Hello Toronto East End
Toronto’s East End is made up of several neighbourhood including Danforth Village, Riverdale/Greek town,
Leslieville, Riverside & The Beach. The East End is the most easterly portion of the old city of Toronto before
it amalgamated with its immediate suburbs in 1998.
The Beach (also known as The Beaches) is a long, established neighborhood that once served as a
beachside getaway for residents throughout Toronto. It’s now a vibrant, tourist-friendly neighbourhood known
for families, dog-lovers and sun-worshipers. Locals and visitors alike enjoy the kilometers of lakeside boardwalks,
sand, shops and restaurants. It offers a variety of house styles – from small cottages to large detached
Edwardian homes. One of the neighbourhood’s most popular attractions is “The Beaches Jazz
Festival”, where more than one million attendees line Queen Street and fill Woodbine Park to watch free, live
music.
Riverdale/Greek Town Riverdale was officially established in 1884 and is just east of the downtown
core. The majority of Riverdale is centered around The Danforth or Greek Town, named for the high concentration of
Greek restaurants, culture and residents. The Danforth’s vibrant community offers countless shops and features
one of the city’s best festivals every August – “The Taste of the Danforth.” The residential
landscape of Riverdale is made up of primarily Victorian and Edwardian style homes. Much of the area has high
residential property value as it’s gentrified over the years and expanded from its original working class
roots. You’ll now find an eclectic mix of residents, beautiful parks, fantastic schools and some of the
prettiest tree-lined streets in Toronto.
Leslieville is one of the East-end neighbourhoods that has undergone a complete transformation in
the last 20 years. Its roots date back to the 1850s when the area was formed around George Leslie, who owned several
nurseries in the district. Today, it’s a family-friendly neighbourhood that was recently hailed by the NY
Times as the next Williamsburg. Its coffee shops, restaurants and indie shops serve as a background for numerous
film and TV productions. While it was once known for its booze-cans, cheap diners and tacky furniture shops, it has
now become one of the hippest neighbourhoods in the city.
Riverside is a relatively small village that borders the Don River to the west – and
often shares its “community” with Leslieville – as the lines between the two have blurred in
recent years. But Riverside has its own unique history and features some of Toronto’s most beautiful century
buildings and funkiest condo/lofts. The Riverside of today offers a number of independent art shops and galleries,
restaurants and eclectic stores along Queen Street E. Some notable neighbourhood landmarks include the new Broadview
Hotel, The Opera House and Jimmy Simpson Park. The neighbourhood was made particularly popular because of the CBC
series DeGrassi – which was filmed on one of Riverside’s most beautiful and famous streets of the same
name.
Danforth Village/East End
The Eastern part of The Danforth is also known as Danforth Village and runs from Greenwood to Victoria Park Avenue,
which is the border of Scarborough. This neighbourhood has seen a huge transformation in recent years as Toronto
residents began to appreciate the lower cost of housing as well as the accessibility to the subway line. Today
you’ll find the Danforth itself, between Woodbine and Greenwood, under a great deal of improvement. New
restaurants and shops are popping up weekly and it’s given new life the neighbourhood.
To find out more about Toronto East End or other neighborhoods in the city, contact me and I would be happy to provide you with sales by
neighborhood. It’s a smart way to stay on top of the game