News   Nov 12, 2024
16 Storey Tower Proposal South of Warden Station Grows to 27 Storeys
 233     0 
News   Nov 12, 2024
News Roundup for November 12, 2024
 418     0 
News   Nov 12, 2024
Financial Core Nightlights
 492     0 

Victorian and early 20th century housing styles in Toronto

Cool link. I recognize them all in my treks around the city but never gave much thought to the different periods and design philosophies they represent.
 
Cool stuff... although it doesn't cover some of the more working class Victorian housing that was typically less ornate. Lots of those in Riverside, Corktown and Trinity Bellwoods.

Ex: https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.6607...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1si6ptgq_7jv3KtLyIs3sY5g!2e0
https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Ri...2!3m1!1s0x89d4cb6e6654b195:0x299af59c5025eecf
https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.6474...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s6BP1WndDwU7lDA_xx1mqfA!2e0

Also a lot of the Edwardian homes are in sets of 2 (semis) or 3.

There's also more nondescript early 20th century bungalows, especially in York.
https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.6876...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sLxNmmZSMyCs1Ec9y_5lM8Q!2e0
 
Very good point. Here's some figures from a 1931 City of Toronto Assessment Roll data (thus excluding York, East York, Forest Hill and the like).

Occupation, % of sample, % owning dwelling, average dwelling value

Capitalists 1.7% 78.9% $6802
Professionals/managers 11% 54% $4177
White collar workers 15.8% 45.7% $2343
Self-employed 21.1% 45.2% $2624
Skilled blue collar workers 35.2% 47.3% $1744
Unskilled workers 15.1% 29.7% $1202

Total --, 45.3%, $2304

"The geography of Toronto's housing market was relatively simple, at least on a generalized scale. Within the city boundaries, the rate of home ownership, and the size and quality of housing...all tended to increase with distance from the city centre. Three inner-city areas were most noted for poor housing conditions: The Ward (Ward 3, Division 6); Cabbagetown (primarily in Ward 2, Division 2); and the large area south of Queen Street between Dovercourt Road and the Don River. In contrast, the best housing conditions were found in neighbourhoods on the western and northern fringes of the city, especially in the area north of "Casa Loma" (an ostentatious mansion in the northern part of Ward 4) and Rosedale (Ward 2, Division 4). However, the degree of conformity to these patterns should not be overstated: there were a few substandard houses in even the most well-appointed areas just as 'slums' typically contained a small number of relatively expensive houses."

- from Daniel Hiebert, The Social Geography of Toronto in 1931: A Study of Residential Differentiation and Social Structure", Journal of Historical Geography, 21, 1 (1995): 55-74

This article also gives housing values by ward and district.

$2600-$6600

includes the Annex, Rosedale, most of North Toronto - almost everything north of Bloor and east of Bathurst, as well as High Park/Parkside Drive area

$2100-$2599

includes Harbord Village, Palmerston-Bickford Park, Wychwood, North Riverdale, most of the Danforth, the Beaches, Davisville

$1900-2099

includes Don Vale*, Parkdale, Dufferin Grove, Earlscourt, Upper Beach

$1500-1899

includes the Grange, Little Italy, Brockton, Seaton Village, Dovercourt, the Junction, Leslieville

$800-1499

Almost everything south of Queen, Cabbagetown-Moss Park, Kensington-Alexandra Park, Trinity Bellwoods, Riverside

* Don Vale is today's "Cabbagetown." "Cabbagetown" is now Regent Park.
 
Last edited:
I realized the above post looked like some random drop of statistics, but it was mainly to reiterate memph's point that plainer, working class Victorian housing isn't shown in the link. You can see the difference in land values between say, Trinity Bellwoods and Harbord Village, the former of which likely housed a lot of unskilled blue collar workers, while Harbord Village likely had better-off white collar, self-employed and perhaps more skilled blue collar workers.
 
The article mentions Georgian revival but not Georgian itself. There is a significant number of original Georgian buildings scattered around to make it worthy of inclusion, surely... and Regency?
 
I really like Toronto's Victorian and Edwardian architecture and a lot of it is quite distinctive. It's quite underappreciated IMO perhaps due to the perception that Toronto "ripped out all its heritage" or is some sort of "new" city, a Houston on the Great Lakes.
 
I think you get that impression from afar and when contemplating the high rise built form. There are not a lot of pre-war towers around and those that remain are largely hidden. Get out into the neighbourhoods and the impression is very different.
 
Yeah, it's interesting we don't have many pre-war towers...I agree, once in the neighbourhoods it's a different story. But unless you live in one of these neighbourhoods what would really cause you to walk through one (obviously I know there are a few wanderers who love to walk the tree lined streets and take in the architecture).
 
Tewder said:
I think you get that impression from afar and when contemplating the high rise built form.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's how many judge cities. For instance we hear about Chicago's "incredible architecture" which would be its pre-war skyline, far grander than ours. But Chicago also has more brand new SFHs close to downtown than we do (lots of new mansions going up in Lincoln Park).
 
Chicago has incredible architecture pre and post war, it's a satisfying balance, in my opinion at least... though my heart belongs to New York!
 
I assumed that Chicago didn't have an equivalent to Rosedale - a big SFH neighborhood close to downtown filled with the city's movers and shakers. Because it was big in 1900, the wealthy were already moving to the North Shore, while in Toronto they didn't have to go very far (i.e. from Jarvis St in the 1880s to Rosedale in the early 1900s). But it sounds like Lincoln Park has become a sort of 21st century equivalent.

http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/2015...amansions-on-rise-including-one-on-seven-lots
 
Stupidandshallow said:
Yeah, it's interesting we don't have many pre-war towers...I agree, once in the neighbourhoods it's a different story. But unless you live in one of these neighbourhoods what would really cause you to walk through one (obviously I know there are a few wanderers who love to walk the tree lined streets and take in the architecture).
Click to expand...

King of Kensington said:
Yeah, that's how many judge cities. For instance we hear about Chicago's "incredible architecture" which would be its pre-war skyline, far grander than ours. But Chicago also has more brand new SFHs close to downtown than we do (lots of new mansions going up in Lincoln Park).
Click to expand...

Based on what I've learned, our lack of pre-war high rise buildings is pretty much a direct result of Toronto being a much smaller city back then compared to other North American cities.

Although I do think we have a nice collection of walk-up early 1900s apartment buildings going up to 5 floors in some midtown areas (St Clair up to Lawrence).
 
Yes, Toronto was pretty much a provincial backwater until the post-war era, and even then not really until the 1970s. In this context the growth is astounding.
 
Similar postwar growth pattern to Washington DC - both metro areas had populations of about 900,000 in 1940. The cities don't look much alike (fewer high rises in DC/MD/NOVA), but they do share in common a large pre-war city as well as a lot of post-1980 boomburb/edge city-type suburbia.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top