Year in Review: what you cared about in 2013 (or, the 50 most-read stories of the year)

Year in Review: what you cared about in 2013 (or, the 50 most-read stories of the year)

Year in Review: what you cared about in 2013 (or, the 50 most-read stories of the year)
2013 was a hell of a year. Looking through our list of the most popular 50 articles Toronto Life‘s website has published since January, it’s clear that many engaging stories surfaced over the course of the past 12 months, from rub-and-tug parlours, to Nuit Blanche madness, to the $500-million McCain divorce. Crackgate, the scandal swirling around Rob Ford and his admitted drug use, was a popular narrative, although no stories involving the mayor managed to crack the top five.

So, what did readers love in 2013? Real estate, restaurants, rooster sauce and so much more. Here, in order of popularity, are our 50 most-read stories of 2013.

1. Best New Toronto Restaurants 2013: our annual ranking of the most innovative, interesting and delicious new Toronto restaurants
2. The Sriracha hot sauce factory has been forced to shut down (for now)
3. My Cheating Heart: lessons from my year on Ashley Madison
4. House of the Week: $1.65 million for a Little Italy semi with a backyard coach house
5. Meet the woman who’s dating her way into meals at top Toronto restaurants
6. The Binge List: top 20 Toronto sandwiches
7. The Best Places to Live in the City: a (mostly) scientific ranking of all 140 neighbourhoods in Toronto
8. The Woman Behind the Mayor: who is Renata Ford?
9. Slideshow: 18 photos of the $17-million Vaughan palace that real estate watchers can’t stop talking about
10. The top seven Rob Ford jokes on American talk shows, from Jon Stewart to Howard Stern to Jay Leno
11. Condo of the Week: $1.75 million for an Annex loft with a private rooftop patio
12. Great Offices: Google’s envy-inducing home base at Bay and Richmond
13. Wedding Guide: 34 of Toronto’s best wedding venues
14. House of the Week: $3.6 million for a live-work building in the Fashion District
15. A massive new outlet mall west of Toronto will have the first ever Hudson’s Bay outlet store
16. Winterlicious 2013: Toronto Life’s 61 best bets
17. 10 most romantic Toronto restaurants—good for everything from popping the question to illicit affairs
18. Condo of the Week: $730,000 for a one-bedroom suite in a Georgian mansion in Casa Loma
19. House of the Week: $4.45 million for a swank townhome in a converted Victorian church
20. Get Outside: the 10 best new Toronto patios
21. The 50 Most Influential People in Toronto: who really runs this city?
22. VIDEOS: last night’s best Rob Ford jokes from Stephen Colbert, Conan O’Brian and more
23. The shocking new Rob Ford video, in which he says “I need f—ing 10 minutes to make sure he’s dead”
24. An inside look at Coca-Cola’s brand new King Street East headquarters
25. Toronto Christmas Gift Ideas 2013: our guide to the perfect gifts for mom, dad, kids and everyone else
26. House of the Week: $2.9 million for a classy family home in The Beach
27. Eaton Centre Casanovas: so-called “pickup artists” are hitting the mall en masse to try and seduce women
28. VIDEOS: late-night talk shows from November 14 get in their digs at Rob Ford’s sexy talk—from Jon Stewart to Stephen Colbert to Conan O’Brian
29. Toronto’s Best Dressed 2013: our annual list of the city’s most stylish people
30. Condo Showdown: five industrial lofts for less than $1 million
31. The Parlour Game: a behind-the-scenes tour of Toronto’s thriving rub ’n’ tug industry
32. Street Style: west enders step out on spring’s first warm day
33. Condo of the Week: $970,000 for a three-bedroom in a stone church in Roncesvalles
34. Reasons to Love Toronto 2013: our fifth annual mash note to the city
35. Wedding Guide: the top 12 wedding trends for 2013
36. The 10 most unbelievable quotes from the past 36 hours of Rob Ford insanity, from Charlie Sheen to Kathleen Wynne
37. Condo of the Week: $2.4 million for an upgraded two-bedroom in the Museum House on Bloor Street
38. Nuit Blanche 2013 Guide: 15 must-see spectacles at Toronto’s eighth annual all-night art crawl
39. A new mixed-raced generation is transforming the city: will Toronto be the world’s first post-racial metropolis?
40. 10 best Toronto vintage stores
41. Late-Night Food: Toronto’s 15 Best Snack Bars Open After 11 p.m.
42. Introducing: El Catrin, the Distillery District’s new Mexican restaurant
43. If the Sriracha plant is forced to close, it may be time to start hoarding rooster sauce
44. Shocking new details surface about Rob Ford: booze, cocaine and “even a suspected prostitute” in the mayor’s office
45. Toronto Sex Poll: the titillating results of our peek into the city’s bedrooms
46. Teeming crowds and designer discounts at Toronto’s newest and biggest outlet mall
47. Sold: a five-bedroom home on a landscaped lot in Islington for $1.65 million
48. Love and War in the House of McCain: inside the divorce that exposed the famous family’s deepest secrets
49. A mesmerizing GIF that sums up one all-important way that the TTC trumps cars
50. Cheap Eats: 11 Toronto restaurants (and bars and food shops) where you can eat well for less

 

(Images: Rob Ford: Christopher Drost; Doug Ford: dougford.ca; Jon Stewart: Comedy Network/screengrab; sandwich: Christopher Stevenson; Sriracha: Sriracha/Facebook)