Tag Archives: lake shore
Downtown Toronto
Downtown is certainly one of the most popular neighbourhoods in Toronto. Everyone wants to live where the action, close to work and close to play. Located entirely within the former municipality of Old Toronto, it is approximately bounded by Bloor Street to the north, Lake Ontario to the south, the Don River to the east, and Bathurst Street to the west. The area is made up of the city’s largest concentration of skyscrapers and businesses.
The Financial District, based around the intersection of King and Bay Streets, is the heart of Canada’s financial industry. It contains the Toronto Stock Exchange, which is the largest in Canada and seventh in the world by market capitalization. The retail core is along Yonge Street from College Street to Queen Street. There is a large concentration of retail here, including the Eaton Centre. The area also has Dundas Square, a public space some call the Times Square of Toronto.
The area also includes live theatres, a movie complex and historic Massey Hall. Historical sites and landmarks include the Arts & Letter Club, the Church of the Holy Trinity, Mackenzie House, Maple Leaf Gardens, Old City Hall, and the Toronto Police Museum.
Downtown Real Estate Map
To the east, the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood is the oldest area of Toronto. It has many gorgeous heritage buildings, a community of distinct downtown neighbourhoods including the site of the original Town of York – where Toronto began back in 1793. St. Lawrence has one of the largest concentrations of 19th-century buildings in Toronto. Some of the best are St. Lawrence Hall, St. James’ Cathedral, St. Michael’s Cathedral, St. Paul’s Basilica, the King Edward Hotel and the Gooderham (Flatiron) Building. Further to the east is Corktown and the Distillery District.
West of the Financial District is the Entertainment District, home to many restaurants, nightclubs and live theatre. The district was formerly an industrial area and was redeveloped for entertainment purposes in the early 1980s, starting with the Mirvish family refurbishing the Royal Alexandra Theatre and then building the Princess of Wales Theatre. The area is also the site of Roy Thomson Hall and the Canadian Broadcasting Centre.
North of Bloor Street is Yorkville, with more than 700 designer boutiques, spas, restaurants, hotels, and world class galleries. The intersection of Bloor and Yonge Streets is where the subway lines meet – and is one of the busiest intersections in the city. At the intersection of Avenue Road and Bloor Street is the Royal Ontario Museum, the largest museum in Toronto.
The lake shore and Harbourfront area to the south was formerly a polluted and forgetten railway area. Since the 1970s, it has been extensively redeveloped. From the building of the Rogers Centre, to the many condos of CityPlace, to the Harbourfront Centre arts and cultural complex. The area to the east of Yonge Street, the Port Lands, is still in transition.
Please explore the neighbourhoods that make up Downtown Toronto:
- Alexandra Park
- Bay Street Corridor
- Beaconsfield Village
- Bickford Park
- Cabbagetown
- Corktown
- Distillery District
- Downtown East
- Downtown West
- Dufferin Grove
- Fort York
- Grange Park
- Kensington Market
- King Street West
- Liberty Village
- Little Italy
- Moss Park
- Niagara
- Regent Park
- South Annex
- St. James Town
- St. Lawrence Market
- Trefann Court
- Trinity Bellwoods
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416−388−1960
Laurin & Natalie Jeffrey are Toronto Realtors with Century 21 Regal Realty.
They did not write these articles, they just reproduce them here for people
who are interested in Toronto real estate. They do not work for any builders.
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Toronto Real Estate — Bloor West Village
From New Dream Homes and Condos Magazine
In the 1850s, the area now known as Bloor West Village was the property of Lieutenant Colonel William Smith Durie, the first commanding officer of the Queens Own Rifles. The street that ran through his estate is now known as Durie Street. The present day neighbourhood began to be developed in 1909, when this district became part of the City of Toronto. Soon after amalgamation with Toronto, Bloor West‘s roads were paved and city services were made available.
Bloor West‘s first residents were immigrants of Eastern European background. These are the residents who helped found the Bloor West Village Business Improvement Area, the first of its kind in Canada. This shopping district has helped make Bloor West Village one of Toronto’s most popular neighbourhoods.
This is also a popular neighbourhood for families since it is home to many excellent schools and is within walking distance of High Park—Toronto’s biggest and best-known park. Covering 399-acres, this Toronto landmark contains picnic areas, flower gardens, animal paddocks, a restaurant, an outdoor amphitheatre, sports facilities, a trackless train, an adventure playground, and a large pond.
Other local attractions include the Annette Recreation Centre, which is attached to the Annette Street public school. This centre has an indoor pool, a small gymnasium, and a baseball diamond. A little bit east of the Annette Centre is the Annette Street Public Library, which offers programs for adults, children, and preschoolers.
Bloor West Village is also home to The Humber, a movie theatre that is conveniently located on Bloor Street, just west of Jane Street.
Homes in the area are all fairly similar in size and style—having been built in a relatively short period of time between 1912 and 1923. Most houses feature deep front porches that are well shaded by the majestic oak and maple trees that line the streets of this neighbourhood.
Although known for it’s great selection of stores, the Bloor West Village shopping district is as much about eating as it is about shopping. It’s a virtual smorgasbord of bakeries, delicatessens, specialty food shops, cafes, and restaurants.
Convenience stores, fruit and vegetable markets, dry cleaners, video stores, and other shops catering to everyday household needs, can also be found on Jane and Annette streets.
The Jane and Runnymede subway stations are part of the Bloor-Danforth subway line and are both within walking distance of the homes in Bloor West Village. The Annette Street bus connects passengers to the Dupont subway station on the Yonge-University-Spadina subway line and there are additional bus routes on Jane Street and Runnymede Road.
Commuters are only about ten minutes from the Gardiner Expressway and Lake Shore Boulevard—providing quick access into and out of the city.
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Big changes on the way for Liberty Village (eventually)
Derek Flack – blogTO
On Tuesday night Liberty Village residents and other interested parties got a glimpse at some pretty significant changes that could be in store for the neighbourhood in the coming years. The second of two open houses devoted to Environmental Assessments in the area (the first was back in June), highlights included proposals to build a pedestrian/cyclist tunnel across the Lake Shore rail corridor, the construction of new Dufferin bridges over the Gardiner and rail lines, and the creation of a new street at the south end of the neighbourhood.
Of the three projects, I suspect the first two are the most interesting from the perspective of the casual observer given that the Dufferin bridges are in need of replacement mostly on account of their age, and the overall landscape won’t change much when they’re replaced (although the Dufferin Gates might be slightly repositioned).
Having never attended one of these open houses before, I was curious to find out what they’re all about. My first impression, however, was that the whole thing was a little overwhelming. With no less than 50 informational boards spread in an Ikea-like maze throughout Liberty Noodle, getting a handle on just what was being proposed required a bit of patience. Or assistance. Despite the saturation of info, I’d estimate that the ratio between planning staff and residents was about one to one over the duration of my visit.
I was eventually (and thankfully) drawn into a conversation with Stephen Schijns, a City of Toronto Manager of Infrastructure Planning who guided me through the three proposals. Our discussion centred on the degree to which the pedestrian/cyclist link and new street were both representative of a need to address the insularity of Liberty Village in some way. These projects aim to “retrofit the area so that it connects with the rest of the city,” he told me.
The idea for a new street at the southern tip of the neighbourhood actually goes all the way back to the proposal for a Front Street extension, which was first tabled in the mid 1980s. Eventually that plan fizzled, but its legacy (thanks in part to the Liberty Village BIA) might be a local thoroughfare that reduces congestion in an area that currently features limited access points. Although the specifics have been yet to be worked out — i.e. the number of lanes, cycling infrastructure, location of traffic lights, etc. — the overall plan would see it run alongside the railway tracks from Strachan in the east to Dufferin in the west.
A pedestrian/cyclist connection on the north end of the neighbourhood would also go a long way toward making the area more accessible. Quite a bit further along in the planning process, the idea of a tunnel was initially rejected on account of complications associated with private land ownership, but First Capital Realty Inc. has expressed an interest in seeing such a project built on their land (near 1071 King West on the north side of the tracks and the Metro grocery store on the south), which has led to its so-called resurrection. The tunnel is preferred over the construction of a bridge, Shijns tells me, mostly “on account of cost and the fact that it’d be less visibly intrusive.”
When asked how much weight public input is given in decision-making on projects like this, Shijns is diplomatic. “Planning isn’t a popularity contest” he says, but “we do listen to the concerns of the community.” Of the residents that I spoke to, most were enthused with the plans, but disappointed at the how long it’ll be before construction might begin. Although the pedestrian/cyclist tunnel and the Dufferin bridge(s) replacement proposals will go to a Public Works committee May 26th, the former project isn’t expected to be complete until 2014.
That’s a long time to wait, especially considering that these projects have a tendency to drag on, but at least these proposals make sense for the neighbourhood. Not only that, with the swath of condos going up on Sudbury Street to the north, a pedestrian connection to and from Liberty Village will open up the neighbourhood to residents who might not be so inclined to make a visit these days. And that, from an outsider’s perspective, is exactly what it strikes me Liberty Village could use most — at little less insularity.
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416-388-1960
Laurin & Natalie Jeffrey are Toronto Realtors with Century 21 Regal Realty.
They did not write these articles, they just reproduce them here for people
who are interested in Toronto real estate. They do not work for any builders.
———————————————————————————————————————
Incoming search terms
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