My neighbourhood — Welcome to Riverdale!
I’ve spent most of my life growing up in Riverdale, a neighbourhood in Toronto’s east end known for great Greek food, parks and friendly dog neighbours. Some of my favourite things about Riverdale include: the Rooster Coffeehouse on Broadview, the papous (Greek grandfathers) gossiping at the Alexander the Great Parkette, sunsets on Riverdale hill, Book City on Danforth, loukoumades (honey balls) from Athens Pasteries, and buck a shuck oysters from Sidebar on Wednesdays. Things I like a little less include: running into every person I went to high school with as soon as I step foot on the Danforth.
This video blog explains a little bit of Riverdale’s history starting from the period before colonization until present. I chat about the housing crisis in Toronto and the controversy over a proposed 49 storey mixed use tower on the corner of Danforth and Pape. I tie this to the proposed Ontario Line subway extension, and a prominent housing co-op in the neighbourhood.
Most of the information in the video was found online. If you’re interested, feel free to read more about Riverdale’s history, here. For more information on the proposed building on Pape and Danforth, click here. Other links have been imbedded throughout the article. Image sources are linked below.
Images imbedded throughout the video:
