One of my favorite aspects of Toronto is the set of underground tunnels expanding out of the financial district known as The Path. Among its connections are a university, a mall, a stadium, a conference center, and a movie theater. 

The most northern point of the Path is the Atrium on Bay. Several blocks north of this, there’s actually another set of underground tunnels that connects the Bloor-Yonge subway station with the Holt Renfrew Centre in Yorkville. 

In between these two sits the Cumberland Terrace, a shopping mall that made its debut a few decades ago. I spent a bit of time there, mostly over a decade ago when I did an internship in one of the office buildings. I remember while the mall felt outdated, the entrepreneurs and customers made the place feel vibrant, and there were a lot of people moving around. 

I recently learned that Cumberland Terrace was slated for demolition, and that there’d be new condos coming up. There’s a good opportunity for a new, better, underground shopping mall to come up. Still, I can’t help but consider that if the place was renovated properly, maybe it would’ve maintained its momentum.

If the new mall can get enough people interested, with enough time and resources, maybe the Path can extend to this set of tunnels (as well as the Shops at Aura, underground at Yonge and College, which sounds like it could use the connection).

P.S., Samuel Hughes did a fun write up of it for Works in Progress. I would be curious to learn more about what it would take for the Path to expand.