Why does Toronto pick such horrible names for public spaces, stations, airports etc.?

[6ixGod]

Why does Toronto (and the GTA) do this over and over again? What ever happened to the KISS principle? Hear me out first before you lambast me in the replies section. It’s not a MAJOR issue I understand, but at the very least it should be raised and questioned.

This all starts with “Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station”….let’s set aside the fact that the City of Vaughan isn’t even a “metropolitan area” to begin with, the name itself is just inaccurate and unnecessarily long to be honest - Vaughan station or Vaughan City Centre station would have been more appropriate and follows the TTC’s own naming convention (ie. Scarborough Town Centre station, North York Centre station). Upon digging up some old news articles, I discovered that Vaughan City council insisted that the TTC name the station like that. This literally screams inferiority complex if I ever saw one. They so desperately wanted to stick out for an area that has six condos in the middle of a former corn field. Do they even know what the word “metropolitan” means? Vaughan in general is known for having some really big egos living in it…they behave like it’s the most affluent place in the GTA, when it’s literally Italian Markham with a big rail yard in the middle. Relax.

And the story continues….

I was just on Reddit reading a discussion on what the former “Science Centre station” is going to be renamed with Ontario Science Centre moving downtown. I read some really odd replies…everything from “Kawhi Leonard station” to “Slava Ukrani station”. To be honest the TTC should be naming stations after the closest street the station is on or the neighbourhood it serves, which means it should be Don Mills station, while the existing Don Mills station being renamed to Fairview. That’s just me though, but I hope they don’t muck it up with something silly.

Then comes “East Harbour station”, which is now being referred to “East Harbour Transit Centre”. What in the world is a “transit centre” anyway? I’ve only heard this term be used in one English speaking country - the United States. Nowhere else is this term used. In the UK, Australia, NZ and South Africa, they use a term for this that has been in use for over 100 years. It’s called a JUNCTION - it’s also referred to as Crossing or Cross as well. How about just naming it East Harbour station, East Harbour Junction station, or if they’re really in the mood to “be different” how about East Harbour Cross?

Sankofa Square - self explanatory. Should have remained Yonge-Dundas or simply drop the Dundas and call it Toronto Yonge Square. If City Council really wanted to rename Yonge-Dundas, then maybe name it after an indigenous/local Toronto figure/identity. Outrageous they chose a name and sounds like a pharmaceutical company sponsoring the square. And let’s not even get into the history of the “Sankofa” and their ties to slavery. The irony here is unmistakable. I heard there’s a large petition that is being pushed to have “Sankofa” dropped and a new name chosen. I hope it happens.

Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport: “Billy” is slang for William. Why not just call it William Bishop Toronto City Airport (like Toronto Lester B. Pearson Int’l Airport) and shorten it to “Toronto Bishop” (like “Toronto Pearson”)?

Tommy Thompson Park: “Tommy” again is slang for Thomas. Thomas Thompson Park would have been suffice.

Brampton Innovation District station - insert “what the hell is even that?” meme here. I’ve heard that the City of Brampton is actually PAYING Metrolinx to have the station named this for ten years beginning in 2023 to encourage investment. Really Brampton? Who in the world would want to move to or open a business in Brampton in this day in age? Seriously Brampton…you have a lot more pressing issues to worry about, such as the rampant number of scam colleges operating with Indian “international students” protesting outside them. Its reputation is in complete tatters across the GTA. In some ways, Brampton has united the GTA across racial and ethnic lines. Literally everybody hates Brampton….everybody from Jane & Finch to the Bridle Path….Burlington to Oshawa….you ask any ethnic group what place they find the most ratchet, and you’ll literally hear Brampton from everyone….the Asians in Markham, the Tamils in Malvern, the Jews in North York, the Italians in Vaughan……Jamaicans, Greeks, Latinos, Portuguese, Ethiopians, Russians, Persians….I can’t even name all the groups in Toronto anymore. Literally everyone finds Brampton disgusting….heck, even the Indians who immigrated to Canada decades ago despise Brampton..

Anyways, N=names matter more than you think. My rant is over. I look forward to hearing you tear me apart.

 

[lenaitch]

six condos in the middle of a former corn field

Well, if you go back far enough, that descriptor could define a lot of places inside Toronto's boundaries. People and their governments have been giving names to places that some people thought weird since forever. I was just watching a clip involving the city of Peculiar in Missouri. Don't think others don't snicker at them at government meetings. Nowadays, municipalities probably hire six figure consultants for such things; at the very least it is a committee ('a Platypus was an animal designed by a committee'). A name must be aspirational. It must be so inoffensive to anyone that it is irrelevant to everyone.

Inferiority complex? Likely more delusions of grandeur. For most of its history, King City was little more than a crossroads village.

My one quibble with 'Billy Bishop Airport' is Toronto is so imaginative that they had to highjack an airport name already in use (Owen Sound), named after a Canadian historic aviation figure but one who had virtually no connection to Toronto.

 

[Jonny5]

Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport: “Billy” is slang for William. Why not just call it William Bishop Toronto City Airport (like Toronto Lester B. Pearson Int’l Airport) and shorten it to “Toronto Bishop” (like “Toronto Pearson”)?

Tommy Thompson Park: “Tommy” again is slang for Thomas. Thomas Thompson Park would have been suffice.

This one is pretty simple. Billy and Tommy are how they were known and how they referred to themselves.
Lester Pearson did not ever say "you can call me Lessy".

 

[christiesplits]

Why does Toronto (and the GTA) do this over and over again? What ever happened to the KISS principle? Hear me out first before you lambast me in the replies section. It’s not a MAJOR issue I understand, but at the very least it should be raised and questioned.

This all starts with “Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station”….let’s set aside the fact that the City of Vaughan isn’t even a “metropolitan area” to begin with, the name itself is just inaccurate and unnecessarily long to be honest - Vaughan station or Vaughan City Centre station would have been more appropriate and follows the TTC’s own naming convention (ie. Scarborough Town Centre station, North York Centre station). Upon digging up some old news articles, I discovered that Vaughan City council insisted that the TTC name the station like that. This literally screams inferiority complex if I ever saw one. They so desperately wanted to stick out for an area that has six condos in the middle of a former corn field. Do they even know what the word “metropolitan” means? Vaughan in general is known for having some really big egos living in it…they behave like it’s the most affluent place in the GTA, when it’s literally Italian Markham with a big rail yard in the middle. Relax.

And the story continues….

I was just on Reddit reading a discussion on what the former “Science Centre station” is going to be renamed with Ontario Science Centre moving downtown. I read some really odd replies…everything from “Kawhi Leonard station” to “Slava Ukrani station”. To be honest the TTC should be naming stations after the closest street the station is on or the neighbourhood it serves, which means it should be Don Mills station, while the existing Don Mills station being renamed to Fairview. That’s just me though, but I hope they don’t muck it up with something silly.

Then comes “East Harbour station”, which is now being referred to “East Harbour Transit Centre”. What in the world is a “transit centre” anyway? I’ve only heard this term be used in one English speaking country - the United States. Nowhere else is this term used. In the UK, Australia, NZ and South Africa, they use a term for this that has been in use for over 100 years. It’s called a JUNCTION - it’s also referred to as Crossing or Cross as well. How about just naming it East Harbour station, East Harbour Junction station, or if they’re really in the mood to “be different” how about East Harbour Cross?

Sankofa Square - self explanatory. Should have remained Yonge-Dundas or simply drop the Dundas and call it Toronto Yonge Square. If City Council really wanted to rename Yonge-Dundas, then maybe name it after an indigenous/local Toronto figure/identity. Outrageous they chose a name and sounds like a pharmaceutical company sponsoring the square. And let’s not even get into the history of the “Sankofa” and their ties to slavery. The irony here is unmistakable. I heard there’s a large petition that is being pushed to have “Sankofa” dropped and a new name chosen. I hope it happens.

Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport: “Billy” is slang for William. Why not just call it William Bishop Toronto City Airport (like Toronto Lester B. Pearson Int’l Airport) and shorten it to “Toronto Bishop” (like “Toronto Pearson”)?

Tommy Thompson Park: “Tommy” again is slang for Thomas. Thomas Thompson Park would have been suffice.

Brampton Innovation District station - insert “what the hell is even that?” meme here. I’ve heard that the City of Brampton is actually PAYING Metrolinx to have the station named this for ten years beginning in 2023 to encourage investment. Really Brampton? Who in the world would want to move to or open a business in Brampton in this day in age? Seriously Brampton…you have a lot more pressing issues to worry about, such as the rampant number of scam colleges operating with Indian “international students” protesting outside them. Its reputation is in complete tatters across the GTA. In some ways, Brampton has united the GTA across racial and ethnic lines. Literally everybody hates Brampton….everybody from Jane & Finch to the Bridle Path….Burlington to Oshawa….you ask any ethnic group what place they find the most ratchet, and you’ll literally hear Brampton from everyone….the Asians in Markham, the Tamils in Malvern, the Jews in North York, the Italians in Vaughan……Jamaicans, Greeks, Latinos, Portuguese, Ethiopians, Russians, Persians….I can’t even name all the groups in Toronto anymore. Literally everyone finds Brampton disgusting….heck, even the Indians who immigrated to Canada decades ago despise Brampton..

Anyways, N=names matter more than you think. My rant is over. I look forward to hearing you tear me apart.

"Vaughan Metropolitan City Centre" and "Brampton Innovation District Station" are attempts at branding the areas as modern, urbane and cutting edge. I don't mind the former - see North York City Centre in the 90s - but the latter is a big yuck. Brampton Innovation District sounds like it was coined by an ad agency.

 

[DSC]

Why does Toronto (and the GTA) do this over and over again? What ever happened to the KISS principle? Hear me out first before you lambast me in the replies section. It’s not a MAJOR issue I understand, but at the very least it should be raised and questioned.

This all starts with “Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station”….let’s set aside the fact that the City of Vaughan isn’t even a “metropolitan area” to begin with, the name itself is just inaccurate and unnecessarily long to be honest - Vaughan station or Vaughan City Centre station would have been more appropriate and follows the TTC’s own naming convention (ie. Scarborough Town Centre station, North York Centre station). Upon digging up some old news articles, I discovered that Vaughan City council insisted that the TTC name the station like that. This literally screams inferiority complex if I ever saw one. They so desperately wanted to stick out for an area that has six condos in the middle of a former corn field. Do they even know what the word “metropolitan” means? Vaughan in general is known for having some really big egos living in it…they behave like it’s the most affluent place in the GTA, when it’s literally Italian Markham with a big rail yard in the middle. Relax.

And the story continues….

I was just on Reddit reading a discussion on what the former “Science Centre station” is going to be renamed with Ontario Science Centre moving downtown. I read some really odd replies…everything from “Kawhi Leonard station” to “Slava Ukrani station”. To be honest the TTC should be naming stations after the closest street the station is on or the neighbourhood it serves, which means it should be Don Mills station, while the existing Don Mills station being renamed to Fairview. That’s just me though, but I hope they don’t muck it up with something silly.

Then comes “East Harbour station”, which is now being referred to “East Harbour Transit Centre”. What in the world is a “transit centre” anyway? I’ve only heard this term be used in one English speaking country - the United States. Nowhere else is this term used. In the UK, Australia, NZ and South Africa, they use a term for this that has been in use for over 100 years. It’s called a JUNCTION - it’s also referred to as Crossing or Cross as well. How about just naming it East Harbour station, East Harbour Junction station, or if they’re really in the mood to “be different” how about East Harbour Cross?

Sankofa Square - self explanatory. Should have remained Yonge-Dundas or simply drop the Dundas and call it Toronto Yonge Square. If City Council really wanted to rename Yonge-Dundas, then maybe name it after an indigenous/local Toronto figure/identity. Outrageous they chose a name and sounds like a pharmaceutical company sponsoring the square. And let’s not even get into the history of the “Sankofa” and their ties to slavery. The irony here is unmistakable. I heard there’s a large petition that is being pushed to have “Sankofa” dropped and a new name chosen. I hope it happens.

Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport: “Billy” is slang for William. Why not just call it William Bishop Toronto City Airport (like Toronto Lester B. Pearson Int’l Airport) and shorten it to “Toronto Bishop” (like “Toronto Pearson”)?

Tommy Thompson Park: “Tommy” again is slang for Thomas. Thomas Thompson Park would have been suffice.

Brampton Innovation District station - insert “what the hell is even that?” meme here. I’ve heard that the City of Brampton is actually PAYING Metrolinx to have the station named this for ten years beginning in 2023 to encourage investment. Really Brampton? Who in the world would want to move to or open a business in Brampton in this day in age? Seriously Brampton…you have a lot more pressing issues to worry about, such as the rampant number of scam colleges operating with Indian “international students” protesting outside them. Its reputation is in complete tatters across the GTA. In some ways, Brampton has united the GTA across racial and ethnic lines. Literally everybody hates Brampton….everybody from Jane & Finch to the Bridle Path….Burlington to Oshawa….you ask any ethnic group what place they find the most ratchet, and you’ll literally hear Brampton from everyone….the Asians in Markham, the Tamils in Malvern, the Jews in North York, the Italians in Vaughan……Jamaicans, Greeks, Latinos, Portuguese, Ethiopians, Russians, Persians….I can’t even name all the groups in Toronto anymore. Literally everyone finds Brampton disgusting….heck, even the Indians who immigrated to Canada decades ago despise Brampton..

Anyways, N=names matter more than you think. My rant is over. I look forward to hearing you tear me apart.

Though I agree with some of your points. In these cases the names chosen were what the people were actually called (Billy and Tommy)


"Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport: “Billy” is slang for William. Why not just call it William Bishop Toronto City Airport (like Toronto Lester B. Pearson Int’l Airport) and shorten it to “Toronto Bishop” (like “Toronto Pearson”)?
Tommy Thompson Park: “Tommy” again is slang for Thomas. Thomas Thompson Park would have been suffice""

 

[junctionist]

My qualm is that there's so little done to commemorate great Canadians in our street names, which then get used to name parks, squares, and transit stations. Toronto, Canada's largest city, is essentially the nation's capital in almost every respect except for the federal government.

It's the only part of Canada that many people will be exposed to. There should be a sense of wanting to showcase the nation's culture, especially the people who lived here who made an impact on Canada and world.

 

[Jonny5]

My qualm is that there's so little done to commemorate great Canadians in our street names, which then get used to name parks, squares, and transit stations. Toronto, Canada's largest city, is essentially the nation's capital in almost every respect except for the federal government.

It's the only part of Canada that many people will be exposed to. There should be a sense of wanting to showcase the nation's culture, especially the people who lived here who made an impact on Canada and world.

Yet we do have roads named after relative nobodies.

Judy Sgro Ave · North York, ON, Canada

North York, ON, Canada

www.google.com

Though I am glad for it these days as we would probably be naming roads after Tik Tokkers or some other nonsense.

 

[T3G]

Though I agree with some of your points. In these cases the names chosen were what the people were actually called (Billy and Tommy)


"Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport: “Billy” is slang for William. Why not just call it William Bishop Toronto City Airport (like Toronto Lester B. Pearson Int’l Airport) and shorten it to “Toronto Bishop” (like “Toronto Pearson”)?
Tommy Thompson Park: “Tommy” again is slang for Thomas. Thomas Thompson Park would have been suffice""

Yes. I essentially agree with most of the above, but I find these two particular nitpicks to be fairly apropos of nothing.

The worst name by far is Brampton Innovation District. On its own, it's a vapid name of no substance, meaning nothing... as a station name it's even worse.

 

[wopchop]

Sankofa Square - self explanatory. Should have remained Yonge-Dundas or simply drop the Dundas and call it Toronto Yonge Square. If City Council really wanted to rename Yonge-Dundas, then maybe name it after an indigenous/local Toronto figure/identity. Outrageous they chose a name and sounds like a pharmaceutical company sponsoring the square. And let’s not even get into the history of the “Sankofa” and their ties to slavery. The irony here is unmistakable. I heard there’s a large petition that is being pushed to have “Sankofa” dropped and a new name chosen. I hope it happens.

The Sankofa is not a "people", it is an African word and symbol of the Akan people that simply means to go back and get.
You are thinking of the Akan people from Ghana, who yes, did have ties to the slave trade.