Greektown, Toronto
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Greektown, also known as The Danforth, is a commercial-residential
neighbourhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...
and
ethnic enclave In sociology, an ethnic enclave is a geographic area with high ethnic concentration, characteristic cultural identity, and economic activity. The term is usually used to refer to either a residential area or a workspace with a high concentration ...
in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, Canada. It is located on Danforth Avenue, between Chester Avenue and Dewhurst Boulevard, in east Toronto. Named after Asa Danforth, Jr., an American contractor who designed Queen Street and Kingston Road, the area is known for its architecture dating back to as early as 1910, and for its number of
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
restaurants and stores. The area was one of the major settlement areas of Greek immigrants to Toronto after
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.


History

Prior to World War II, Toronto's nascent Greek population of about 3,000 was concentrated in the area bounded by
Yonge Street Yonge Street ( ') is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Great Lakes#Geography, Upper Great Lakes. Ontario's first colonial administrator, ...
, Carlton Street, Church Street and what is now Dundas Street East. It was this area that was the focus of the 1918 Toronto anti-Greek riot. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Danforth saw an influx of European immigration (particularly from Italy and Greece), many of whom were fleeing political and economic unrest which culminated in the seizure of power by the Greek military junta of 1967–74. By 1960s, Toronto's Greek population numbered 12,500. However, during this time Greeks were but one of many ethnic groups on the Danforth, with Estonians, Lithuanians, Italians, Chinese, and Finnish immigrants also present in significant numbers. In the 1970s and 1980s the Danforth was regarded as the largest Greektown in
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
. Columnists Warren Gerard and Christie Blatchford, writing in 1976, noted that the Danforth was sometimes referred to as "Little Athens" and that some 65,000 Greeks lived in the vicinity. English-language media began to excitedly cover the Greek restaurant and nightclub scene in the 1970s, highlighting
bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', , from Greek , from Turkish ) is a musical instrument popular in West Asia (Syria, Iraq), Europe and Balkans (Greece, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey). It is a member of the long-necked lute fam ...
players and busy dance floors. However, by the 1980s, the Toronto Star wrote that Greektown had become associated with " yuppies". In 1993, the BIA Board of Management's lobbying of City Hall paid off, and the BIA was officially renamed "GreekTown on the Danforth". More recently, the area has experienced a wave of
gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...
as higher-priced restaurants and bars have moved in, as well as a public square (at Logan Avenue by
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
Parkette). Greektown on the Danforth boasts one of the highest concentrations of restaurants per kilometre in the world. The neighbourhood is home to local raconteur Tom Petkos, and is mentioned in the
Barenaked Ladies Barenaked Ladies (BNL) is a Canadian Rock music, rock band which was formed in 1988 in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their Barenaked Ladies (EP), self-titled 1991 cassette becoming th ...
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 ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' is a 2002 romantic comedy film directed by Joel Zwick and written by Nia Vardalos. The film stars Vardalos, John Corbett, Lainie Kazan, Michael Constantine, Gia Carides, Louis Mandylor, Andrea Martin, and Joey Faton ...
'' were shot here, mentioned on free walking tours of the neighbourhood. Some parts of Greektown are still dominated by Canadians of Greek descent ( Greek-Canadians). As of the 2016 federal census, Greeks still constitute one of the most significant ethnic groups in the Toronto—Danforth ward (in which Greektown is located) by population, at 4.5% of the total ethnic origins reported. Greek is the third most-commonly reported mother tongue and home language in the ward, behind English and Cantonese On July 22, 2018, there was a mass shooting in Greektown that killed two and injured 13.


Taste of the Danforth

The annual Taste of the Danforth is a large food festival held over 2½ days in mid-August. With no admission charge, the event welcomes all to enjoy modestly priced samples of cuisine available at restaurants along the stretch of Danforth Avenue from Broadview to Jones Avenues. Greek food prevails, but there are numerous options, including Thai, Chinese, Brazilian, Indian, Japanese and others. A midway offers games, children's rides, and interactive sports that include a
climbing wall A climbing wall is an artificially constructed wall with manufactured grips (or "holds") for the hands and feet. Most walls are located indoors, and climbing on such walls is often termed indoor climbing. Some walls are brick or wooden constr ...
, street hockey and basketball. Several stages offer musical entertainment spanning the globe, with one stage emphasizing Greek performers of music, song, and dance. The event has grown substantially since the first Taste, in 1994, when 5,000 attended. In 2008, it drew over a million people, moving to 1.5 million by 2015.


Street signs

The street signs in Greektown are in both English and
Standard Modern Greek The linguistic varieties of Modern Greek can be classified along two principal dimensions. First, there is a long tradition of sociolectal variation between the natural, popular spoken language on the one hand and archaizing, learned written forms ...
.
Romanization In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Latin script, Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and tra ...
is based on ISO 843. *Carlaw Avenue – Οδος Καρλαω (Odos Karlaō) *Danforth Avenue – Οδος Ντανφορθ (Odos Ntanphorth) *Gough Avenue – Οδος Γκωφ (Odos Gkōph) *Pape Avenue – Οδος Πεηπ (Odos Peīp)


See also

* Greek Canadians * Greek Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area


References


External links


GreekTown on the Danforth BIACity of Toronto neighbourhood profile of The Danforth
{{authority control Ethnic enclaves in Ontario European-Canadian culture in Toronto
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
Neighbourhoods in Toronto Restaurant districts and streets in Canada