(West) Chinatown, Toronto 多倫多(中區)華埠 | |
---|---|
Neighbourhood | |
Coordinates: 43°39′10″N79°23′53″W / 43.6529°N 79.3980°W | |
Country | Canada |
Province | Ontario |
City | Toronto |
Chinatown, Toronto (also known as Downtown Chinatown or West Chinatown) is a Chinese ethnic enclave located in the city's downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is centred at the intersections of Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street West.
The present neighbourhood was the result of the government expropriating Toronto's first Chinatown in the late 1950s to make way for a new city hall and public square. As a result of the expropriations, a number of businesses and residents based in the city's first Chinatown moved west towards Spadina Avenue during the 1950s and 1960s, later joined by other Chinese immigrants during the 1960s. The neighbourhood is one of several Chinatowns in Toronto that developed during the latter half of the 20th century. This Chinatown is sometimes referred to as West Chinatown to differentiate from both the first Chinatown located more centrally and East Chinatown developed at the intersection of Broadview Avenue and Gerrard Street East.
Toronto's present-day downtown Chinatown was formerly a Jewish district, although a small Chinese community was already present in this location prior to the 1950s. [1]
The creation of this Chinatown was driven by the demolition of First Chinatown at Bay Street and Dundas Street West, from the 1950s to 1960s to make way for Toronto City Hall. While a handful of Chinese businesses still thrive there, much of the Chinese community have largely migrated west from there to the present Chinatown neighbourhood, thus its name, "West Chinatown". [2] Chinatown continued to expand with the influx of Chinese immigrants during the 1960s, many of the wives and descendants of the Chinese men already in Canada due to the lifting of Canada's racial exclusion act. [3] With much of Toronto's downtown Jewish population moving north along Bathurst Street, the businesses in this area became largely Chinese. [3]
In the following decades, students and skilled workers arrived from Hong Kong, Guangdong province and Chinese communities in Southeast Asia and the Caribbean further increased the Chinese population, which led to the creation of additional Chinese communities east of Toronto. The neighbourhood has been noted as being a "near complete community" with housing, employment, and commerce, along with schools and social services all located within walking distance in the neighbourhood. [4]
Today, the economic and social centre of Toronto's downtown Chinatown primarily runs north–south along Spadina Avenue to College Street to Sullivan Street and east–west along Dundas Street West from Augusta Avenue to Beverley Street. A mansion that is converted to the Italian Consulate is at the northwest corner of Dundas and Beverley.
Since the 2000s, the West Chinatown has been changing from the influx of new residents, businesses from immigrants and second generation Canadians. The neighbourhood has continued to serve as a vital market hub and services, to people from inside the neighbourhood and outside. [5] [6] The central location of the neighbourhood has also been a draw for property developers, changing the face of the neighbourhood. [6]
Meanwhile, since the 2010s, the neighbourhood of the first Chinatown is sometimes referred to as Little Tokyo, due to the number of Japanese businesses that have popped up in the area. [7]
Toronto's downtown Chinatown is one of the largest in North America. It is centred on the intersection of Dundas Street West and Spadina Avenue and extends outward from this point along both streets. With the population changes of recent decades, it has come to reflect a diverse set of East Asian cultures through its shops and restaurants, including Chinese and Vietnamese. The major Chinese malls in the area are Dragon City and Chinatown Centre.
Since the 1990s, downtown Chinatown has been redefining itself in the face of changing demographics and gentrification of the neighbourhood. As the aging population shrank, revenues of businesses in the neighbourhood also decreased. While the majority of the grocery stores and shops remain, most of the once-famed restaurants on Dundas Street West, especially the barbecue shops located below grade, have closed since 2000. [8] [5] Competition from commercial developments in suburban Chinese communities also drew wealth and professional immigrants away from downtown. Unlike those newer developments in the suburbs, Chinatown's economy relies heavily on tourism and Chinese seniors. As many younger, higher-income immigrants settled elsewhere in the city, those left in the district are typically from older generations who depend on downtown's dense concentration of services and accessibility to public transportation. [9] With developers changing or resulting in the closure of well-regarded businesses, the Chinatown neighbourhood is facing the pressures of gentrification along with many other Toronto ethnic neighbourhoods and communities such as Greektown, Koreatown, Little Portugal, and Little Italy. [10]
In the early 21st century, downtown neighbourhoods became more attractive to urban professionals and young people who work in the Financial District, as well as its proximity to the University of Toronto and to OCAD University, leading to the gentrification of surrounding areas and potentially changing the face of West Chinatown. [5] [2]
A key representative of the neighbourhood and its interests is the Toronto Chinatown Business Improvement Area (多倫多華埠商業改進區), also known as the Chinatown BIA. A non-for-profit organization funded by the commercial property owners of the downtown Chinatown area, it was founded in 2007 and works closely with representatives of the federal, provincial, and city government, the police, as well as community stakeholders to promote and enhance the community as a commercial destination while maintaining its cultural character. [11] [12] [13] [14]
Historically, Toronto's Downtown Chinatown has been represented by immigrants and families from southern China and Hong Kong. Since the transfer of Hong Kong's sovereignty to the People's Republic of China in 1997, immigrants from mainland China have greatly exceeded those from Hong Kong. However, at present Cantonese remains the primary language used by businesses and restaurants in Chinatown.
To the east of Spadina Avenue, numerous university students attending the University of Toronto, OCAD University (formerly the Ontario College of Art and Design), and Toronto Metropolitan University live in many of the small houses built as workers' housing.
Both the 505 Dundas and 510 Spadina streetcar routes run through Chinatown, with the latter line have dedicated right-of-way.
The El Mocambo live music venue is in the northern end of Chinatown, although this 1940s establishment was there before the neighbourhood became Chinatown. [15]
A number of streets in Downtown Chinatown are bilingual, a feature first introduced in the 1970s. The majority of these name are phonetic transliterations through Cantonese or Taishanese pronunciations into Chinese characters, while streets such as College and Queen streets are literally translated:
Although the present downtown Chinatown is one of the more well known Chinese ethnic enclaves in Toronto, the city has a number of other neighbourhoods that have a high concentration of Chinese businesses, and people. Other Chinese ethnic enclaves in Toronto, and the Greater Toronto Area include:
The 1999 Chow Yun-fat film The Corruptor was set in the New York City Chinatown, with scenes filmed in the Chinatowns of New York and Toronto.
The television series Kung Fu: The Legend Continues was filmed in Chinatown at Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street West for many episodes of its 1993–97 run. Filmed in Toronto, it portrays the Chinatown of an unidentified major U.S. city.
On an episode of the 1990s series Due South entitled "Chinatown" (Season 1, episode 6), Toronto's Dundas and Spadina Chinatown stood in for Chicago's Chinatown.
Toronto's Chinatown is featured prominently in the 2008 collection of short stories The Chinese Knot and Other Stories by Lien Chao.
Toronto band Do Make Say Think have a song titled "Chinatown" on their 2002 album & Yet & Yet .
The film Suite Suite Chinatown, directed by Aram Siu Wai Collier, was screened at the 14th Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. [17]
The Pixar animated short, Bao , was set in Toronto, and included scenes from Toronto's Chinatown. [18] The Pixar animated film, Turning Red , was set in Toronto, and also included scenes from Toronto's Chinatown.
Toronto Chinatowns are ethnic enclaves in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with a high concentration of ethnic Chinese residents and businesses. These neighbourhoods are major cultural, social and economic hubs for the Chinese-Canadian communities of the region. In addition to Toronto, several areas in the Greater Toronto Area also hold a high concentration of Chinese residents and businesses.
Queen Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street in the west to Victoria Park Avenue in the east. Queen Street was the cartographic baseline for the original east–west avenues of Toronto's and York County's grid pattern of major roads. The western section of Queen is a centre for Canadian broadcasting, music, fashion, performance, and the visual arts. Over the past twenty-five years, Queen West has become an international arts centre and a tourist attraction in Toronto.
Trinity—Spadina was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 2015.
Spadina Avenue is one of the most prominent streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Running through the western section of downtown, the road has a very different character in different neighbourhoods.
Bloordale Village is a Business Improvement Area (BIA) located along Bloor Street from Dufferin Street to Lansdowne Avenue, west of downtown in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It sits on the southern border of the Wallace Emerson neighbourhood and the northern border of the Brockton Village neighbourhood. The district is home to various and unique shops including restaurants, bars, vintage and thrift stores.
Chinatown is a neighborhood located in the area of De la Gauchetière Street in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The neighbourhood contains many Asian restaurants, food markets, and convenience stores as well being home to many of Montreal's East Asian community centres, such as the Montreal Chinese Hospital and the Montreal Chinese Community and Cultural Centre.
Gutzlaff Street is a lane in the Central district of Hong Kong, crossing Stanley Street, Wellington Street, Gage Street and Lyndhurst Terrace.
Staunton Street is a street in Central and Sheung Wan, on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. Together with the upper section of Elgin Street, it is the heart of the Soho entertainment area, featuring a number of restaurants, bars and shops. It was named after George Thomas Staunton.
Old Town Chinatown is the official Chinatown of the northwest section of Portland, Oregon. The Willamette River forms its eastern boundary, separating it from the Lloyd District and the Kerns and Buckman neighborhoods. It includes the Portland Skidmore/Old Town Historic District and the Portland New Chinatown/Japantown Historic District, which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It has been referred to as the "skid row" of Portland.
Johnston Road is a major road in Wan Chai on the Hong Kong Island of Hong Kong.
Little Jamaica, also known as Eglinton West, is an ethnic enclave in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located along Eglinton Avenue West, from Marlee Avenue to Keele Street, and is part of four neighbourhoods: Silverthorn, Briar Hill–Belgravia, Caledonia–Fairbank, and Oakwood–Vaughan. The commercial main street has been recognized to be of great cultural heritage significance to the city of Toronto, as a distinct ethnic and cultural hub for Afro-Caribbean immigrants for many decades.
The Fashion District is a commercial and residential district in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located between the intersection of Bathurst Street to the west, Spadina Avenue to the east, Queen Street West to the north and Front Street to the south. Google Maps extends the district further east of Spadina Avenue to Peter Street.
Alexandra Park is a neighbourhood located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Alexandra Park is bounded by Dundas Street West on the north, Spadina Avenue on the east, Queen Street West on the south, and Bathurst Street on the west. Alexandra Park consists of private and public housing, with at grade retail along Queen Street West and Spadina Avenue, some institutional, and several commercial buildings scattered through the neighborhood. The neighborhood takes its name from Alexandra Park, a municipal park at the south-east corner of Dundas Street West and Bathurst Street. The park is named for Queen Alexandra, whose husband, King Edward VII, was the first future monarch to visit Toronto.
The Ward was a neighbourhood in central Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Many new immigrants first settled in the neighbourhood; it was at the time widely considered a slum.
The Standard Theatre is an inactive theatre in Toronto that originated as the city's main venue for Yiddish theatre, and later became the Victory Burlesque, which would be the last traditional burlesque theatre in Toronto when it closed in 1975. It is located at 285 Spadina Ave. the corner of Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street.
Grange Park is a neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is bounded on the west by Spadina Avenue, on the north by College Street, on the east by University Avenue and on the south by Queen Street West. It is within the 'Kensington-Chinatown' planning neighbourhood of the City of Toronto. Its name is derived from the Grange Park public park. The commercial businesses of Chinatown extend within this neighbourhood.
Chinatowns in Canada generally exist in the large cities of Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, and Montreal, and existed in some smaller towns throughout the history of Canada. Prior to 1900, almost all Chinese were located in British Columbia, but have spread throughout Canada thereafter. From 1923 to 1967, immigration from China was suspended due to exclusion laws. In 1997, the handover of Hong Kong to China caused many from there to flee to Canada due to uncertainties. Between 1881 to 1884, over 17, 0000 Chinese immigrants arrived in Canada to build the Canadian pacific Railway, and later to maintain it. Canada had about 25 Chinatowns across the country between the 1930s to 1940s, some of which have ceased to exist.
First Chinatown is a retronym for a former neighbourhood in Toronto, an area that once served as the city's Chinatown. The city's original Chinatown existed from the 1890s to the 1970s, along York Street and Elizabeth Street between Queen and Dundas Streets within St. John's Ward. However, more than two thirds of it was expropriated and razed starting in the late 1950s to build the new Toronto City Hall and its civic square, Nathan Phillips Square.
East Chinatown is a Chinese neighbourhood located in the city of Toronto's east end in Riverdale and one of the several Chinatowns in Toronto. It was formed during the early 1970s and is centred on Gerrard Street East between Broadview Avenue and Carlaw Avenue.
Dundas Street is a major historic arterial road in Ontario, Canada. The road connects the city of Toronto with its western suburbs and several cities in southwestern Ontario. Three provincial highways—2, 5, and 99—followed long sections of its course, although these highway segments have since been downloaded to the municipalities they passed through. Originally intended as a military route to connect the shipping port of York to the envisioned future capital of London, Ontario, the street today connects Toronto landmarks such as Yonge–Dundas Square and the city's principal Chinatown to rural villages and the regional centres of Hamilton and London.