Sprawling Past

On yesterday's The Current, Anna Maria Tremonti interviewed a chap named Robert Bruegmann. They chatted about urban sprawl. It was an interesting discussion, so I decided to take a quick look in some our family photo archives.

Here are two photos of Toronto's Forest Hill in the early 1900s. These shots were taken from Bathurst Street, northwest of Casa Loma, about a century ago.

Suburban monster homes of yesteryear:

Back then wealthy people wanted to get out of the city. Today many wealthy people want to remain in (or move into) the city. People have left Forest Hill (people like my mom's family, long ago), to be replaced by newer money. Which is the one constant -- money. In Forest Hill, I mean. Not in my bank account! Our Forest Hill days ended in the early 1930s. I eat Kraft Dinner and take the TTC like so many others.