Toronto’s Annex Neighbourhood

Annex is a lively community in Toronto. This area is roughly bounded by Bloor Street West on the south, Bathurst Street on west, Dupont Street on the North and Avenue Road on the east.

The Annex is the area around University of Toronto, so sauntering the attractive grounds of the U of T would be one of common activities in this area. Along Bloor Street West the Annex offers you an exciting combination of beautiful old homes, art galleries, theatres, bohemian coffee shops, bookstores, discount stores, restaurants and bars.

Toronto’s Philosopher’s Walk

Philosopher’s Walk is a picturesque pathway located in the St George campus of the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario. This meandering path borders the back of Trinity College of the U of T. There is an amphitheater and a set of benches around which make this place as a choice for meeting up with friends or even enjoy watching squirrels and sparrows that pass by.

It has a southeasterly direction along the gorge landscape created by Taddle Creek-Taddle Creek is a buried stream in Toronto, Ontario, Canada-during the Industrial Age in the 19th century, it was buried, but it is now flowing underground and traces of the creek can still be found. This path is an Instagram-worthy locale because it starts between the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in 100 Queen’s Park, Bloor Street and runs to the Royal Conservatory which is one of the largest and most respected music education institutions in the world.

Demography

When people flock to the many restaurants and bars, the Annex turns into one of the busiest areas of Toronto at night. It would be a prime example of Toronto’s diversity as the Annex is one of Toronto’s most heterogeneous communities. This vibrant neighbourhood’s residents are from all walks of life. They vary from University of Toronto students and faculty to successful business people and even prominent artists.

The History of Annex

When the Annex was subdivided in the late 18’s, it immediately became one of Toronto’s elite neighbourhoods. The Annex’s first residents included Timothy Eaton, George Gooderham, the patriarch of Eaton’s department store and president of the Gooderham and Worts Distillery. But its Golden Era lasted until the 1920’s, days that the upper classes began to migrate northward to newer and more fashionable suburbs in Forest Hill and Lawrence Park.

Those who stayed behind helped to form the Annex Residents Association. This powerful lobby group saved the Annex from the proposed Spadina Expressway which would have divided the Annex in half, had it been built. The Annex has endured and is now over one hundred years old. It remains one of Toronto’s premier neighbourhoods.

Annex Architecture

The Toronto’s Annex houses as fine examples of Victorian, Queen Anne and Richardsonian Romanesque architectural styles offer a picturesque view of Old Toronto to visitors as I’ve mentioned at Toronto’s Yorkville Neighbourhood. These houses were built between 1880 and 1910. These attractive houses vary according to exterior facades,some with Plum and pink colored Credit River sandstone or rich red brick and the others with terra cotta clay tiles.

The architectural details in Toronto’s Annex houses are among the finest in the city, ranging from pyramidal roofs and turrets to recessed grand archways and wooden spindled porches. A second wave of Annex homes dates from 1910 to 1930. These homes are less elaborate than their predecessors, but are nonetheless fine examples of English Cottage, Georgian and Tudor style architecture.

If you are looking for a home in Annex, here within a few steps you can find one of the Best Toronto Real estate Agents who covers Toronto’s Annex Neighbourhood.


 

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