The Path

[vaneramos]

A corridor in the Path approaching King subway station

~~~~~~~~~~

The Path is a labyrinth of walkways underlying more than 20 blocks of downtown Toronto. I had passed through short segments of it before, but was never aware of its extensiveness until one Saturday afternoon a year ago when djjo and I went that way to avoid emerging into the frigid winter air. I was fascinated by this underground world in which one could disappear or get lost, probably even survive for a time. I wonder how the city manages to keep homeless people from squatting in these comfortable bowels of the city.

My first journey through the Path started fueling my imagination. It is a metaphor for cyberspace or the subconscious. In the basement of the city, people can walk for miles without ever crossing a busy street. But it's far more than a network of tunnels. It's also a continuous subterranean plaza. Much of the Path lies beneath Bay Street, Canada's counterpart for Wall Street. More than a million people work in the office towers rising high above this maze. The two worlds are invisible to one another, but the masses transfer back and forth. All those workers must go somewhere for lunch. Under practically every building there is a food court. Strung between them are rows of stores where you can buy practically anything.

One weekends, the financial district becomes nearly deserted. That one million people drive, cycle or ride the subway, bus or train to the suburbs or outlying cities like Guelph and Hamilton. Then all the stores close and the Path becomes eerily silent.

Marian and I went there yesterday. We walked all the way from Union Station to the Bay department store, a distance of about six blocks, underground. It was not quite as empty as the time Danny and I followed that route. Small groups of people moved mostly north, perhaps leaving an event at the convention centre. Pairs of lovers walked holding hands. Trios or small gaggles of university students travelled uncertainly. A cleaning woman stood outside the front of a darkened store chatting with a friend whose toddler screamed to be let into a nearby playroom full of balls and bright toys, the door locked.

Maps of the network are posted at intervals, but you have to know where to look for them. The problem is, none of them show "you are here." They're detailed with the names of buildings, but none of these names are evident near the signs. So you have to know where you are in order to figure out where you're going. If you don't, you have to go find out, then come back and look at the map again.

A major route through the Bay-Adelaide Centre seems to hit a dead end. Danny and I got sidetracked there last year, ended up having to retrace our steps a couple blocks and go around. Yesterday Marian and I tried to penetrate it from the other direction, but hit another dead end. It's easy to get lost, but you can always find stairs ascending to the light of day and escape from this puzzling world.

I took a whole series of photos of the underground corridor. I attached my camera to the tripod ti take pictures without a flash in the low light. I would plunk my collapsed tripod down rather than opening it up each time, so most of the images were taken from a height of 18 inches above the floor. It seems appropriate in an upside-down city. This series of photos is intended to help me design Tendril's cyberworld, which after all was inspired by Alice's Looking-Glass.

Comments

[dakoopst.livejournal.com]

For some reason, this post reminded me of Roger Zelazny's Amber series.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I haven't read it. Looks interesting. I'm adding it to my reading list.

other undergrounds

[artricia.livejournal.com]

When I went to college at the university of Rochester, one of the cool things was the tunnel system. It ran mainly under the academic quad, with a few arems or separate tunnels between this building and that. It wasn't pretty, for the most part -- it was real basement-looking, and parts of it were quite warm -- there seemed to be steam pipes or heating system elements in them. The central tunnel, which went from one side of the quad to another, was traditionally painted by various campus groups -- fraternities, sororities, organizations advertising events. I painted it with Drama House once. You took a chance that your painting would be painted over within hours or would stay up for months.

Unfortunately, if you had to go beyond the academic quad, you had to go outside. There was a tunnel between the main campus and the medical school campus/hospital, but it was closed down before I ever arrived at school. Apparently, it was not well populated during certain hours, and a couple of women were essentially trapped and raped there.

Atlanta has an underground mall, made from a deserted subway. It has a few deadends. It's pretty cheesy, though they'lre trying to breath some life into it lately. It always strikes me as a real comment on the decline of centralized public life at the hands of consumer culture.

Re: other undergrounds

[artricia.livejournal.com]

Came across www.undercity.org when looking for any good web pages on the UR tunnels. I'm not sure how good the page really is, but it opens up the idea of the uses of tunnels to urban exploring.

Re: other undergrounds

[jwg.livejournal.com]

There is some really interesting stuff on Undercity. I think I ran into it once before from deadmachinery. I especially liked the not underground pictures of the tug boats. And I have been in the Paris sewers and catacombs many years ago, without camera.

Re: other undergrounds

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

The catacombs inevitably remind me of Edgar Allan Poe. There must be some interesting sites out there on that topic. I'll have to search some more when I'm less tired.

Re: other undergrounds

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Cool site, thank you!

Re: other undergrounds

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Your last comment reminds me of the few visits I made to downtown Buffalo when I dated a guy there several years ago. It has such a stunning downtown, but it essentially dies at night and on weekends. Most North American cities seem to have the same problem. I haven't travelled very extensively, but people have told me Toronto is exceptional in having such a vibrant night life. That's another tangent.

The Path is not part of that night life, but it certainly hasn't failed in its purpose. Most of it is in pretty good condition and the stores in some parts are upscale. It seems to have been designed with the corridors changing directions frequently so you never have sights lines stretching further than half a block. It all feels fairly intimate. In some places underneath the architecture is stunning. Hopefully I'll be able to post more photographs soon.

[avad.livejournal.com]

you know I love it.:)

[roosterbear.livejournal.com]

So you have to know where you are in order to figure out where you're going.

Sounds like a Rhode Islander (or maybe New Englander) designed this map.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Heheh, maybe so. Toronto is a straightforward city to navigate, and the transit system is efficient, but the Path and its maps are arcane, which is part of the appeal for me.

[roosterbear.livejournal.com]

You simply must explore Boston sometime, then. The T is efficient for getting around, but poorly marked and confusing to navigate in areas, at least for an outsider.