The 1990s doesn't seem so long ago, but after browsing through photos of Toronto from the period, the decade is sure to feel strangely remote. The clutter of the 1960s and the sleaze of the 1970s is absent, but with these sanitization efforts, the city feels rather empty.

Perhaps more than anything, Toronto appears like a city in transition during the 90s. The condos were coming, yes, but neighbourhoods like West Queen West, Liberty Village, and the Distillery District were entirely different than they are today.

Throw in film processing shops, tons of newspaper boxes, Speakers Corner and MuchMusic on Queen West, gas stations that only sell gas, a lack of big brand stores on downtown streets, as well as the perpetual presence of squeegee kids, and you have a recipe for some potent nostalgia for those born in the 1980s.

Behold, the remote allure of Toronto streets in the 1990s.