The visible minority population in North Parkdale has changed overall to include fewer Asian, South Asian and Black residents between the census years 2006-2011 (GNR: 34%). Today, it is a working-class neighbourhood, with a large percentage of low-income households concentrated in South Parkdale, and an entry point for new immigrants, most recently South Asians and Tibetan. The demographic composition changed considerably, including a higher proportion of lower income and newcomer families. Some of the older large residential buildings remain though many were converted into rooming houses. A boom in apartment building construction followed, replacing whole blocks of homes with blocks of apartment buildings. The area changed dramatically with the building of the Gardiner Expressway in 1955, which resulted in the demolition of the southern section of the neighbourhood and the Sunnyside Amusement Park, and the creation of a barrier between the neighbourhood and the north shore of Lake Ontario. It was an upper-income residential area for the first half of the 20th century, with several notable mansions. It was incorporated as a village in 1879 and amalgamated with Toronto in 1889. Parkdale was founded as an independent settlement within York County in the 1850s. The City of Toronto government extends the neighbourhood boundaries to the east, south of the CP Rail lines, east to Atlantic Avenue, as far south as the CN Rail lines north of Exhibition Place, the part south of King Street commonly known as the western half of Liberty Village neighbourhood. The village area was roughly one square kilometre in area. The original village incorporated an area north of Queen Street, east of Roncesvalles from Fermanagh east to the main rail lines, today known as part of the Roncesvalles neighbourhood. It is bounded on the east by Dufferin Street from Queen Street south, and on the south by Lake Ontario. The neighbourhood is bounded on the west by Roncesvalles Avenue, on the north by the CP Rail line where it crosses Queen Street and Dundas Street. Some of the older, family-run businesses have closed, and new restaurants, bars and shops have opened up in their place.Parkdale is a neighbourhood and former village in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, west of downtown. A significant amount of renovation of the older homes has occurred and property values have risen accordingly. The area that extends northward along Roncesvalles Avenue has seen a turnover to a mix of residents with a younger average age and higher proportion of families compared to the neighbourhoods to the west. As a result, the area has the alternate nickname of “Queer West Village”. The gentrification is in part fuelled by local area gay couples coming into the area to buy and renovate the properties. The area is also becoming a new gay village. Local taverns have begun receiving new patronage from artists and urbanites seeking refuge from the fashion boutiques farther east on Queen Street West.
“Hipster” cafés, lounges, restaurants, condominiums, shops, and art galleries are cropping up, and former “dive” hotels such as the Drake and the Gladstone have recently been purchased and renovated in a trendy manner. However, Parkdale is seeing increasing signs of gentrification, as Queen Street West’s sphere of influence extends further westward. Unlike Regent Park, which is located on the east side of downtown, there is no urban renewal project in the works for Parkdale. Perceived inaction by different levels of government has prevented the situation from improving in fact, conditions are deteriorating as the buildings get older with each passing year. This may be a fact of the streetscape in Parkdale, but it remains an area rife with substandard rental apartment buildings (a large percentage of Parkdale residents are renters).
The presence of a large immigrant community has done much to create the vibrancy and personality that Parkdale is known for. Parkdale is one of the most diverse areas of the city, with many new immigrants finding their first homes here because of the high concentration of low-rent apartment complexes and proximity to the downtown core. Parkdale is a neighbourhood in Toronto, west of downtown, bounded on the west by Roncesvalles Avenue, on the north by the CP Rail line where it crosses Queen Street and Dundas Street. Toronto Communities Profile: South Parkdale W01
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