http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_09.01.05/city/citystate.html
A former mayor decries the replacement of Toronto’s old, classy street signs. A middling issue, to be sure, but one that contributes a surprising amount to the aesthetics of the city. Also, as he points out, representing a change in the way the streets of the city are to be used:
“Without further approvals, staff began to supersede the elegant black and white signs that have come to define Toronto with something of their own design. There’s no mystery about where the new blue and white signs came from; they came from expressways, as did the similar street signs in Scarborough and North York. That’s the prime place you find these colours, this style of lettering, this size. Works staff see the city’s streets as part of an expressway system for cars. To a hammer, every solution involves a nail.”