Gerrard Street (Toronto)

Gerrard Street (Toronto)

Gerrard Street is a street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It consists of two separate parts, one running east from University Avenue for 6 km to Coxwell Avenue, and the other starting 300 m north along Coxwell and continuing east for another 4 km to Clonmore Drive (between Victoria Park Avenue and Warden Avenue). In the vicinity of Coxwell Avenue the southern part of Gerrard Street is frequently referred to as Lower Gerrard, and the northern part is referred to as Upper Gerrard.

The "Upper Gerrard" stretch of road was originally a separate street called "Lake View Avenue", which was in the town of East Toronto. The name was changed after East Toronto was annexed by Toronto in 1908.

As is typical in Toronto, the street is divided into East and West addresses at Yonge Street. Atypically, the West portion of the street is very short — only four blocks long. At its western terminus of University Avenue, it is surrounded by hospitals consisting of Toronto General Hospital, Mount Sinai Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto Rehab, and the Hospital for Sick Children.

The bulk of Gerrard Street is actually known as Gerrard Street East. Ryerson University is located on Gerrard Street East just east of Yonge. Further to the east, at Parliament Street, where Gerrard Street East separates Cabbagetown from Regent Park, the Toronto Transit Commission's 506 Carlton streetcar turns onto Gerrard Street East at Parliament Street to continue its journey east as far as Main Street.

After crossing over the Don River, Gerrard Street East passes through Toronto's Chinatown East which is centred on Gerrard between Broadview Avenue and Carlaw Avenue. Continuing east, Gerrard Street East between Greenwood Avenue and Coxwell Avenue is home to one of the largest South Asian marketplaces in North America. At the intersection of Gerrard and Broadview Avenue are two bilingual street signs with the words "Gerrard St E / 芝蘭東街".

After the jog up Coxwell to "Upper Gerrard", the street is largely a mix of residential and small neighbourhood businesses. The TTC's 135 Gerrard bus serves the portion east of Main Street to Clonmore Drive on its route to Warden Station. At Victoria Park Avenue, the name of the street reverts simply to Gerrard Street (not Gerrard Street East) for the last four blocks before it ends by merging into Clonmore Drive. This oddity of nomenclature is a remnant of these last four blocks being in the old city of Scarborough, which did not label streets entering the city from Toronto with "East" designations.

"Gerrard St. represents a dividing line between separate administrative units. Since the redrawing of Toronto’s riding boundaries in 2000 the area north of Gerrard belongs to City Council Ward 30 (which meanders west to the Don River and also includes Toronto’s harbour); the area south is part of Ward 32, which extends into The Beaches. Similarly, the areas north and south of Gerrard are allocated to different census tracts: Census Tract 26 is bordered by Greenwood Ave. and Coxwell Ave. and from Gerrard extends south beyond Queen St.; Census Tract 74 is bordered by Greenwood Ave. in the west, Gerrard in the south, Coxwell in the east and the railway tracks in the north."