Riverdale is a large neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly east of the Don River Valley, south of The Danforth (Greektown) and north of Lake Ontario. The neighbourhood is characterized by two large recreational parks, Riverdale Park adjacent to the Don River and Withrow Park to the north east of Riverdale, as well as smaller parks. Riverdale is also home to Bridgepoint Health (formerly Riverdale Hospital), and the Don Jail, both at the corner of Broadview Avenue and Gerrard Street East.

Riverdale is known by many Torontonians as a thriving residential neighbourhood represented by a strong arts community that cater to independent galleries on Queen St. to the large corporate film studios along the waterfront.

There remains a strong working class element to the neigbourhood as well. The tree-lined side-streets are complemented by the various styles of Victorian and Georgian residential architecture, primarily built between the 1880s and the Depression.

The Riverdale Zoo was Toronto’s zoological park before the opening of the Toronto Zoo in the early 1970s. Now called Riverdale Farm, it continues as an educational farm for school children and the general public. Ironically Riverdale Farm is not actually in the Riverdale neighbourhood but is located west of the Don River in the Cabbagetown neighbourhood. The two neigbourhoods are closely linked even though separated by the Don River.

While Riverdale itself is usually said to refer to the stretch of Toronto east of the Don Valley Parkway and west of Pape, between Danforth Avenue (North) and Gerrard (South), these boundaries are arbitrary and many people on either side of these borders often claim to live in Riverdale (or not, as the case may be).

The area’s high real estate prices have encouraged many residents to call adjacent areas Riverdale too. Names such as South Riverdale (which stretches north from Lakeshore to Gerrard and east from the Don Valley Parkway to Carlaw) are a construct of real estate agents.

Just east of Riverdale is Leslieville, which encompasses a few quaint blocks of late 19th century storefronts lined with antique shops, galleries and cafes. Toronto’s second largest chinatown, also known as Chinatown East, is found at Broadview & Gerrard.

A few kilometers east, between Greenwood and Coxwell, you’ll find Little India that is a popular meeting place for the Toronto South Asian communities. South of Leslieville, just north of the waterfront, is what’s called the Studio District.

Industrial warehouses along Lakeshore avenue house production studies and many people working in film and television live in the old Victorians found along the area’s side streets. Carlaw and Queen has become an arts hub, with many artists choosing to run their studios from the various work-live lofts.

Some Riverdale residents differentiate between “upper” and “lower” Riverdale. “Upper Riverdale” is characterized is the part of the neighborhood north of Riverdale Ave., and “Lower Riverdale” is the area south of Riverdale Ave.

Generally, real estate prices are reflected in this divide. The closer the house is to Danforth Ave. the higher the sale price. Also, in terms of the quality of the housing supply, homes built in “upper Riverdale” are more likely to have better architectural features, and are more likely to be rennovated. However, there are some exceptions. There are a number of remarkable century-old homes built on Simpson and Langley Avenues, the latter street named after Toronto’s well-known early 20th century architect.

The neighbourhood has seen the rise and fall of prosperity over the past century. The grand homes built on some streets are testimony to prosperous times. Despite this rich housing stock, the area was considered to be down-and-out in the 1970s. These days though it’s ripe with yuppies, young and old. Withrow Park is full of well-dressed babies in Bugaboo strollers and the Baby Boomers who’ve lived in the area for decades often have a Volvo or a Saab parked out front.

The popular teenage drama TV series Degrassi Junior High is named after the Riverdale street of the same name (although the only school on Degrassi street is Eastdale Collegiate Institute at Gerrard street east)

Riverdale Collegiate Institute is the neighbourhood’s local high-school.

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Contact Laurin Jeffrey for more information