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The Annex

The Annex is mainly residential, with tree-lined one-way streets lined with Victorian and Edwardian homes and mansions, most of them built between 1880 and the early 1900s. Because of its proximity to the university, the Annex has a high rate of seasonal tenant turnover, and its residents range from university students to long-time residents.

The stretch of Bloor Street between St. George and Bathurst is a vibrant social and retail area, offering to Toronto a wide range of services from upscale dining to discount retailers like Honest Ed's. Between Bathurst and Christie, street signs on that stretch of Bloor call it the Koreatown. During the 1950s and 1960s, an influx of Hungarian immigrants moved into the neighbourhood after the 1956 Hungarian Revolution was suppressed, and many of the businesses and properties along Bloor are owned by Hungarian-Canadian families.

The Beaches

The commercial district of Queen Street East lies at the heart of The Beaches community. It is characterized by a large number of independent speciality stores. The side streets are mostly lined with semis and large-scale Victorian, Edwardian and new-style houses. There are also low-rise apartment buildings and a few row-houses. There are several parks just a few steps south.

The beach itself is a single uninterrupted stretch of sandy shoreline bounded by the R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant (locally known as the water works) to the east and Woodbine Park (a small peninsula in Lake Ontario) to the west. A long boardwalk runs along most of its length. Although it is continuous, there are four names which correspond each to approximately one quarter of the length of the beach (from east to west): Balmy Beach, Scarboro Beach, Kew Beach and Woodbine Beach.

Bloor West Village

Bloor West Village is a shopping district in Toronto, that is located along Bloor Street.  It encompasses all businesses along Bloor Street between Jane Street and Ellis Park Road, consisting of more than 400 shops, restaurants and services. The mix of stores include specialty clothing stores, book stores, restaurants and cafes. The businesses organized in 1970 into the first mandatory business improvement district, an idea that has spread to numerous other commercial streets in Toronto and to cities around the world.

Cabbagetown

Cabbagetown was gentrified by affluent professionals, beginning in the 1970s. Many residents restored small Victorian row houses and became community activists. Darrell Kent (1942-1989), a resident and local businessman, is recognized by the community as having been the driving force behind the restoration of many of the area’s beautiful and unique Victorian houses.

Today, wrought iron fences, stone walkways and beautifully kept gardens are common in some parts of Cabbagetown.  Vestiges of a 1960s, counter-culture ambiance remain at vintage clothing stores, health food stores and a gestalt therapy clinic. A Victorian farm, once the site of a zoo, is located adjacent to Riverdale Park West, where a weekly farmer's market is held.

The Danforth (Greektown)

The area has experienced a wave of gentrification as higher-priced restaurants and bars have moved in, as well as a European-style public square (at Logan Avenue). Greektown on the Danforth boasts one of the highest concentrations of restaurants per kilometre in the world. The neighbourhood is mentioned in the Barenaked Ladies song, The Old Apartment, and by critically-acclaimed author Joseph Assenza in his novel, "The History of John". Several scenes in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding were shot here, mentioned on free walking tours of the neighbourhood.

Be sure not to miss the Taste of the Danforth, an annual food festival taking place in early August.

The Entertainment District

It is concentrated around King Street West between University Avenue and Spadina Avenue. It is home to theatres and performing arts centres, Toronto's four major-league sports teams, and an array of cultural and family attractions.

With a number of hotel brands it is an urban neighbourhood packed with an array of restaurants, bars and nightclubs. The area also has a vibrant business community located in modern office towers as well as transformed and preserved historic manufacturing warehouses, office lofts and artists’ studios.

Forest Hill

Its original boundaries were Bathurst Street to the west, Upper Canada College to the east, Eglinton Avenue to the north, and Lonsdale Road and a portion of Montclair Avenue to the south (the original boundaries of School Section 30). Neighbourhoods north of Eglinton are sometimes though not unanimously regarded as Forest Hill. In 1999 Robert Fulford compared Forest Hill to Rosedale, the other traditional home of Toronto's elite: "While Rosedale has remained stable for half a century, Forest Hill's prestige has been growing steadily. There's a key tonal difference in the architecture of the two places: where big Rosedale houses shout 'history,' big Forest Hill houses shout 'grandeur.' More than any other district in the central city, Forest Hill has become the site of spectacular new 'neo-traditional' homes built on a grand scale, usually with lawns to match."

Kensington Market

Today the neighbourhood is a noted tourist attraction, and a centre of Toronto's cultural life as artists and writers moved into the area. Land prices in the area have increased sharply, but despite its increased appeal to professionals, Kensington still remains a predominantly working class, immigrant community. In November, 2006, Kensington Market was proclaimed a National Historic Site of Canada.

The area is filled with a mix of food stores selling an immense variety of meats, fish and produce. There are also several bakeries, spice and dry goods stores, and cheese shops. Stores sell a wide variety of new and used clothing, and there are discount and surplus stores. It is also home to many restaurants covering a wide variety of styles and ethnicities. A unique architectural feature of the neighbourhood is the presence of extensions built onto the front of many buildings (which would be against by-laws in other places)

In recent years, the neighbourhood has seen a small explosion of upscale cafés, restaurants and clubs, replacing many of the older ethnic businesses.

Leaside

Leaside is between Bayiew and a bend in the Don River, and has some of the most expensive real estate in Toronto for its access to recreation, shopping, and transit. 

Demographically, the Leaside community is made up predominantly of single-family homes housing upper-middle class families.  The most famous house in Leaside is James Lea's, located at 201 Sutherland Drive. Built in 1909, it is unique in that the back of the house faces Sutherland Drive. It was originally built to face a street that no longer exists.  Prime Minister Stephen Harper was also born and raised in Leaside.

Due to city expansion, Leaside has become prime real estate with the GTA, and has attracted many local celebrities, such as ex- NHL goaltender Trevor Kidd, Avalanche winger Darcy Tucker, Ex-NHL player Doug Gilmour, and comedian Colin Mochrie and his actress wife Deb McGrath.

The commercial strip of Bayview from Millwood to Manor is reason enough to move here. With a comfortable mix of chains and indies, this up-market (but not too pricey) bit of high street is one of the most satisfying in the city.

Leslieville

Leslieville once mainly housed those who worked in the factories, and their departure has greatly changed the area. The reduction in air pollution and fumes have made it much more appealing to members of the middle and creative class. Leslieville is a neighbourhood in which the process of gentrification is beginning. It is commonly referred to now as an up-and-coming neighbourhood, with new restaurants, shops and cafés slowly cropping up in the area. However, it is still a largely working-class and middle-class neighbourhood. In some of the former industrial areas large film studios have opened, including Cinevillage and Showline Studios. Just to the south, in the Port Lands area, the massive new Pinewood Toronto Studios are being built.

Liberty Village

The ongoing gentrification of downtown Toronto has been pushing farther outwards from downtown, encouraging rapid development. It has become a trendy neighbourhood for young professionals and artists pushing farther west for less established areas, while still remaining a short walk or streetcar ride from the core. Many old factories have been repurposed as lofts while others have become restaurants, gyms, furniture stores and galleries, as this area was primarily a former heavy industrial area which had been largely abandoned for the past 20 years. 3 new condo towers, townhomes and lofts will be completed by the end of 2010 increasing its density and neighbourhood feel further.

Riverdale

Known by many Torontonians as a thriving residential neighbourhood, from the strong arts community that caters to independent galleries on Queen St, to the large corporate film studios along the waterfront. Riverdale was formerly a town before it was annexed by the City of Toronto in 1884. Its tree-lined side-streets are complemented by the various styles of Victorian and Edwardian residential architecture, primarily built between the 1880s and the Great Depression. The neighbourhood has seen the rise and fall of prosperity over the past century. The grand homes built on some streets are a testimony to prosperous times. Despite this rich housing stock, the area was considered to be down-and-out in the 1970s. Since then, the area has rebounded dramatically and is now a trendy and often expensive residential district, attracting many young professionals and families.

The neighbourhood features three large recreational parks; Riverdale Park, adjacent to the Don River, Withrow Park, in the north east of Riverdale, and Jimmie Simpson Park, in the southeast.

Rosedale

It is located north of Downtown Toronto and is one of its oldest suburbs. It is also one of the wealthiest and highly priced neighbourhoods in Canada. It is known as the area where the city's 'Old Money' lives, and is home to some of Canada's richest and most famous citizens, including Ken Thomson who was the richest man in Canada at the time of his death.

Rosedale is built among three ravines, preserved as parkland. Rosedale has convoluted routes through the neighbourhood and other physical boundaries, and thus it has low levels of vehicular traffic. Even though Rosedale is located in the middle of Toronto, virtually no vehicular traffic can be heard due to the abundance of trees and foliage that surround the community. The homes are mostly single family detached dwellings.

St Lawrence Market

Some of the most interesting architecture in the city can be found in St. Lawrence, one notable landmark is the Flatiron building, known for its distinct narrow, wedge shape where Wellington St. merges with Front. Built in 1892, it was the first of this type of building constructed in North America. If viewed from the east, the wedge can be seen in the foreground with the financial skyscrapers and the CN tower rising in the background.

While much of the old industrial buildings along Front Street east of Jarvis have been demolished for new apartments, several old industrial buildings remain, including old meat-packing plants from the 1800s. Several have been converted into lofts or commercial space.

Front Street is lined on both sides with restaurants. At the intersection of Front and Yonge are two performing arts houses, the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, Toronto's "centennial" project and the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts.

Yorkville

Yorkville is known for upscale shopping, restaurants, and the first five star hotel in Canada. Upscale boutiques include Burberry, Lux Spa, Prada, Gucci, MAC Cosmetics, Hugo Boss, Chanel, and other upscale designer boutiques. The Holt Renfrew store on Bloor is the luxury retailer's flagship and largest store with 4 floors and various boutiques. 

Yorkville has been recognized as one of the most luxurious shopping streets in North America, being compared to New York's Fifth Avenue, Chicago's Magnificent Mile, and Los Angeles' Rodeo Drive. 

During the Toronto International Film Festival, Yorkville becomes an excellent place for celebrity-spotting, especially in the Hazelton Lanes shopping complex. Most recently, however, the celebrities once seen during the Toronto International Film Festival have migrated elsewhere and are now most often seen in the entertainment district bars and after-hour clubs near the CITY-TV building. Yorkville still remains the top celebrity hangout in Toronto, and celebrities are seen throughout the year.

Famed restaurants Sassafraz, Prego Della Piazza and Vaticano are located in Yorkville. It underwent a full restoration and reopened in September 2007. The MTV Canada headquarters are located in Yorkville as well. Canada's largest museum and the fifth largest in North America, the Royal Ontario Museum is located at the intersection of Bloor and Avenue Rd. The area north of Bloor St. on Cumberland and Yorkville contain petite streets with cafes, restaurants and specialty boutiques. It resembles more of a European style district.

Yorkville is also home to some of Toronto's most expensive condominiums, most starting at over one million dollars and going well beyond, including: The Prince Arthur, Renaissance Plaza, 10 Bellair, One St. Thomas, Windsor Arms Hotel, The Hazelton Hotel & Residences, Hazelton Lanes.