A former industrial east end turned brunch district, and a lakeside neighbourhood with a boardwalk that argues about its own name.
Toronto’s east end along Queen Street divides into two quite different neighbourhoods, and the 501 streetcar runs through both.
Leslieville
Named for George Leslie, a nurseryman whose gardens covered the area from the 1840s. It was industrial and working-class for a century — brickyards, factories, the film studios that are still there.
From the early 2000s it gentrified rapidly, and it is now known primarily for brunch. The strip along Queen Street East between Carlaw and Coxwell has a very high concentration of cafés and restaurants, and queues on a Sunday morning.
Studio District to the south holds Toronto’s film production facilities — a substantial industry, which is why the city appears as New York, Chicago and Boston in a great many productions.
Riverside, west of Leslieville towards the Don, has antique shops and the Broadview Hotel, a restored 1891 building with a rooftop bar and the best skyline view in the east end.
The Beaches
Further east, from Woodbine Avenue to Neville Park, and one of the more surprising things about Toronto: a genuine lakeside neighbourhood with three kilometres of sand, a boardwalk, a boating club and a very village-like main street.
Woodbine Beach and Kew-Balmy Beach are the main stretches, with Blue Flag water quality certification and lifeguards in summer. The water is swimmable from about July.
The boardwalk runs the length of it through Kew Gardens and the Beaches Park, and is busy with runners, dogs and prams year-round.
Queen Street East through the neighbourhood is low-rise, independent and pleasant.
The Leuty Lifeguard Station, a 1920 wooden building on the sand, is the most photographed structure in the east end.
The name
The neighbourhood cannot agree whether it is “the Beach” or “the Beaches”, and this is a genuine, long-running and slightly absurd local dispute. A 1985 vote favoured “the Beach”; a 2006 business association vote produced street signs saying “The Beach” and a backlash that produced signs saying both.
Locals will correct you either way. There is no safe answer.
Practicalities
Streetcar 501 along Queen Street runs the whole way and takes about 40 minutes from downtown, which is slow. Line 2 to Woodbine or Main Street and a bus south is faster.
The Beaches International Jazz Festival in July closes Queen Street for several days.
Summer weekends at Woodbine Beach are extremely busy; weekday mornings are empty.
