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YORKVILLE
OVERVIEW
Yorkville is one of Toronto's most dynamic neighbourhoods. It is an eclectic mix of luxury condominium apartment buildings, commercial office towers, four star hotels, theatres, gourmet restaurants, a prestigious shopping district and picture postcard Victorian homes.
The commercial heart of Yorkville is located on both Yorkville Avenue and on Cumberland Street. The transition to Yorkville's quiet residential pocket is gradual, as Victorian houses shift from retail to residential uses in a seamless pattern that is uniquely Yorkville.
HISTORY
Yorkville was subdivided in the 1830's, by a prominent brewer named Joseph Bloor, and by Sheriff William Botsford Jarvis who also founded the Rosedale neighbourhood.
Yorkville was named after the Town of York, the forerunner to the City of Toronto. Yorkville was incorporated as a Village in 1853. The initials and trades of Yorkville's first council members are displayed on the Village coat of arms which is now on the tower of the historic Yorkville Fire Hall, located at 34 Yorkville Avenue.
In 1883, Yorkville had the distinction of being the first village annexed by the City of Toronto. Despite being part of a big city, Yorkville has always maintained its own identity. It had gained notoriety first as a hippie haven in the 1960's, and then became known as a shopping mecca in the 1980's and 1990's.
HOMES
Another home successfully marketed by Marian Neal & Carver Fraser
SHOPPING
Bloor-Yorkville is generally acclaimed as Canada's pre-eminent shopping district. Its many specialty stores, fashion boutiques, jewellery stores, antique shops, and art galleries are a destination point for tourists, as well as Torontonians from all over the city.
Yorkville's shops and restaurants are located in pretty Victorian houses on Yorkville Avenue, Hazelton Avenue, Cumberland Street and Scollard Street. The Hazelton Lanes shopping centre located at 55 Avenue Road features over 100 exclusive shops and restaurants.
RECREATION  
Ramsden Park is located at the north end of Yorkville, off Yonge Street. This large city park includes four tennis courts, an artificial ice rink, a children's playground, and a wading pool.
The Yorkville Public Library, at 22 Yorkville Avenue, is an intimate library geared towards the local community. It includes programs for both children and adults. The Metropolitan Toronto Reference Library at 789 Yonge Street is Canada's largest and most extensive reference library.
The George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, the Royal Ontario Museum, and the McLaughlin Planetarium are all within walking distance of this neighbourhood. The Manulife Centre situated at the south-east corner of Bay and Bloor features twelve new 'state of the art' movie theatres.
TRANSPORTATION
Yorkville is ideally located within walking distance of the Bloor/Yonge subway station on the Yonge-University-Spadina subway line and the Bay station on the Bloor-Danforth subway line.
For those commuting by car, the Don Valley Parkway is approximately five minutes from Yorkville.
The Toronto neighbourhood text profiles, sketches and maps displayed on this website were published in ³Your Guide to Toronto Neighbourhoods², are copyright Maple Tree Publishing and have been reproduced by the Toronto Real Estate Board under license. www.torontoneighbourhoods.net
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