians are looking to UrbanToronto for information about these new additions, reading our front page stories, Forum threads, and dataBase files. While it would be impossible to explore such a historic year of growth in just one article, we have rounded up the Top Ten stories, threads, and files of the year as part of our round-up of 2013.

News

We have a lot of big city pride in Toronto. Though we certainly aren’t the largest or densest city on the continent, Toronto is growing faster than any other city in North America. Imagine how thrilled we were in March, when the City of Toronto's Economic Dashboard reported that Toronto had overtaken Chicago as the fourth most populous city in North America. Apparently, we weren’t the only ones grinning, and our article on the announcement became the most read story of the year on UrbanToronto!

Aerial view of downtown Toronto, image by Jack Landau

1. Toronto Now the Fourth Largest City in North America

Strangely enough, our second biggest story of 2013 was one from late 2012: an image by Scott Dickson of Toronto's future skyline which was so compelling that people were still mesmerized long into January!

2. Stunning Rendering of Toronto's Future Skyline

Stories three through ten covered some of the biggest new developments being talked about or opened, and one naughty little story from the beginning of April got a lot of attention from those interested in Toronto's next subway line, including those involved with its planning.

3. Updated Plan for Mirvish+Gehry Ups the Wow Factor

4. CN Tower and the Ripley's Aquarium Race to Summer Openings

5. Progress at Ripley's Aquarium Hinting at the Finished Look

6. New Renderings Up The Ante For Oxford Place Development

7. Proposed Redevelopment of 1 Yonge Site Goes Big

8. Exhibits Moving Into Ripley's Aquarium of Canada

9. TTC Narrows Down DRL Subway Route Through Toronto's Core

10. A New Park Opens in the West Don Lands: Meet Corktown Common

 

Forum

In the event that you may have cautiously spent the last year in a fallout shelter located off the grid, 2013 was a year clouded by political scandal and turmoil at City Hall. The never-ending parade of rumours, revelations and debates swirling around Mayor Rob Ford brought readers to the UrbanToronto Forum in record numbers. A thread designated for discussions about Rob Ford has moved faster than any other thread in UrbanToronto history, with over 39,500 posts since its creation in late 2010. The most popular thread of 2013 has become a hotbed of debate between the mayor’s supporters and detractors, as well as a haven for amateur web sleuths and anonymous tipsters looking to crack open the story even wider – no pun intended.

Protest to oust Mayor Ford in November, image by Jack Landau

1. Mayor Rob Ford’s Toronto

The remaining Top Ten threads are all about the projects that we love to talk and talk and talk about. They were…

2. One Bloor East

3. Aura at College Park

4. ICE Condominiums

5. Bay Adelaide Centre East

6. One York and Harbour Plaza Residences

7. L Tower

8. Southcore Financial Centre and Delta Toronto

9. Ripley’s Aquarium

10. Mirvish+Gehry

dataBase

The construction, completion and opening of the Ripley’s Aquarium at the foot of the CN Tower kept the project at the top of our dataBase rankings throughout much of 2013. Following in close second, Aura at College Park’s dataBase listing continues to draw in curious readers as the tower approaches its final height.

Inside Ripley's Aquarium of Canada, image by Jack Landau

1. Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada

2. Aura at College Park

The remaining eight in the Top Ten are all big projects, no surprise, some under construction, some yet to be!

3. One York and Harbour Plaza Residences

4. L Tower

5. One Bloor East

6. Union Station Revitalization

7. Mirvish+Gehry

8. RBC WaterPark Place III

9. Couture Condominium

10. 50 Bloor West

There are now 601 projects live in our dataBase, an amazing number of developments covering everything from office towers to condominiums, to townhomes, to shopping centres, to transit stations, to parks. Clicking on the dataBase link at the top of every page will give you quick access to this amazing resource, or you can click on our map link to find the same projects by area.

We will be back at the beginning of next month for a rundown of January 2014’s most popular Forum threads, news stories and dataBase files!