It was the last decade of the 20th century and Toronto was different.
It was a time when we didn’t walk around staring at our phones; when the words “social” and “media” hadn’t been put together yet; when getting from one part of downtown to another didn’t involve soul-crushing traffic. The city looked different, too.
We did some research — OK, fine, we read some Reddit threads — for reminders of what made Toronto a fun place to be in the ’90s. From a winning baseball team, and a fresh basketball one, to local landmarks — some gone, some irretrievably altered — here are 10 things that resonated.
1. The Blue Jays
Canada’s second Major League Baseball team — Montreal beat us by eight years — brought glory to Toronto with back-to-back World Series wins in 1992 and ’93, capped by Joe Carter’s legendary three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning on Oct. 23, 1993: broadcaster Tom Cheek’s words — “Touch ’em all, Joe!” — went down in history.
2. The Toronto Raptors
The Raptors joined the NBA as an expansion team in 1995 but acquired their first superstar in Vince Carter in 1998. When he first started playing here after an NBA lockout, in 1999, he brought “Vinsanity” to the city with his leaps and slam dunks, and helped the team to its first ever playoff appearance in 2000 — although it wouldn’t win the NBA championship until 2019.
3. Funland Arcade
If you hung around Yonge Street in the ’90s you would have seen the Funland Arcade just north of Dundas Street, a games emporium that drew thousands of kids eager to spend their quarters. Open since 1962, it made way for an accessories store in 2008.
4. Electric Circus
Dance show “Electric Circus” aired from 1988 to 2003, drawing folks from Toronto and beyond who lined up outside Citytv’s 299 Queen St. W. headquarters, eager to groove on TV — or just watch through the front windows. It really hit its stride in 1992 when it moved from City to MuchMusic and to a Saturday evening time slot. And while you were there you could head along the sidewalk to Speakers Corner and sound off.
5. Record stores
In the ’90s, the stretch of Yonge between Dundas and Elm streets was still a mecca for music lovers, not only for the big stores like Sam the Record Man and HMV, but smaller establishments like Sunrise Records and Play De Record, which specialized in hip-hop and dance music.
6. Ontario Place
Before they closed in 2012, the Children’s Village and water park at Ontario Place were summertime go-tos. At least the Cinesphere, the world’s first permanent IMAX movie theatre, reopened in 2017 although it hasn’t shown films since 2022 while the Ontario government’s controversial revamp of the park proceeds.
7. Scarborough Town Centre balloons
Sure, the Eaton Centre had Michael Snow’s Canada geese, but the Scarborough Town Centre had hot air balloons, which in the ’90s were changed every six months or so to reflect the seasons. They were a beloved feature of the mall, floating over the fountain in the Centre Court from 1974 until 2009.
8. Maple Leaf Gardens
In the ’90s, you could still go to that veritable shrine of hockey, Maple Leaf Gardens, to see the Leafs play, or the Raptors, or catch a concert. The Leafs played their last game there on Feb. 13, 1999; the Raptors on Feb. 9 before both teams moved to the Air Canada Centre.
9. The club district
By the mid-’90s, Toronto reportedly had one of the largest concentrations of nightclubs in North America on streets like Richmond, Adelaide and King West in the Entertainment District. Places like Go-Go, 23 Hop, Klub Max, LimeLight, Stilife and Catch 22 ruled the night … until an influx of condos chased the partygoers away in the aughts.
10. Movie theatres
There was no shortage of places to see movies in Toronto in the ’90s. While historic film palaces like the Uptown, the Eglinton and the Hollywood are rightfully mourned, people also have fond memories of the Eaton Centre Cineplex, which once contained the largest number of theatres in one multiplex.
