Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The average temp is a few degrees cooler. But the humidity in Toronto is hell for 4 months out of the year. Dewpoints over 70.
I moved here in 2015. It is worse than Miami much of the time in the summer.
The thing with Florida, with it being a peninsula, it gets either oceanic or the gulf breezes helping to push the humidity across and out. Toronto on the north shore of lake Ontario has no relief from breezes that are predominantly from either the east or west which have to transit over heated land masses bringing Lake Michigan moisturized air, or from Quebec with it's lakes and the St Lawrence R. providing added humidity before arriving at Toronto.
Toronto in the dog days of summer without A/C can be a punishing experience.
Toronto and Boston's weather both suck for about 5 months of the year. I really could care less if Toronto or Boston is slightly more hot and humid .5 percent of the year more.
Toronto in the dog days of summer without A/C can be a punishing experience.
Prior to the turn of this century, the TTC's transit vehicles were mostly not air conditioned. When in motion during a hot 30+ degree centigrade day, breezes will flow in but when the vehicle is stationery at a red light or worse in a traffic jam, I bet the passengers and maybe even the driver on a CLRV, a Flyer D901, or a GM Fishbowl would fry to a crisp. We certainly did on our transit vehicles back in the day. The heat island effect caused by widespread bitumen in big cities like Toronto and Boston did not help either.
Prior to the turn of this century, the TTC's transit vehicles were mostly not air conditioned. When in motion during a hot 30+ degree centigrade day, breezes will flow in but when the vehicle is stationery at a red light or worse in a traffic jam, I bet the passengers and maybe even the driver on a CLRV, a Flyer D901, or a GM Fishbowl would fry to a crisp. We certainly did on our transit vehicles back in the day. The heat island effect caused by widespread bitumen in big cities like Toronto and Boston did not help either.
You are really well read on transit and history. I'm impressed with your knowledge of old school TTC vehicles. As interesting as it is to read about them, imagine being able to go back and actually experience them in all their sensory glory. I grew up with CLRV's and remember the excitement always boarding the 505.. Thanks for this because reading it rushed me back to some amazing memories of my childhood.
You are not urban peasant - you sir are urban connoisseur.
The thing with Florida, with it being a peninsula, it gets either oceanic or the gulf breezes helping to push the humidity across and out. Toronto on the north shore of lake Ontario has no relief from breezes that are predominantly from either the east or west which have to transit over heated land masses bringing Lake Michigan moisturized air, or from Quebec with it's lakes and the St Lawrence R. providing added humidity before arriving at Toronto.
Toronto in the dog days of summer without A/C can be a punishing experience.
You have to take humidity in your stride. An outsider will find it hard to understand, but if you are a resident of Toronto, then you will know that it is not a bad place to live for the most part. This weather is really no worse than that of any other city in the world. So stop complaining. When one is accustomed to it, everything is normal. The best way to deal with the heat is to drink lots of water and keep the body as light as possible. Wear loose clothing and stay away from dark colors if possible.
Prior to the turn of this century, the TTC's transit vehicles were mostly not air conditioned. When in motion during a hot 30+ degree centigrade day, breezes will flow in but when the vehicle is stationery at a red light or worse in a traffic jam, I bet the passengers and maybe even the driver on a CLRV, a Flyer D901, or a GM Fishbowl would fry to a crisp. We certainly did on our transit vehicles back in the day. The heat island effect caused by widespread bitumen in big cities like Toronto and Boston did not help either.
Years ago, pretty much all TTC vehicles had windows that could be opened. Buses, certainly (and next to every openable window was a little sign saying "Keep Arm In"); but also streetcars and subway trains.
The PCC streetcar windows could be lowered. More-modern PCC streetcars had a mechanism to pinch, and then adjust the window to however open you wanted it. Older PCC streetcars had a crank, like in cars, that allowed you to crank the window up or down.
But subways with windows that could be opened? Yes! The old red Gloucester subway cars had openable windows. They were at the top of the window frame. Of course, with open windows while going through a tunnel, the noise was something else again. So loud, that you couldn't hear the person next to you. But on hot sticky days, the wind blowing through the car was so welcome.
When I was younger (maybe 12 or 13), my friends and I used to ride the subway all day on hot, sticky, and still days, just to open the windows of the Gloucester cars and feel the wind as the train went through the tunnels. We got to know the system, as it was then, pretty well; though it was just the Yonge-University line and the Bloor-Danforth line.
You are really well read on transit and history. I'm impressed with your knowledge of old school TTC vehicles. As interesting as it is to read about them, imagine being able to go back and actually experience them in all their sensory glory. I grew up with CLRV's and remember the excitement always boarding the 505.. Thanks for this because reading it rushed me back to some amazing memories of my childhood.
You are not urban peasant - you sir are urban connoisseur.
Thanks Fusion , I unfortunately can't rep you again. I have always been a transit and history buff and I relish riding public transit in every major city I visit. The TTC is definitely up there with our MBTA system and New York's MTA system that really interests me. I too miss many of the old school vehicles in Toronto even if they lacked AC in the summer just as I do the old school transit vehicles here in Boston. I did get to ride the CLRVs one last time in 2016 and the last route I rode them on was - you guessed right - the 505 Dundas Street Line, the line that connects Toronto's two Chinatowns. That line can get very crowded when it cuts through Downtown Toronto. It was also a warm (luckily not hot) late summer day and the windows were all cracked open on the vehicles, something that riders of the new Flexities will not have an opportunity to experience and future air-conditioned accustomed generations will not understand.
Thanks Fusion , I unfortunately can't rep you again. I have always been a transit and history buff and I relish riding public transit in every major city I visit. The TTC is definitely up there with our MBTA system and New York's MTA system that really interests me. I too miss many of the old school vehicles in Toronto even if they lacked AC in the summer just as I do the old school transit vehicles here in Boston. I did get to ride the CLRVs one last time in 2016 and the last route I rode them on was - you guessed right - the 505 Dundas Street Line, the line that connects Toronto's two Chinatowns. That line can get very crowded when it cuts through Downtown Toronto. It was also a warm (luckily not hot) late summer day and the windows were all cracked open on the vehicles, something that riders of the new Flexities will not have an opportunity to experience and future air-conditioned accustomed generations will not understand.
Yeah the new Flexities are modern and move a lot more people. I can totally understand the need for them and personally, I find streetcars - even those add a certain character to the city but yeah, they just lack the nostalgia and the memories.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
, I unfortunately can't rep you again. I have always been a transit and history buff and I relish riding public transit in every major city I visit. The TTC is definitely up there with our MBTA system and New York's MTA system that really interests me. I too miss many of the old school vehicles in Toronto even if they lacked AC in the summer just as I do the old school transit vehicles here in Boston. I did get to ride the CLRVs one last time in 2016 and the last route I rode them on was - you guessed right - the 505 Dundas Street Line, the line that connects Toronto's two Chinatowns. That line can get very crowded when it cuts through Downtown Toronto. It was also a warm (luckily not hot) late summer day and the windows were all cracked open on the vehicles, something that riders of the new Flexities will not have an opportunity to experience and future air-conditioned accustomed generations will not understand.
