De Grassi Street is a

side street A side road is a minor highway typically leading off a main road.Main road — definition

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 anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada. It was named after Captain Filippo "Philip" De Grassi, an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

-born soldier who immigrated to Canada with his family in 1831 and settled in

York, Upper Canada York was a town and second capital of the colony of Upper Canada. It is the predecessor to the old city of Toronto (1834–1998). It was established in 1793 by Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe as a "temporary" location for the capital of ...

. He later became a member of the

Family Compact The Family Compact was a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political, economic and judicial power in Upper Canada (today’s Ontario) from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was the Upper Canadian equivalent of the Château Clique in ...

. De Grassi Street is located in south Riverdale, and has a residential character. A number of the homes date back to the 1880s and were built in the distinctive tall, narrow

bay-and-gable The bay-and-gable is a distinct residential architectural style that is ubiquitous with the older portions of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The most prominent feature of the style is a large bay window that usually covers more than half the front faç ...

style. It runs one-way northbound from Queen Street East to Gerrard Street, approximately halfway between Broadview and Carlaw Avenues.

Neighbourhoods

* Queen-Broadview Village – at Queen Street * Riverside (Queen Street East from the Don Valley east to De Grassi Street) * East Chinatown – at Gerrard Street

Attractions

* Jimmie Simpson Park – named after former Toronto mayor James Simpson * Bruce Mackey Park – named after a Toronto District School Board educator whose house was used in ''

The Kids of Degrassi Street ''The Kids of Degrassi Street'' is a Canadian children's television series and the first in the ''Degrassi'' franchise created by Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler. It follows the lives of a group of children living on De Grassi Street in Toronto. It ...

''. * First Nations Public School * Eastdale Collegiate Institute * Site of Riverdale Station, which was demolished in 1972.

In fiction

The street was made internationally famous by the ''

Degrassi ''Degrassi'' is a Canadian television franchise created by Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler in 1979. It is centred on a multigenerational teen drama about an ensemble cast of teenagers attending the namesake Toronto school as they navigate their ...

'' series of television shows for youth. Producers of the show slightly altered the spelling of the street's name. The first ''Degrassi'' series, ''

'' on CBC Television, was set on the street with some exterior shots in the actual neighbourhood, but was filmed elsewhere: * Vincent Massey Public School – 68 Daisy Avenue,

Mimico Mimico is a neighbourhood (and a former municipality) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, being located in the south-west area of Toronto on Lake Ontario. It is in the south-east corner of the former Township (and later, City) of Etobicoke, and was an in ...

– ''

Degrassi Junior High ''Degrassi Junior High'' is a Canadian television series and the second series in the ''Degrassi'' franchise created by Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler. A successor but not a direct spin-off of ''The Kids of Degrassi Street'', it debuted on CBC ...

'', seen on CBC Television (1987-1989) in Canada and on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

in the United States. * Centennial College – 951 Carlaw Ave (Centre for Creative Communication) – ''

Degrassi High ''Degrassi High'' is a Canadian teen drama television series and the third series in the ''Degrassi'' franchise created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood. A direct continuation of '' Degrassi Junior High'', it debuted on CBC in Canada on November ...

'', seen on CBC Television (1989-1991) in Canada and on

in the United States. *The following ''Degrassi'' series, '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'', which was largely shot on a studio backlot, was seen on CTV (first run 2001–2009; syndication 2001–present),

CTV Two CTV 2 is a Canadian English-language television system owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc. The system consists of four terrestrial owned-and-operated television stations (O&Os) in Ontario, one in British Columbia and two regional ...

(syndication), and MuchMusic (first run 2010–2015) in Canada, and on

Noggin Noggin may refer to: General * Noggin or gill (volume), a unit of volume * Noggin (cup), a small cup * Noggin, slang for head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, an ...

during "

The N The N (standing for Noggin) was a nighttime programming block on the Noggin television channel, aimed at preteens and teenagers. It was launched on April 1, 2002, by Viacom and Sesame Workshop. Before the block's introduction, Noggin's daytim ...

" block (first run),

TeenNick TeenNick is an American pay-TV channel that is operated by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Aimed primarily at teens and tweens, its programming includes a variety of live-action series inherited from sister channel Nic ...

(first run, 2009–2015) and MTV (syndication) in the United States. *The most recent series '' Degrassi: Next Class'', is shot in the same location as ''The Next Generation'', and is seen on

Family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

(2016–2017) in Canada, and

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

(2016–2017) in the United States.

References

{{coord, 43.663432, -79.347253, region:CA-ON_type:landmark, display=title, format= dms Italian diaspora in Canada Degrassi (franchise) Streets in Toronto