King Street (Toronto)

King Street (Toronto)

King Street is a major east-west commercial thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was named after King George III, the reigning British monarch at the time the street was being built in early Toronto (then called the Town of York).

King Street's western terminus is at an intersection with The Queensway to the west, Roncesvalles Avenue to the north, and Queen Street West to the east. King runs to the south-east briefly before curving to the east until just west of Parliament Street. There, it curves north-east until terminates at a merge with Queen Street East just west of the Don River. Prior to a realignment, Eastern Avenue was the East end of King Street and crossed the Don at the King Street Bridge (which has since been abandoned). Yonge Street, the north-south divider of many Toronto east-west streets, divides King Street into King Street East and King Street West.

King Street is also served along its entire length by the Toronto Transit Commission's 504 King streetcar route, the busiest line in the fleet with an average of 50,000 passengers per day. It connects with the Yonge–University–Spadina subway line at St. Andrew Station at University Avenue, and at King Station at Yonge Street. It connects with the Bloor–Danforth subway line at Dundas West and Broadview stations. The street is also served by the 508 Lake Shore car.

In recent years there has been a proliferation of chic restaurants, clubs and galleries in the area (such as Cobra, Brant House, Susur, Senses Bar and Restaurant, Thuet Cuisine, Lux, Old Yorke Pub and Grill, the Navarro Gallery etc.) as King Street West becomes more oriented to Toronto's nightlife crowd, and is near major attractions such as the Rogers Centre (formerly SkyDome), Air Canada Centre, the Distillery District, Hockey Hall of Fame, Roy Thomson Hall, Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, St. Lawrence Market and the historic King Edward Hotel.

Canada's Walk of Fame runs along King Street from John Street to Simcoe Street and south on Simcoe. It is a tribute in granite to Canadians who have gained fame in the fields of music, literature, journalism, dance, sports, acting, entertainment and broadcasting.

King Street East is predominantly known as the high-end, luxury furniture district of downtown Toronto, with dozens of stores on King Street and in the surrounding area.