Torontoist signs off

Illustration by Jillian Tamaki

This past weekend, the sad news broke that Torontoist, the wildly popular blog about all things T-dot, will be shutting down as of January 1, 2009.

Since its inception in the fall of 2004, Torontoist's grown to become the most widely read website of its kind in Canada. The blog has served as a go-to source for info on most things Toronto-related, including news, politics, culture, restaurants and photos.

In his eloquent post on Saturday, David Topping explained that after he stepped down as Torontoist’s Editor-in-Chief, the blog’s publisher, Gothamist, decided to close the site.

Polling goes on to cite the recession and Gothamist’s desire to “concentrate on their more lucrative American sites” as reasons for Torontoist’s end. But another representative of the blogosphere, Justin Beach, suggests that “Canadians' interest in themselves is simply not there yet.”

Beach’s remarks took me by surprise, since I can think of several friends who will no longer be able to function in the city once Torontoist’s crack team of Hogtown experts stop posting. Is it really possible Torontonians didn’t care enough about a site devoted to reflecting their own city?

--Lee Ferguson