Torontonians' reputation—both across the country and at home—as being unfriendly is undeserved. Most of us really do try to be helpful, even when we're venting our rage and writing up our best passive-aggressive notes. Take this latest volley in the eternal battle between lawn-loving gardeners and inconsiderate dog owners (which, it should be noted, are a tiny minority). Sure, this East York homeowner left a none-too-subtle note to the culprit who didn't pick up......

Please do not leave your hair, toilet paper or food waste in or around the sink. Thank you for your attention and assistance in trying to keep our washroom clean and sanitary. Photo taken by Jonathan Goldsbie in the men's washroom on the main floor of U of T's Rotman School of Management.......

Mookie Morris isn't the only local Canadian Idol contestant with a lawn-based cheering section. We spotted this sign for Sebastian Pigott on an east end street yesterday evening, mere minutes before he was voted off the island, or whatever it is that they do to eliminate false Idols. Sebastian's hunky full-colour signs put Mookie's single-colour quickies to shame, but a slick sign is obviously not enough to guarantee a win in a teenybopper popularity......

Photographed by Nadia Halim in a women's washroom in the food court at York Lanes, on the York University campus. She writes "Seriously, there are some grave issues in our society surrounding death and dying, but this graffiti just made me giggle uncontrollably. It's that top sentence especially." Nadia titled the photo "Most Obviously Doomed Activist Cause Ever!" which we had a tough time disagreeing with, until we saw this.......

Election-style signs urging people to "Vote Mookie Canadian Idol" have started popping up on the lush and exclusive lawns of Rosedale in the last few days. If you're like us, you're probably thinking, "Who the hell is Mookie?" And why are so many Rosedalians admitting to watching lowbrow reality shows? Shouldn't they be taking their doses of reality schlock in secret shame like everybody else? The signs are part of Mookie Morris's Mom's campaign......

Mr. Stickman has the toughest job in Toronto: keeping you safe. In a day's work, he gets smushed, crushed, beheaded, befingered, mangled, strangled, thrown, blown, ground, and crowned. And unlike the relatively delicate spokesmodels who calmly remind you to mind the gap or not to trespass, Mr. Stickman is willing to give the extra effort and actually demonstrate the consequences of not following the rules. Wherever danger lurks, Mr. Stickman plies his educational trade. He......

It's hard to argue with Slate's declaration that the Random House Dictionary contains the best definition of velleity: 1. volition in its weakest form2. a mere wish, unaccompanied by an effort to obtain it. That is precisely the definition that comes to mind when gazing at this sign guarding a driveway leading to the LCBO store on Yonge Street north of Davisville Avenue. The driveway joins two small parking lots, one that serves the......

Rami Tabello of IllegalSigns.ca has teamed up with the New York–based Anti-Advertising Agency to create IllegalBillboards.org. According to Tabello's announcement, "the idea is to set up a blank web site, which can now be used by New York-based activists to keep track of research into illegal billboards and scrutiny of Department of Buildings enforcement." Tabello has already started taking a look at illegal ads in New York City over the past few weeks.......

Spotted in the north elevator of an upscale North York condo.......

Since it was built in 1887, the Alexandrina Block on College Street west of Spadina has seen numerous tenants come and go, including The Bagel music venue. Among its current elements is a 1970s-style sign promising over a dozen variety of submarine sandwiches. Those hoping for a retro experience will be disappointed as all that remains of the self-proclaimed "Rolls Royce of submarines" is the sign, fully intact and party covered by a tree.......

Spiral Beach have found themselves in a spot of trouble. As detailed a week and a half ago in both NOW and Eye, the band got hit with a $1470 bill [PDF] from EcoMedia Direct for putting up eight posters for last month's Opera House show on eight of the company's "SilverBox and Heritage Box Recycling Bins." Again, that's $1470 for eight small posters, like the one above made by Spiral Beach singer/keyboardist Maddy......

Park at your own risk near Yonge and Gloucester. Photo by rupert affen.......

Public relations is a tricky job, especially for the companies that operate illegal signs across Toronto. They've already got to deal with a site dedicated solely to putting an end to the practice, an increasingly aware and increasingly concerned populace, and those damned vandals who forgo legal means of dissent by dealing with the problem directly. So it comes as a bit of a surprise that Posterchild, a prominent member of (and advocate for)......

Dear Distillery District, We really like you, but that doesn't mean that we can't offer suggestions for improvement. We'd like to introduce your sign makers to two magic words: "during construction." They could help avoid giving visitors the wrong impression about the pride you have in the site and your stores. Wordfully, TOist.......

Photo of a Koodo mobile ad by Marc Lostracco. Two pending lawsuits challenge the constitutionality of certain aspects of the City of Toronto's sign by-law [PDF]. The first aspect is the by-law's less favourable treatment of signs mounted on walls (known as fascia signs, most commonly made of vinyl) versus signs painted on walls (known as murals). Murals may be placed more closely together, and it is generally easier to obtain planning permission to......

Little-known fact: Third-party mobile signs, such as the one above for the U of T Career Centre, are illegal in Toronto (and the City recently hired a sort of bounty hunter to drive around in a truck, seizing and impounding them). Perhaps this is one of the reasons why. Photo taken by Jonathan Goldsbie early Thursday morning at the northwest corner of St. George and Harbord. The sign has since been removed.......

In the fall of 1997, the Metro Toronto Zoo had something of a clearance sale, divesting itself of merchandise branded "Metro Toronto Zoo." On January 1st, the Megacity would be coming, the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto would be no more, and the Zoo—to be renamed simply the "Toronto Zoo"—would be prepared for the change. The Metropolitan Toronto Police, however, were not quite as on the ball. Two years later, in 2000, the organization finally......

The province has ordered the City of Toronto to stop stonewalling in the face of freedom of information requests about allegedly illegal billboards. IllegalSigns.ca—"our hobby is destroying illegal billboards through the rule of law"—submitted a series of requests asking the City to release information about certain billboards. The City's Corporate Access and Privacy Unit balked. After receiving over 600 requests from the group in 2006—12% of all requests filed in the City—and after processing......

These pictures were not taken mid-transition. Photos by Jonathan Goldsbie.......

"This advertising space and/or building for lease" Photo of the west side of Yonge, at Gould, by Jonathan Goldsbie.......

This is probably not the issue these signs are trying to address. Photos taken by Jonathan Goldsbie at Innis College's men's washroom.......

The Globe and Illegal Signs report today that Titan Outdoor Canada Company has asked the courts to save its sixteen vinyl billboards from a City of Toronto removal order. Putting on its legal cap, Torontoist reviewed the notice of application [PDF]—the first step in the court process—filed by Titan in the Ontario Superior Court. The notice alleges that the City lacks the authority to regulate the distinction between different types of signs, is acting......

In this occasional feature, two Torontoist staffers face off to debate an issue that is important to our city. We invite our readers to join in the debate in the comments section after the post. Signs, signs, everywhere signs. The beginning of the year marked the first anniversary of a controversial and radical ban of all nearly outdoor advertising in São Paulo, Brazil. While Toronto's advertising problems are certainly not as serious as São Paulo's,......

"Upper Canada Lower Bowel Clinic Inc." Greatest thing ever? Photo taken by Jonathan Goldsbie at U of T's Jackman Humanities Building (formerly the Medical Arts Building). Thanks to J.D. McGregor of the English Department for the tip.......

Torontoist likes its java joints in all shapes and sizes. Whether it's a mom-and-pop lunch counter that has fired up the pots since Confederation, multinational chains, or the latest in fairly traded barista artistry, Toronto is home to a wide variety of places where one can find an honest cup of joe and a comfortable place to sit. Our latest discovery may be the city's coziest coffee counter. Located on College west of Bathurst,......

Signs telling people not to feed birds in Nathan Phillips Square were suddenly installed and just as suddenly removed over the past week, reports the Toronto Star. Torontoist thought the signs gave some pretty compelling reasons for their all-too-brief existence. Feeding birds distorts their nutrition, migration, and breeding patterns. Also, guano is a nuisance (as many bike and car owners will tell you) and a health hazard, even if in less than Dr. No-like......

So much for preserving Toronto's cultural heritage—it looks like pretty much the entire stock of Sam The Record Man's flagship store is going up for auction. On Wednesday, June 27th at 10:30 a.m., Benaco Sales Ltd. will hold an auction on location inside the flagship, at 347 Yonge Street. Contents include "Outdoor neon records, unique neon signage, Olde English Shoe shine stations, Antique English Pub Bars, Store Fixtures, Marquee Signs, Pos and Security systems,......

Somewhere, Dave Meslin is weeping with joy. Today marks the launch of Rami Tabello's IllegalSigns.ca: an incredibly ambitious project that, through its comprehensive analysis of billboard advertising in Toronto, ties together a number of the loose ends of the broader public space movement. What Tabello has found – and has the hard evidence to back up – is that "half the billboards in Toronto are illegal." They have "thus far identified 350 illegal billboards,"......

Since 1999, technical writer Dave Till has maintained a sort-of-secret online shrine to Toronto's forgotten industries. We say sort-of-secret because every couple of years a blog like Metafilter or a website like cbc.ca will discover it, and his server would take a tremendous hit. So Till has moved his collection of images of old business signage—those faded, hand-painted signs advertising novelties and dry goods known as Ghost Signs— to Flickr. Till, who grew up......

Each weekday morning, we pick a recent image from the Torontoist Flickr Pool and feature it here on the site. It's our way to give the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention they deserve! Signs like the one above, captured by Torontoist Flickr pool member bitefight, are disappearing all over the city, which is sad. Who doesn't love them? There's something about the proportional imperfections in the hand-painted letters that coverys far more......