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Originally Posted by Docere
This seems true of a lot of Canadian cities (and European ones, though not really in the US). Montreal and Vancouver are certainly known for their east/west divides.
Doesn't really seem to be the case in Toronto though, or is only partly the case. There isn't a major socioeconomic difference between the east and west ends. The former borough of York is lower income than East York and was historically more of an industrial area. But certainly Etobicoke is more desirable than Scarborough overall. And it does apply in the 905 (desirable Oakville vs. more working class Ajax say).
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Overall yeah it’s a mixed bag. But within the Old City of Toronto you can see micro-divides based on where industry was. Places like Roncesvalles were always more desirable than the massive swath of (former) working class housing on the east side of the railway tracks that spans all the way from queen up to eglinton. But on the flipside places like Riverdale have always been pretty desirable. And you have pockets like the housing around Dufferin Grove which is noticeably larger than surrounding areas (lots of the really big places are and always have been apartments though).
On a macro scale the East GTA is absolutely less desirable, but that’s probably more of a factor of industry developed post-war. Though I guess it may have been less developed than the lakeshore between Toronto and Hamilton which made it easier for that to develop. And topography in the east is less ideal. Even in the 30s there was quite a bit of lakeshore housing in what’s now Mississauga to Oakville / Burlington. And Toronto proper had developed all the way to the current city limits along the lake to the west, whereas in the east it was centred around Kingston rd
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