Downtown, midtown and uptown

[Docere]

The definitions aren't all that set in stone in Toronto, though I find the "because of amalgamation, uptown is now North York and midtown is now Yonge and Eglinton" definition to be ridiculous. Amalgamation didn't automatically make Toronto more of a "big league" city.

Personally I like the idea of considering the Yonge and Bloor area as our Midtown, but still part of our small-"d" downtown in the way that Midtown Manhattan and the Near North Side of Chicago are. Bloor feels too far from King and Queen and hotels along Bloor often describe themselves as having a "midtown" location.

Yonge and Eg I suppose is our uptown. Yonge and St. Clair in and of itself doesn't seem "big" enough to be our "midtown" though I often refer to the Yonge-centered neighborhoods north of Yorkville or the CNR tracks as "uptown." The contiguous downtown/midtown/uptown only really makes sense in Manhattan IMO.

[yaletown_fella]

Originally Posted by Docere

The definitions aren't all that set in stone in Toronto, though I find the "because of amalgamation, uptown is now North York and midtown is now Yonge and Eglinton" definition to be ridiculous. Amalgamation didn't automatically make Toronto more of a "big league" city.

Personally I like the idea of considering the Yonge and Bloor area as our Midtown, but still part of our small-"d" downtown in the way that Midtown Manhattan and the Near North Side of Chicago are. Bloor feels too far from King and Queen and hotels along Bloor often describe themselves as having a "midtown" location.

Yonge and Eg I suppose is our uptown. Yonge and St. Clair in and of itself doesn't seem "big" enough to be our "midtown" though I often refer to the Yonge-centered neighborhoods north of Yorkville or the CNR tracks as "uptown." The contiguous downtown/midtown/uptown only really makes sense in Manhattan IMO.

I always thought Uptown started at Lawrence.

Midtown is huge and covers the area between Bloor and Lawrence.

[Innsertnamehere]

I always thought of midtown being yonge and eglinton, but downtown ending at bloor. The area between is a sort of no mans land, just sort of part of the city.

[Ramako]

To me Yonge & Bloor feels just as much a part of "downtown" as Bay & King. The entire area from Yorkville to the lake is essentially one contiguous urban area, so I find it difficult to treat the two areas as being separate urban areas. I'd call everything south of Yorkville "downtown", Yonge from St. Clair to Eglinton "midtown" and Sheppard to Finch "uptown".

[isaidso]

Well Uptown used to be where the Uptown Cinema was, now the Uptown condo. Things change in a growing city. I usually think of St. Clair as midtown these days and don't think of anything further out at all. I suppose that will change over time.

[Dwils01]

I think of downtown as the Waterfront to Yorkville Avenue and Jarvis to Spadina.

For midtown I would consider it to be at Yonge and Eglinton.

As for uptown I think it's on Yonge from Sheppard to Finch.

[Docere]

So are people saying Yonge and Sheppard instantly became "uptown" and Y&E "midtown" in 1998? This makes little sense to me...

North York is too removed to be our "uptown." There's too much suburban territory between it and the city core. From Y&E you go through 1920s/1930s streetcar suburb around Lawrence and then a swath of classic upscale postwar suburbia around York Mills, up and down some big hills and cross over the 401.

Midtown being from Bloor to Lawrence is indeed a huge swath and has too little in common to bring it all classified under one area. The uber-urban Annex/Yorkville and "suburb in the city" Lawrence Park together?

I think from the point of view for tourists etc. I see the benefit of "midtown" being centered around Yonge and Bloor and a lot of it radiates on both sides (i.e. Bloor-Yorkville BIA is on both sides of Bloor) On the other hand, Bloor makes a pretty clear boundary as well and it's true the change isn't particularly drastic at College (except for maybe the change from University Ave to the Queen's Park loop where the shift in "tone" is most evident).

Obviously urban form and character is a matter of degree, but I can see enough in common in bringing Annex and Yorkville with Summerhill and Casa Loma, and thus having midtown go from Bloor to St. Clair (or more accurately, the Belt Line), though obviously the latter areas are more linked to "uptown." North Toronto is a pretty well defined area comprising the old city of Toronto north of the Belt Line.

OTOH, I can see the neighborhoods centered along Yonge and Avenue Rd. north of the CPR tracks (basically "up the hill") as being uptown, and there is enough in common socially/economically and in urban form.