King of Kensington
Senior Member
Most cities have a more clear geographic divide (north/south, west/east), it seems north and west are generally better off than south and east in most North American cities. That is true of Vancouver (east/west), Montreal (east/west), Chicago (north/south), L.A. (West L.A. vs. South Central and East), San Francisco (north/south), Seattle (north/south), Washington DC (NW vs. SE or east/west of Rock Creek park). It's also true of London (West End vs. East End, North London vs. South London). It was true at one time in New York City, the better off moved "uptown" in Manhattan - but then it basically stopped around Central Park (Upper East and West Sides. North of Central Park Manhattan takes on "outer borough" characteristics; the whole borough system, the gentrification of Lower Manhattan and sheer largeness of NYC really makes such a classification difficult). Of course there are exceptions like Winnipeg (River Heights in the south vs. the North End).
Toronto is interesting that our street direction system doesn't represent a socioeconomic divide. Yonge St. doesn't do for Toronto what St. Laurent does in Montreal, Main St. does in Vancouver, and Madison St. in Chicago (NOW magazine's efforts to create an east/west rivalry notwithstanding; either way the divide is more cultural than economic - i.e. who is more "hip"? Either way the area between University and Jarvis is kind of a neutral zone, neither east or west. City Hall and Bay St. isn't the "west end" nor would too many Rosedalians consider themselves "east enders").
Historically, the socioeconomic divide was more north/south than east/west. During the 19th century, the southern part of the city was more Irish, Catholic and poor and the northern part was more WASP and affluent. Following the construction of Jarvis St., the wealthy went northward along Jarvis and Sherbourne (our "upper east side"?) The University of Toronto was also very much "uptown" when it was established.
By the turn of the 20th century, the wealthy had largely migrated north of Bloor. In the 1890s the Annex, the city's first "streetcar suburb" was well-established, Rosedale and the Avenue Rd. "hill district" took off in the early 20th century and Lawrence Park and Forest Hill in the 1920s. Meanwhile, south of Bloor the divide was more ethnic than class-based. The Jewish and Italian immigration of the early 20th century started off downtown in "The Ward" (immigration to that reception area had changed from the British Isles to the Continent in the 1890s), by 1914 they spread west of downtown (leaving the Ward more to the Chinese) and by the 1920s west-central Toronto between University and Dovercourt south of Bloor was home to most of the city's ethnic communities and immigrants, a distinction it retained through the 1960s and 1970s. Cabbagetown and what was then known as the "East End" meanwhile was also poor but home to mostly British, Irish and native-born Canadians; east of the Don was sort of an anglo working class "semi-suburbia" especially after the construction of the Prince Edward viaduct. There were of course exceptions - like the northwestern industrial suburb of the Junction.
Gentrification and just the sheer expansion and population growth in the GTA since the 1970s have made social geography more complex. There is still a north/south divide in the central city - the wealthiest districts are all north of Bloor and the poor remain concentrated in the south. If we use University as the boundary for west and Jarvis as the boundary for east, there is somewhat of an east/west divide, but it's not as pronounced as north/south - that is the highest poverty concentration is east of Jarvis, but if we use DVP and Bathurst for east and west, the east comes out a little ahead but that's largely because the west has more "inner city" characteristics (more renters, apartments etc.) Across the GTA as a whole, closeness to Yonge St. seems to be the main divide (and there's no "southern suburbs"), with regard to east/west there are more better-off western suburbs than eastern ones (i.e. central Etobicoke, Oakville, etc. vs. Scarborough, Pickering and Ajax) but then again...northwest generally means more working class in the Toronto context (whether the Junction a century ago or Brampton, Malton, Rexdale, Downsview and Weston today)...
Toronto is interesting that our street direction system doesn't represent a socioeconomic divide. Yonge St. doesn't do for Toronto what St. Laurent does in Montreal, Main St. does in Vancouver, and Madison St. in Chicago (NOW magazine's efforts to create an east/west rivalry notwithstanding; either way the divide is more cultural than economic - i.e. who is more "hip"? Either way the area between University and Jarvis is kind of a neutral zone, neither east or west. City Hall and Bay St. isn't the "west end" nor would too many Rosedalians consider themselves "east enders").
Historically, the socioeconomic divide was more north/south than east/west. During the 19th century, the southern part of the city was more Irish, Catholic and poor and the northern part was more WASP and affluent. Following the construction of Jarvis St., the wealthy went northward along Jarvis and Sherbourne (our "upper east side"?) The University of Toronto was also very much "uptown" when it was established.
By the turn of the 20th century, the wealthy had largely migrated north of Bloor. In the 1890s the Annex, the city's first "streetcar suburb" was well-established, Rosedale and the Avenue Rd. "hill district" took off in the early 20th century and Lawrence Park and Forest Hill in the 1920s. Meanwhile, south of Bloor the divide was more ethnic than class-based. The Jewish and Italian immigration of the early 20th century started off downtown in "The Ward" (immigration to that reception area had changed from the British Isles to the Continent in the 1890s), by 1914 they spread west of downtown (leaving the Ward more to the Chinese) and by the 1920s west-central Toronto between University and Dovercourt south of Bloor was home to most of the city's ethnic communities and immigrants, a distinction it retained through the 1960s and 1970s. Cabbagetown and what was then known as the "East End" meanwhile was also poor but home to mostly British, Irish and native-born Canadians; east of the Don was sort of an anglo working class "semi-suburbia" especially after the construction of the Prince Edward viaduct. There were of course exceptions - like the northwestern industrial suburb of the Junction.
Gentrification and just the sheer expansion and population growth in the GTA since the 1970s have made social geography more complex. There is still a north/south divide in the central city - the wealthiest districts are all north of Bloor and the poor remain concentrated in the south. If we use University as the boundary for west and Jarvis as the boundary for east, there is somewhat of an east/west divide, but it's not as pronounced as north/south - that is the highest poverty concentration is east of Jarvis, but if we use DVP and Bathurst for east and west, the east comes out a little ahead but that's largely because the west has more "inner city" characteristics (more renters, apartments etc.) Across the GTA as a whole, closeness to Yonge St. seems to be the main divide (and there's no "southern suburbs"), with regard to east/west there are more better-off western suburbs than eastern ones (i.e. central Etobicoke, Oakville, etc. vs. Scarborough, Pickering and Ajax) but then again...northwest generally means more working class in the Toronto context (whether the Junction a century ago or Brampton, Malton, Rexdale, Downsview and Weston today)...