Queen West is gallery central with some of the city's most cutting-edge galleries dotting the street-scape from Trinity Bellwoods Park to Dufferin. Anchored by the nightlife and cultural destinations that are The Drake and Gladstone Hotels, this neighbourhood oozes creativity, community and fun.
About West Queen Street West
In the late 1800s West Queen West emerged as a Pacific Railway Hub on the outskirts of the Village of Parkdale. This location was beyond the City limits and had a decidedly working class charm. Between Bathurst Street and Gladstone Avenue is West Queen West, also known as the Art and Design District. For this two-kilometer stretch, nearly every storefront on the north side is either a gallery, bar, or nightclub (the south side of the street is largely taken up by the buildings and grounds of the former Queen Street Mental Health Centre, now part of CAMH).
West Queen West has undergone rapid transformation in the past couple of years. Rents have increased dramatically and many galleries have left. At the same time as galleries have closed, many new bars have opened. Many attribute this sudden shift to the development spearheaded by the Drake Hotel, a former flophouse renovated and converted to a boutique hotel at a cost of $6 million.
The Gladstone Hotel is one of a few pre-existing businesses in the area that has been able to capitalize on the recent boom. This grand old railroad-era hotel had over the years fallen into disrepair and maintained itself by renting boarding-house-style accommodation. Now gentrified, the tavern on the first floor is home to a weekly "Art Bar", where locals from the arts community converge to socialize. In 2005, it underwent a major renovation.
The businesses on the stretch of Queen West from Bathurst to Gladstone Ave. have organized the West Queen West Business Improvement Area, which is mandated to undertake streetscape improvement projects, organize community events and promote the neighbourhood's unique commercial establishments.
Its vision is to retain the unique character of the West Queen West business community in the midst of renewal and growth, while attracting visitors/tourists to an area known to boast high concentrations of art and culture. The BIA promotes the West Queen West neighbourhood as a distinct destination for residents and tourists.
West Queen West Real Estate
West Queen West has many new boutique condominium buildings as well as condominium townhomes. It is all about walking outside your front door and being in the heart of one of the liveliest and most vibrant of all Toronto neighbourhoods. West Queen West has some of Toronto’s Nicest Toronto lofts. The lofts here are some of the first Toronto loft conversions and they determined the standard for what a loft should look like. Lofts like the Candy Factory and Chocolate Company have been imitated elsewhere in the city. Rare offerings in these buildings are short-lived and sell at a premium. There are very few actual houses remaining today within the most commonly accepted borders of this neighbourhood. While there are a some homes along bordering Shaw Street as well as Dovercourt, much of the industrial conversion that has occurred in this area has been filled with higher density stacked townhomes, and the concentration of new condo construction on both King Street, Queen Street and both sides of the Rail Corridor that diagonally dissects the area.
Most of the industrial spaces that existed into the late 90s are now gone and have been replaced with thousands of condo units that have been completed in the last two decades. The size and price point of many of these units have led to a sharp increase in the population of the area, which explains the equal increase in the number of bars and restaurants that have taken over the Queen Street.
People move here for the lifestyle. Shopping, gallery-hopping (though the number of them has shrunk significantly in the last couple of years, a result of the aforementioned increases in rent), and nightlife are everywhere.
Looking for the best of West Queen West?
Parks
Schools
Please click here for a comprehensive list of schools in Leslieville.
Restaurants
Nuit Social: Welcoming spot with charcuterie, cheese, Italian dishes and wine, plus stained-glass-accented bar.
Dandylion: Inventive dishes with global influences served in a minimally decorated room with bare brick walls.
Otto’s Bierhalle: German food and a long list of local and imported beers served in a stylish spot with communal tables.
Cafés
Café Neon: Café for globally inspired breakfast, brunch and lunch in a white-walled space with colourful art.
Major Treat Coffee: We’ve got your coffee, cookies, and beans everyday, 7am-6pm.
Bu'na: The Soul Of Coffee: We combine Ethiopian coffee culture with third wave espresso. All coffee is hand roasted Ethiopian wild forest coffee directly from our farmer partners.