Queen Street is a major east-west thoroughfare in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, Ontario, Canada. It extends from
Roncesvalles Avenue
Roncesvalles Avenue is a north–south minor arterial street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It begins at the intersection of Queen Street West, King Street West and the Queensway running north to Dundas Street West. At its southern starting point ...
and
King Street in the west to
Victoria Park Avenue
Victoria Park Avenue is a major north-south route in eastern Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the western border of Scarborough, separating it from Old Toronto, East York, and North York. The common nickname for it is VP or Vic Park.
History
Vic ...
in the east. Queen Street was the cartographic baseline for the original east-west avenues of Toronto's and
York County's grid pattern of major roads. The western section of Queen (sometimes simply referred to as "Queen West") is a centre for Canadian broadcasting, music, fashion, performance, and the visual arts. Over the past twenty-five years, Queen West has become an international arts centre and a tourist attraction in Toronto.
History
![Queen Street Toronto at Parkside Drive 1956](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Queen_Street_Toronto_at_Parkside_Drive_1956.jpg)
Since the original survey in 1793 by Sir
Alexander Aitkin
Alexander Aitkin (or Aitken, born around 1771 and died 1799) was a Scottish surveyor. He served as deputy surveyor general in 1784 and later the first surveyor general of Upper Canada.
Aitkin was from Berwick-Upon-Tweed, Northumberland to Davi ...
, commissioned by
Lieutenant Governor
A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
John Graves Simcoe
John Graves Simcoe (25 February 1752 – 26 October 1806) was a British Army general and the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 until 1796 in southern Ontario and the Drainage basin, watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior. ...
, Queen Street has had many names. For its first sixty years, many sections were referred to as Lot Street, section west of Spadina was named Egremont Street until about 1837. East of the Don River to near
Coxwell Avenue it was part of
Kingston Road (and resuming as Queen Street thereafter), and was the westernmost section of that historic route to
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toro ...
, whose western terminus today is just east of Coxwell. The first park lots laid out in the new city of York (which would be renamed Toronto in 1834) were given to loyal officials who were willing to give up the amenities of modern cities such as Kingston to take up residence in the forests north of Lot Street. These lots were placed along the south side of the first east–west road laid in York, Lot Street. In 1837 Lot Street was renamed in honour of
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
.
"Queen West" is local vernacular which generally refers to the collection of neighbourhoods that have developed along and around the thoroughfare. Many of these were originally ethnically-based neighbourhoods. The earliest example from the mid-19th century was Claretown, an Irish immigrant enclave in the area of Queen Street West and
Bathurst Street. From the 1890s to the 1930s, Jewish immigrants coalesced in the neighbourhood known as "
the Ward", for which Queen Street between Yonge and University served as the southern boundary. The intersection of Queen and Bay Streets also served as the southern end of a thriving
Chinatown
A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
in the 1930s. From the 1920s to the 1950s, the area was also the heart of Toronto's Polish and Ukrainian communities. From the 1950s through the 1970s, many immigrants from
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
settled in the area.
Gentrification
Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...
over the past twenty years has caused most recent immigrants to gradually move to more affordable areas of the city as desirability of the area drives up prices.
Like other gentrified areas of Toronto, the original "Queen West" —the stretch between University Avenue and Spadina Avenue — is now lined with upscale boutiques, chain stores, restaurants, tattoo parlours and hair salons. Perhaps the best-known landmark on this section of Queen West is the broadcast hub at
299 Queen Street West
299 Queen Street West, also known as Bell Media Queen Street or Bell Media Studios, is the headquarters of the television/radio broadcast hub of Bell Canada's media unit, Bell Media located at the intersection of Queen Street West and John Stree ...
, formerly the headquarters of
Citytv
Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television Ass ...
and MuchMusic and earlier the site of the Ryerson Press, now housing the broadcast operations of a number of television outlets owned by
Bell Media
Bell Media Inc. ( French: ) is a Canadian company formed by the amalgamation of several companies.
Establishment (2011–13)
On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced the sale of its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports ...
. Queen Street East, though not as famous as Queen Street West, is known for its shopping, especially in nearby neighbourhoods.
Until the 1940s and 50's Queen Street extended west (in several sections) along what is today The Queensway, with the name changed through the westernmost segment though the former
Etobicoke
Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...
in 1947 to avoid confusion due to the break. The other sections were a stub of the street continuing west of Roncesvalles and ending at Colborne Lodge Drive by
High Park
High Park is a municipal park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. High Park is a mixed recreational and natural park, with sporting facilities, cultural facilities, educational facilities, gardens, playgrounds and a zoo. One-third of the park remains ...
, and a short side street in
Swansea
Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe).
The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...
running west from Ellis Avenue. When The Queensway was extended east in the 1950s, the latter two section where absorbed into it, rather than having the name "Queen Street" restored to the now-continuous street, likely due to the Borough of Etobicoke desiring a counterpart to another street called The Kingsway.
A legacy of The Queensway being formerly part of Queen Street is still evident in a parallel street known as ''North Queen Street'' north of
Sherway Gardens
Sherway Gardens (corporately known as CF Sherway Gardens) is a large retail shopping mall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The mall is located west of Downtown Toronto, near the interchange of Highway 427 with the Queen Elizabeth Way and Gardiner Ex ...
, which was once a jogged section of Queen St./The Queensway west of
Kipling Avenue
Kipling Avenue is a street in the cities of Toronto and Vaughan in Ontario, Canada. It is a concession road, 6 concessions (12 km) west from Yonge Street, and is a major north–south arterial road. It consists of three separate section ...
, later bypassed by a direct extension of the street's southern baseline to connect to
The Middle Road
The Middle Road was the name for a historic highway in the Canadian province of Ontario, which served to link the cities of Toronto and Hamilton. The name was used between 1931 and 1939, after which the road became the northern section of the Que ...
, the precursor to the
Queen Elizabeth Way
The Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario linking Toronto with the Niagara Peninsula and Buffalo, New York. The freeway begins at the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie and travels around the western ...
.
During the
1982 Toronto municipal election
The 1982 Toronto municipal election was held on November 8, 1982, in Metropolitan Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Mayors, controllers, city councillors and school board trustees were elected in the municipalities of Toronto, York, East York, North Yor ...
candidate
Deanne Taylor
Deanne Taylor (born November 24, 1946) was a Candian actress, artist, and performer. At 9 years old, she starred in the television program Maggie Muggins. In 1982, she ran for mayor in the 1982 Toronto municipal election, under the pseudonym A. H ...
established headquarters at
The Cameron House
The Cameron House is a small bar, live music venue, and informal cultural centre located on Queen Street West, just west of Spadina Avenue, in the city's downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Cameron has a front lounge and a back room, bo ...
- performing nightly with the Hummer Sisters west of Spadina.
Route
Fallingbrook to Woodbine: The Beaches
![Beaches Streetcar](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Beaches_Streetcar.JPG)
The commercial district of Queen Street East lies at the heart of The Beaches community. It is characterized by a large number of independent specialty stores. The stores along Queen are known to change tenants quite often causing the streetscape to change from year to year, sometimes drastically. East of Woodbine Avenue, Queen street has less traffic and is effectively reduced to one lane each way (the outer lanes are used for on-street parking). The centre lanes are used by the
501 streetcar. The first few blocks from Fallingbrook Rd. to Victoria Park Ave. are located in
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
, the easternmost part of Toronto, where Queen is only a minor residential side street, which continues west to the
Neville Park streetcar loop, the eastern end of the 501 route, before widening into a thoroughfare. Around the intersection with Victoria Park, the south side of the street is beside the
R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant
The R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is both a crucial piece of infrastructure and an architecturally acclaimed historic building named after the longtime commissioner of Toronto's public works Roland Caldwell Harris ...
, a crucial water treatment plant for both Toronto and
York Region
The Regional Municipality of York, also called York Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, between Lake Simcoe and Toronto. The region was established after the passing of then Bill 102, An Act to Establish The Regional M ...
.
Woodbine to Coxwell
From Woodbine to Coxwell, Queen Street is in parts of two neighbourhoods,
Upper Beaches
The Upper Beaches is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is directly north of the Beaches area. It stretches from Coxwell Avenue in the west to Victoria Park in the east. The southern border is Kingston Road, while the northern bou ...
and
The Beaches
The Beaches (also known as "The Beach") is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is so named because of its four beaches situated on Lake Ontario. It is located east of downtown within the "Old" City of Toronto. The approximate boundar ...
. From Woodbine to
Kingston Road, there's a mix of newer commercial/residential buildings. The northern half is covered with various modern looking stores, with the southern half covered by a retail development by ''The Behar Group'', consisting of 5 residential condos, with ground floor retail spaces. The section of Kingston to Coxwell is similar in design, but without the retail development on the southern side, including the Alliance Cinemas ''The Beach'' location. A little to east of the Queen/
Eastern
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
*Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
*Eastern Air Li ...
/Kingston intersection there is the northern border of
Woodbine Park
Palms (originally "The Palms") is a community in the Westside region of Los Angeles, California, founded in 1886 and the oldest neighborhood annexed to the city, in 1915. The 1886 tract was marketed as an agricultural and vacation community. ...
, used for outdoor events.
Coxwell to Jones: Leslieville
![LeslievilleMuralCoffeeShop](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/LeslievilleMuralCoffeeShop.jpg)
The area from
Greenwood Green wood is unseasoned wood.
Greenwood or Green wood may also refer to:
People
* Greenwood (surname)
Settlements
Australia
* Greenwood, Queensland, a locality in the Toowoomba Region
* Greenwood, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth
C ...
to Logan is known as Leslieville. Queen passes underneath the elevated CN railway tracks, and this marks the border of Leslieville. Queen Street East is the commercial hub of Leslieville. In Leslieville, Queen is home to many small stores and restaurants. From Greenwood (Vancouver Avenue) to Woodfield, the northern side of the street is beside the
Ashbridge Estate
The Ashbridge Estate is a historic estate in eastern Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The property was settled by the Ashbridge family, who were English Quakers who left Pennsylvania after the American Revolutionary War. In 1796, as United Empire Loya ...
, a large historic estate. The
Russell Carhouse
The Russell Carhouse, located at Queen Street East and Connaught Avenue just east of Greenwood Avenue in Toronto, is the Toronto Transit Commission's second oldest carhouse.
Russell Carhouse used to store and maintain high-floor streetcars which ...
is also on this stretch of Queen Street.
Jones to Don River: Riverdale
The place between Logan and the Don River is called Riverdale. Since its amendment to the City of Toronto in 1884, the area has developed a stature as a neighbourhood of independent arts, with several independent galleries located along Queen Street East. The residential landscape within Riverdale is made up primarily of Victorian and Edwardian style homes, constructed in the 1800s as boarding rooms for the working-class. It is a mixed income and multicultural area, currently experiencing a trend of
gentrification
Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...
along Queen Street East. Queen is home to a number of landmarks in this area, including the
New Edwin Hotel
The Edwin is a three-storey building in Toronto, Ontario, Canada operated by WoodGreen Community Services to provide community housing. It incorporates the former New Edwin Hotel, built in 1905 to serve as a hotel for railway passengers coming ...
,
New Broadview House Hotel
The Broadview Hotel is a 58 room boutique hotel in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the intersection of Broadview Avenue and Queen Street East in Toronto's Riverside neighbourhood. Built in 1893, the building was originally a hall wi ...
, The Opera House, and the
Ralph Thornton Community Centre
The Ralph Thornton Community Centre is a community centre that forms the centre of the Leslieville/South Riverdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Canada. The neoclassical heritage structure was originally built by the federal government to house Postal ...
.
Queen Street Viaduct
The Queen Street Viaduct, along with the surrounding bridges, carry traffic on Queen Street over the
Don River
The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire.
Its ...
. The bridge was originally constructed in 1803 as a wooden bridge. The current bridge was conducted in 1910 and is a
steel
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
truss bridge
A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...
. The surrounding bridge goes east to Davies Avenue and west to River Street, splitting into Queen Street and
King Street just west
Bayview Avenue
Bayview Avenue is a major north–south route in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario. North of Toronto, in York Region, Bayview is designated as York Regional Road 34.
History
Bayview Avenue follows the first concession line, laid east of Yong ...
(east of River Street).
Don River to Yonge
The section for the
Don River
The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire.
Its ...
to
Yonge Street
Yonge Street (; pronounced "young") 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 Upper Great Lakes.
Once the southernmost leg of provincial Hi ...
is located in
Downtown Toronto
Downtown Toronto is the main central business district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Stre ...
. East of Parliament Street is the Trefann Court area that was the site of a major debate over development in the 1960s. Until reaching Jarvis Street, the north side is the Moss Park neighbourhood, with the park and Moss Park Armoury along the street. South of Queen is the Corktown neighbourhood. In the east side of downtown it passes
St. Michael's Hospital and
Metropolitan United Church
Metropolitan United Church is a historic Neo-Gothic style church in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest and most prominent churches of the United Church of Canada. It is located at 56 Queen Street East, between Bond and Ch ...
. At Yonge Street in the downtown core, the street is in the Financial District and at the
Eaton Centre
Eaton Centre is a name associated with shopping centres in Canada, originating with Eaton's, one of Canada's largest department store chains at the time that these malls were developed. Eaton's partnered with development companies throughout ...
.
Yonge to University
![Queen St Toronto at Old City Hall panoramic](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Queen_St_Toronto_at_Old_City_Hall_panoramic.jpg)
Since the 19th century, Queen Street West at
Yonge Street
Yonge Street (; pronounced "young") 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 Upper Great Lakes.
Once the southernmost leg of provincial Hi ...
has been one of Toronto's primary shopping destinations. Originally, the
Eaton's
The T. Eaton Company Limited, later known as Eaton's, was a Canadian department store chain that was once the largest in the country. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an immigrant from what is now Northern Ireland. Eaton's grew ...
and
Simpson's
The Robert Simpson Company Limited, commonly known as Simpson's until 1972, then as Simpsons, and in Quebec sometimes as Simpson, was a Canadian department store chain that had its earliest roots in a store opened in 1858 by Robert Simpson.
I ...
department stores
A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic appea ...
faced each other across Queen Street, with the rivalry between the two stores at one time as central to Toronto retailing as the
Macy's
Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
/
Gimbel's
Gimbel Brothers (known simply as Gimbels) was an American department store corporation that operated for over a century, from 1842 until 1987. Gimbel patriarch Adam Gimbel opened his first store in Vincennes, Indiana, in 1842. In 1887, the compa ...
competition was to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
's retail history. The pedestrian crosswalk on Queen Street, just to the west of the intersection with Yonge Street, was for years one of the busiest in Canada, as thousands of shoppers a day comparison shopped between Eaton's and Simpson's.
Today, Eaton's is gone, but the
Toronto Eaton Centre
The Toronto Eaton Centre (corporately styled as the CF Toronto Eaton Centre since September 2015, and commonly referred to simply as the Eaton Centre) is a shopping mall and office complex in the downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is ...
still remains at the same location, one of Canada's largest office and shopping complexes. Simpson's is also gone, but the historic department store building remains on the south side of Queen Street, occupied by the
Hudson's Bay and
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; Colloquialism, colloquially Saks) is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street and ...
stores.
Further west, this stretch of Queen Street is dominated by institutional and cultural buildings such as
Old City Hall,
Toronto City Hall
The Toronto City Hall, or New City Hall, is the seat of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the city's most distinctive landmarks. Designed by Viljo Revell and engineered by Hannskarl Bandel, the building opened in ...
,
Osgoode Hall
Osgoode Hall is a landmark building in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original -storey building was started in 1829 and finished in 1832 from a design by John Ewart and William Warren Baldwin. The structure is named for William Osgoode, ...
and the
Four Seasons Centre
The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts is a 2,071-seat theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located at the southeast corner of University Avenue and Queen Street West, across from Osgoode Hall. The land on which it is located was a gift f ...
.
University to Spadina: Queen West
![AQueenSpadinaHorse](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/AQueenSpadinaHorse.jpg)
The area between
University
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
and
Spadina Avenues was a cultural
nexus
NEXUS is a joint Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection-operated Trusted Traveler and Border control#Expedited border controls, expedited border control program designed for pre-approved, low-risk travelers. Members ...
in the 1980s known for its cheap restaurants, clubs, eclectic mix of musicians and artists and was a haven for the punk rock scene with its famous club kids such as Kinga, Seika, Wanda and a host of others. In the 1960s and into the early 1980s, this stretch of Queen Street West was an aging commercial strip, known for "greasy spoon" restaurants and inexpensive housing in the area. In the late 1970s and 1980s, the area was transformed by local students, including those of the nearby
Ontario College of Art & Design
Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD, is a public art university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus is spread throughout several buildings and facilities within do ...
, and the area developed an active music scene which was one of the dominant centres of
Canadian music
The music of Canada reflects the diverse influences that have shaped the country. Indigenous Peoples, the Irish, British, and the French have all made unique contributions to the musical heritage of Canada. The music has also subsequently been i ...
in its era.
The late 1980s saw the relocation of CityTV to
299 Queen Street West
299 Queen Street West, also known as Bell Media Queen Street or Bell Media Studios, is the headquarters of the television/radio broadcast hub of Bell Canada's media unit, Bell Media located at the intersection of Queen Street West and John Stree ...
which gentrified the area almost overnight. A more mainstream culture soon attracted other artists, wider audiences, and wealthier businesses to the area. Small independent businesses started to move further west on Queen Street West past Spadina Avenue and Bathurst Street for the cheaper rent, an area at the time which was desolate after working hours. The push continued into the mid- and late 2000s and into Parkdale until that area also became associated with trendy businesses, and now condos.
By the mid-1990s with the opening of mainstream stores such as Le Chateau, probably the first chain store on the strip, the name "Queen Street" became synonymous with terms such as "trendy", "hip", and "cool". While original businesses such as the
Cameron, the
Horseshoe Tavern
The Horseshoe Tavern (known as ''The Horseshoe'', ''The 'Shoe'', The 'Toronto Tavern' and The 'Triple T' to Toronto locals) is a concert venue at 370 Queen Street West (northeast corner of Queen at Spadina) in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and ...
and
The Rivoli
The Rivoli is a bar, restaurant and performance space, established in 1982, on Queen Street West in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The club originally earned a reputation as one of Canada's hippest music clubs, and many major Canadian comedy and mus ...
have remained and changed little, the strip is now cluttered with mid- and higher-end international chain stores such as
H&M and
Zara, the antithesis of what the area was about in the 1970s and 1980s.
The broadcast hub at
299 Queen Street West
299 Queen Street West, also known as Bell Media Queen Street or Bell Media Studios, is the headquarters of the television/radio broadcast hub of Bell Canada's media unit, Bell Media located at the intersection of Queen Street West and John Stree ...
(formerly called the CHUM-City Building), housing a number of
Bell Media
Bell Media Inc. ( French: ) is a Canadian company formed by the amalgamation of several companies.
Establishment (2011–13)
On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced the sale of its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports ...
's television operations, is located at the corner of Queen and John Streets in this area. By the mid-1990s
MuchMusic
Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults.
MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...
become associated with Queen Street's culture; the station's VJs have often broadcast their segments live from outside the building, and programs such as ''
Electric Circus
''Electric Circus '' (also known as ''EC'') was a Canadian live dance music television program that aired on MuchMusic and Citytv from September 16, 1988 to December 12, 2003. The name originated from a nightclub that once existed at Citytv's fir ...
'' and the ''
MuchMusic Video Awards
The iHeartRadio MMVAs were an annual awards show broadcast on Much to honour the year's best music videos that was last held in 2018.
Originally debuting in 1990 as the Canadian Music Video Awards, the awards were renamed in 1995 to the MuchMu ...
'' have regularly taken place ''on'' the street.
St. Patrick's Market
St. Patrick's Market is one of three public markets created in Toronto in the 19th century along with St. Lawrence Market and St. Andrew's Market. The current structure on the lot was built in 1912 and was designated a heritage site by the City ...
, at 238 Queen Street West, was founded in the late 1830s. The current building dates from 1912. This property is currently home to a communal food market, currently undergoing renovations the property is slated to re-open in 2018.
Spadina to Trinity Bellwoods Park
![Queen St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Queen_St._W..jpg)
![Trinity Bellwoods Gates](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Trinity_Bellwoods_Gates.jpg)
From Spadina to Bathurst, Queen Street is lined with street-level retail, with upper level apartments. Bates and Dodds, Toronto's oldest operating funeral home is at 931 Queen St. West, across from
Trinity Bellwoods Park
Trinity Bellwoods Park is a public park located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, bordered by Queen Street West on the south and Dundas Street on the north. The western boundary of the park is Crawford Street, several hundred feet before Crawford in ...
and has been in the same location since 1884. As rents rose, most artists began moving westward to this section of Queen. In the early 1990s, the newly vogue area became associated with nightclubs such as the
Bovine Sex Club
The Bovine Sex Club is a bar on Toronto's Queen Street West strip. In operation since January 1991, the Bovine Sex Club (often shortened to 'the Bovine') has at various times found itself at the forefront of Toronto's rock, punk, alternative, a ...
and several antique shops.
Occupying the same area, between
Spadina Avenue
Spadina Avenue (, less commonly ) is one of the most prominent streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Running through the western section of downtown, the road has a very different character in different neighbourhoods.
Spadina Avenue runs south ...
and Trinity Bellwoods Park south of Queen Street, is Toronto's
Fashion District. In the later 1990s, high-priced clothing stores opened in the same area as the
gentrification
Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...
of the district continued. In the 2000s, the changing character of Queen Street West gave rise to concerns in some quarters over the pace and implications of gentrification.
On February 20, 2008, a large fire destroyed several buildings on the south side of the street, between
Bathurst and Portland Streets. The block had been declared a heritage conservation district by the city only the year before. Toronto Fire Services' "active incidents" website reported the fire as six-alarm intensity, with over 14 separate units dispatched to the scene throughout the day. Several neighbourhood businesses and apartments were destroyed in the blaze. In some cases, the destruction caused by the fire gave rise to additional angst over the changing character of Queen Street West and the potential nature of the new development that would eventually replace the burned buildings.
Bathurst to Dufferin: West Queen West
![Drake Hotel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Drake_Hotel.jpg)
Between Bathurst Street and Gladstone Avenue is West Queen West, also known as the Art and Design District. For this two-kilometer stretch, nearly every storefront on the north side is either a gallery, bar, or nightclub (the south side of the street is largely taken up by the buildings and grounds of the former Queen Street Mental Health Centre, now part of
CAMH), a combination that has led to the district being named one of the coolest neighborhoods in the world both in 2015 and 2016. The Stephen Bulger Gallery, founded in 1994, is also located on Queen West, as was the
Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art
The Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA), formerly known as the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA), is a museum and art gallery in Toronto, Ontario. It is an independent, registered charitable organization.[ ...]
(MOCCA), which relocated to the area in 2005.
MOCCA moved out of the area in 2018. In 2013, the developer Urbancorp applied to demolish the MOCCA and the adjacent buildings housing the Edward Day and Clint Roenisch Gallery and replace them with the nine-story "MOCCA Condo". The museum moved to a former factory building on Sterling Road north of Dundas Street West.
In 2014,
Vogue Magazine
''Vogue'' is an American monthly fashion and lifestyle magazine that covers many topics, including haute couture fashion, beauty, culture, living, and runway. Based at One World Trade Center in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, ''Vogue ...
ranked the neighborhood second in their compilation of the world's top 15 hippest neighborhoods, second only by
Shimokitazawa
is a commercial and entertainment area in Kitazawa, Setagaya, Tokyo. It is located in the southwestern corner of the Kitazawa district, hence the name "Shimo-kitazawa" (literally ''lower Kitazawa''). Also known as "Shimokita", the neighbourhood ...
,
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
.
Another cause of this gallery conglomeration was the conversion of a former police building (
Art-Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the United ...
building for
Metro Toronto Police
The Toronto Police Service (TPS) is a municipal police force in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the primary agency responsible for providing law enforcement and policing services in Toronto. Established in 1834, it was the first local police ser ...
6 Division built in 1931 and closed in the 1990s) into Gallery 1313, with extensive financial assistance by the city. A large amount of gallery space, including such galleries as Loop and Fly, allowed Toronto artists of all levels of ability to show their work at a low cost. Unlike the boutique-oriented storefronts of the eastern portion of the street, the Gallery District contains an abundance of space available for special events. The Camera Bar—originally established by film director and producer
Atom Egoyan
Atom Egoyan (; hy, Աթոմ Եղոյեան, translit=Atom Yeghoyan; born July 19, 1960) is a Canadian filmmaker. He was part of a loosely-affiliated group of filmmakers to emerge in the 1980s from Toronto known as the Toronto New Wave. Egoyan m ...
—is now operated by the Stephen Bulger Gallery as a rental space that offers a bar and film/video screening venue.
West Queen West has undergone rapid transformation in the past couple of years. Rents have increased dramatically and many galleries have left. Recent departures include Sis Boom Bah, Luft Gallery, Burston Gallery and Brackett Gallery. At the same time as galleries have closed, many new bars have opened. Many attribute this sudden shift to the development spearheaded by the
Drake Hotel, a former
flophouse
A flophouse (American English) or dosshouse (British English) is a place that offers very low-cost lodging, providing space to sleep and minimal amenities.
Characteristics
Historically, flophouses, or British "doss-houses", have been used for o ...
recently renovated and converted to a boutique hotel at a cost of $6 million.
The
Gladstone Hotel is one of a few pre-existing businesses in the area that has been able to capitalize on the recent boom. This grand old railroad-era hotel had over the years fallen into disrepair and maintained itself by renting boarding-house-style accommodation. Now gentrified, the tavern on the first floor is home to a weekly "Art Bar", where locals from the arts community converge to socialize. In 2005, it underwent a major renovation spearheaded by
the Zeidler family.
In 2013, Artscape Youngplace opened at 180 Shaw Street, just north of Queen Street West, after a major renovation and community consultation process. Artscape's $17 million transformation of the building, the former Shaw Street School, was completed just before the centenary of its construction in 1914. Artscape Youngplace is a 75,000 sq. ft. centre for creative collaboration housing a diverse mix of creators working in a variety of disciplines, as well as arts, community and social mission organizations. Owners and/or tenants include the
Koffler Centre of the Arts
The Koffler Centre of the Arts is a broad-based cultural institution established in 1977 by Murray and Marvelle Koffler and based at Artscape Youngplace in the West Queen West area of downtown Toronto, Ontario.
History
Established in 1977 as part ...
and Koffler Gallery,
Luminato
Luminato Festival, Toronto's International Festival of Arts and Ideas, is an annual celebration of the arts in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, launched in 2007. In its first decade, Luminato presented over 3,000 performances featuring 11,000 artists fr ...
Festival, Centre for Indigenous Theatre, Inter-Galactic Arts Co-op, College-Montrose Children's Place, Paperhouse Studio, Red Pepper Spectacle Arts, SKETCH, Small World Music Society, Typology Projects, The Developing Tank, and artists
Barbara Astman
Barbara Astman RCA is a Canadian artist who specializes in a hybrid of photography and new media, often using her own body as object and subject, merging art and technology.
Early life
Astman was born in Rochester, New York, the second of three ...
, Eve Egoyan, Heather Nichol, Shabnam K. Ghazi, and Vid Ingelevics.
The Queen West Art Crawl (QWAC) is an annual three-day festival celebrating the arts on Queen Street West and featuring the artists, arts organizations and businesses on the thoroughfare. It is produced by the not-for-profit Parkdale Liberty Economic Development Corporation.
West Queen West BIA
The businesses on the stretch of Queen West from Bathurst to Gladstone Ave. have organized the West Queen West Business Improvement Area, which is mandated to undertake streetscape improvement projects, organize community events and promote the neighbourhood's unique commercial establishments.
Its vision is to retain the unique character of the West Queen West business community in the midst of renewal and growth, while attracting visitors/tourists to an area known to boast high concentrations of art and culture. The BIA promotes the West Queen West neighbourhood as a distinct destination for residents and tourists.
Dufferin to Roncesvalles: Parkdale
Until November 2010,
Dufferin and Queen was a two-legged intersection broken up by the Queen Street subway (a historic
CN railway bridge underpass first built in 1898) in the 1200 block, but due to major re-construction, this is now a four-way intersection. Once past there, Queen Street West makes its way through
Parkdale. Parkdale is one of Toronto's oldest neighbourhoods, and a former independent village, and Queen Street is its main commercial strip, with two and three-storey mixed use buildings, retail on the ground-floor and residences above. Many of the buildings date to the 1880s era when Parkdale was an independent village.
There are numerous bars and restaurants along this section. There is also an increasing number of storefront art galleries, part of an increasing number of artists locating in the area. The oldest of which, is Gallery 1313, located at 1313A Queen Street West. The lane way parallel to Queen on the south side is decorated with murals, and is nicknamed the 'Milky Way.' There is a business improvement association in this area, grouping businesses in the area under the 'Parkdale Village' banner. The Parkdale Library is located at Cowan Avenue, and Masaryk-Cowan Community Centre is located just south of Queen Street on Cowan. Parkdale has a higher proportion of lower-income residents and there are several support agencies located along Queen.
Public transit
501/301 Queen
![TTC 501 Queen ALRV 4213 at Queen and Bay, November 30, 2013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/TTC_501_Queen_ALRV_4213_at_Queen_and_Bay%2C_November_30%2C_2013.JPG)
The 501 Queen is an east-west
Toronto Transit Commission
The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the public transport agency that operates bus, subway, streetcar, and paratransit services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, some of which run into the Peel Region and York Region. It is the oldest and largest ...
(TTC) streetcar route, running on Queen Street.
The 501 Queen streetcar remains one of the TTC's busiest and longest streetcar routes; it runs every six minutes in each direction (traffic permitting). Queen Street West is also served by Osgoode station at University Avenue. Service is provided 24 hours a day, though overnight service between 1 am and 5 am is operated as one of three streetcar routes on the TTC's
Blue Night Network
The Blue Night Network is the overnight public transit service operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The network consists of a basic grid of 27 bus and 4 streetcar routes, distributed so that almost all o ...
under the route number 301 Queen, with less frequent service.
Queen Street subway
Beneath Queen Street West is a little-known urban artifact. In the 1940s, the Toronto Transit Commission proposed to construct, in addition to a rapid-transit subway under Yonge Street, a second tunnel under Queen Street that would allow the PCC streetcars from certain routes to avoid other traffic as they ran through central areas. The Queen subway would run from Trinity Bellwoods Park in the west to Broadview Avenue in the east. This two-line plan was approved by referendum in 1946, but when hoped-for funding from the government of Canada did not materialize, the Queen line was postponed. In the 1960s, the TTC decided that a subway to replace the crowded Bloor Street streetcars would be more valuable, as after the construction of the Yonge line most of the passenger traffic had moved north with the subway. While the Queen line remained on the list of proposals into the 1970s, it was never again a priority.
When the Yonge subway was being constructed in the early 1950s, the shell of an east-west station for the Queen line, sometimes called Lower Queen, was built under its Queen station, and passenger flows within the station were laid out on the assumption that it would eventually be an interchange. In the 1990s, some of the space was reused for a pedestrian passage when the subway station was being made wheelchair-accessible, but the rest of the station shell remains empty to this day.
In more recent transit planning, the
Relief Line is proposed to run below Queen from Parliament Street to University Avenue.
See also
*
Royal eponyms in Canada
In Canada, a number of sites and structures are named for royal individuals, whether a member of the past French royal family, British royal family, or present Canadian royal family thus reflecting the country's status as a constitutional monarch ...
*
Queen West Art Crawl
*
Secret Swing
References
External links
A line on a map: Queen Street historyTransit Toronto photos and information related to "Lower Queen" stationWest Queen West Business Improvement Area
{{Authority control
Neighbourhoods in Toronto
Hipster neighborhoods
Roads in Toronto
Shopping districts and streets in Canada