page_title: Parkdale, Toronto
section_title: Character
hierarchical_section_title: Parkdale, Toronto / Character
caption_attribution_description: English: Parkdale, Toronto, Canada
context_page_description: Parkdale is a neighbourhood and former village in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, west of downtown. 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. It is bounded on the east by Dufferin Street from Queen Street south, and on the south by Lake Ontario. 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. The village area was roughly one square kilometre in area. 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.
  Parkdale was founded as an independent settlement within York County in the 1850s. It was incorporated as a village in 1879 and amalgamated with Toronto in 1889. It was an upper-income residential area for the first half of the 20th century, with several notable mansions.
context_section_description: Parkdale is primarily a residential area of the city, with semi-detached homes predominating on most side streets. Many of the homes date from the 19th Century and early 20th Century. Around 1900, the area was a well-to-do suburb and many older mansions from around 1900 still exist, often converted to multi-unit buildings. Many of the residential streets have mature trees. Good examples of Victorian housing can still be found on Cowan Avenue and Dunn Avenue, south of King Street. Victorian-era row homes of Georgian Revival style with original gaslights can also be seen on Melbourne Place.
  Parkdale has a higher than average amount of rental housing. Several streets, notably Jameson Avenue and Tyndall Avenue have been converted to zones of apartment buildings. The apartment buildings mostly date from the 1950s through the 1970s, and have remained rental buildings while no large condominium projects have been built west of Dufferin Street.
  Parkdale's commercial districts are along Queen Street West from Roncesvalles in the west to Dufferin Avenue in the east, and King Street West around Dufferin Street. Queen Street West has a large proportion of restaurants and bars, as well as local shops and art galleries. Commercial space is mostly storefronts oriented toward local customers.
  The area has a lower amount of park land per resident compared to other parts of Toronto. Several streets have parkettes built since the 1960s in an initiative to increase the amount of park land in the area.
  Demographically, Parkdale is mixed in income and ethnicity. The neighbourhood has an above average percentage of renters and that number has increased since 2006 to 2011. The area contains some of the lowest-income persons in the city. Between 2006 and 2011, there was a decrease in the median income of Parkdale by 2.9%. However, in 2011, there was an increase in the number of people earning within the range of $30,000 to $60,000. The large amount of rental stock is an entry point for immigrants to Toronto. The area has a significant group of musicians and visual artists, who often perform and exhibit locally.
  To the south of Parkdale, the area is bordered by transportation uses, including the railway, Gardiner Expressway and Lake Shore Boulevard. South of the transportation corridor, the shoreline is mostly park land, with recreational clubs such as the Argonaut Rowing Club and Boulevard Club (formerly the Parkdale Canoe Club) on the water.
caption: Parkdale's commercial districts are located on King Street and Queen Street West.
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