Quote:
Originally Posted by Crawford
Also, I always thought the west side of the GTA was the favored side, but doesn't appear so. The region's wealth seems pretty evenly divided by Yonge. Maybe in terms of urbanity, west is best, but not in terms of socioeconomics.
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Yeah, the east/west socioeconomic difference is hard to simplify. A visitor to Toronto may get that impression. It's a smoother transition from the CBD to vibrant urban neighborhoods going west. To the east of downtown you have the city's "skid row", public housing projects etc. (though it includes prosperous Cabbagetown as well). The low income areas on the western side of the downtown is basically Chinatown/Kensington Market/university students (and one smaller public housing project, Alexandra Park) - so even if there seems to be an equal distribution of low income tracts immediately east and west of the CBD, it's really rather different.
As one goes west of Kensington Market and Bathurst St., the inner west end is clearly the most "hip" part of town. Quite mixed income with a hipster/student/renter demographic with a lot of affluent professionals in the mix too. More bars, nightlife etc. You really get a sense of the vibe heading west along Queen from City Hall - quite vibrant all the way out to Parkdale.
East of the Don River is less "hip" but more middle to high income, more SFHs, more families, more of a mature professional population. The Don River was also a barrier to development for many years (the opening of the Bloor Viaduct in 1918 spurred development, so the east end developed a little later than the west).
Among the two small transitional urban/suburban former municipalities of York and East York, York is clearly more working class and low income, while East York is more middle class.
Etobicoke is clearly more affluent overall than Scarborough - in line with "west is best." But the difference is really found in the southern halves. Toronto's northwest (basically York/Weston, Downsview/Jane-Finch and north Etobicoke) is in many respects the most troubled part of the city, and is the city's main Black concentration.
Then when you get to the 905 suburbs, the western lakeshore is the most affluent sector (Oakville is the wealthiest GTA suburb), while Durham Region (Pickering, Ajax, Whitby) to the east is very "average" middle income working class.