Corktown Community Toronto
Corktown is the first community of its type to be conceived in the center of Toronto; it is also one of its most significant neighbourhoods. In the early 1960s, a great part of Corktown was demolished to make way for 1 or 2 raised roads. Among the most serious buildings wrecked was the House of Providence (1857"1962), an establishment run by the Sisters of St. Joseph to take care of orphans and the elderly poor.
Re-energizing
So many extraordinary transformations are at present taking place in Corktown that this once determinedly working-class community appears destined to further increase its contemporary recognition. First comes the rebirth of the Distillery District project to the southeast, with its Gooderham and Worts Distillery apartments and terraces inviting hoards of new residents to the area.
Strolling around Corktown, you will also see the multi-year mega project aimed at rebuilding Regent Park to the north as well as reintegrating the community with the rest of the town. On new land along the banks of the Don Stream at the east end of Corktown, you will recognise the massive West Don Development project. It is determined that this project will bring hundreds of additional residents to this central area and should totally revitalize its genius loci.
Property
Corktown is intensely handy to Toronto's downtown business and entertainment districts; as a consequence, new zoning bylaws have spawned the conversion of many Corktown commercial buildings into live-in work studios, condo lofts and professional offices. This change also provoked a demographic shift from blue to white collar.
Some of the oldest Victorian properties in Toronto can be discovered in Corktown, and agree with it or not, many of those date back to the mid 1850s and 1860s. They were known as "workers ' cottages" and can be discovered on the narrow laneways that are hidden away off Corktown's main streets.
Re-energizing
So many extraordinary transformations are at present taking place in Corktown that this once determinedly working-class community appears destined to further increase its contemporary recognition. First comes the rebirth of the Distillery District project to the southeast, with its Gooderham and Worts Distillery apartments and terraces inviting hoards of new residents to the area.
Strolling around Corktown, you will also see the multi-year mega project aimed at rebuilding Regent Park to the north as well as reintegrating the community with the rest of the town. On new land along the banks of the Don Stream at the east end of Corktown, you will recognise the massive West Don Development project. It is determined that this project will bring hundreds of additional residents to this central area and should totally revitalize its genius loci.
Property
Corktown is intensely handy to Toronto's downtown business and entertainment districts; as a consequence, new zoning bylaws have spawned the conversion of many Corktown commercial buildings into live-in work studios, condo lofts and professional offices. This change also provoked a demographic shift from blue to white collar.
Some of the oldest Victorian properties in Toronto can be discovered in Corktown, and agree with it or not, many of those date back to the mid 1850s and 1860s. They were known as "workers ' cottages" and can be discovered on the narrow laneways that are hidden away off Corktown's main streets.
About the Author:
Heather Hadden is Toronto real estate expert with great awareness of Toronto neighbourhoods.