The Beaches, Toronto

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The Beaches (also known as “The Beach”) is a neighbourhood and popular tourist destination located in Toronto. It is located on the east side of the “Old” City of Toronto. The boundaries of the neighbourhood are from Victoria Park to the east to Kingston Road on the north, Eastern Avenue to Leslie on the west, south to the lakeshore of Lake Ontario. The Beaches is part of the east-central district of Toronto.  As a realtor who lives in the Beaches, I know the neighbourhood like the back of my hand.  I can help you navigate and find the best homes for sale in the Beaches.

The neighbourhood is located to the East of Toronto’s downtown, from Coxwell east to Victoria Park. The lakefront is divided into four sections; Woodbine Beach to the west, Kew Beach and Scarboro Beach in the centre, and Balmy Beach to the east. It is four beaches which give the neighbourhood its name and defining principal characteristic. Until Lake Shore Boulevard was extended to Woodbine Avenue in the 1950s, Woodbine Beach was not a bathing beach, but rather a desolate wooded area known as The Cut. And Woodbine Avenue was the western boundary of the neighbourhood. While the official City northern boundary ends at Kingston Road, the area to the north has become known as the ‘Upper Beaches’. The area bounded by Queen Street, Woodbine and Kingston Road is nicknamed the ‘Beach Triangle’.

The commercial district of Queen Street East lies at the heart of The Beaches community. It is characterized by a large number of independent speciality stores. The side streets are mostly lined with semis and large-scale Victorian, Edwardian and new-style houses, such as in the development on the site of the former Greenwood Racetrack bounded by Queen Street East, Lakeshore Blvd. to the north and south respectively, and Kingston Road and Woodbine Ave. to the West and East respectively. There are also low-rise apartment buildings and a few row-houses. There are several parks in the area, as well as the the beach itself.

The beach itself is a single uninterrupted stretch of sandy shoreline bounded by the R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant (locally known as the Water Works) to the east and Woodbine Park (a small peninsula in Lake Ontario) and Ashbridge’s Bay to the west. A long boardwalk runs along most of its length. Although it is continuous, there are four names which correspond each to approximately one quarter of the length of the beach (from east to west): Balmy Beach, Scarboro Beach, Kew Beach and Woodbine Beach. Woodbine Beach and Kew-Balmy Beach are Blue Flag certified for cleanliness and are suitable for swimming.

Landmarks

The Beaches contains a number of historic buildings that are either designated under the Ontario Heritage Act, or listed in the City of Toronto’s inventory of heritage buildings, including:

  • 18–36 Wineva Avenue, built in 1929 (west side and even numbers only);
  • the Bank of Toronto building, 1958 Queen Street East, now the “Lion on the Beach” bar, built in 1950;
  • the Beach Hebrew Institute, 109 Kenilworth Avenue, built in 1920;
  • Beaches Branch of the Toronto Public Library, one of four original Carnegie Libraries and identical to two others (one in Northern Toronto at Wychwood, one in Western Toronto at High Park), 2161 Queen Street East, originally built in 1916, revamped in 1980 and 2005;
  • the Dominion Bank building, at Queen and Lee streets, built in 1911;
  • the Dr. William D. Young Memorial, located in Kew Gardens, erected in 1920 and partly designed by Ivor Lewis;
  • the Fox Theatre on Queen St. at Beech Ave, built in 1914, which is North America’s oldest continuously operated movie theatre;
  • Glenn Gould’s family home, 32 Southwood Drive;
  • The Goof – officially the Garden Gate Restaurant, a well known Canadian Chinese restaurant in the Beaches since 1952, located at 2379 Queen Street East.
  • the Kew Beach Firehall No. 17, still in use today as a working firehall, built in 1905;
  • the Kew Williams House, 30 Lee Avenue, aka “the Gardener’s Cottage,” built in 1901-1902;
  • the Leuty Lifeguard Station, foot of Leuty Avenue, built in 1920;
  • Inglenook, at 81 Waverley Road;
  • Whitelock’s Grocery Store, now Whitlock’s Restaurant, built between 1906–1908; and
  • George Davis House on Kingswood Road.

Schools

Public High School

  • Malvern Collegiate Institute, located on Malvern Avenue, one block north of Kingston Road.

Catholic High Schools

  • Neil McNeil Catholic Secondary School, located on Victoria Park Avenue, just south of Kingston Road
  • Notre Dame High School, located on Malvern Avenue, just north of Kingston Road.
    Senior Public Schools

Senior Public Schools

  • Glen Ames Senior Public School is a public middle school (grades 7 and 8) located on Williamson Road, two blocks south of the intersection of Main Street and Kingston Road.
  • Note that Bowmore Road PS (listed below) serves the Beaches neighbourhood, as both a junior (grades 1-6) and senior (grades 7-8) public school.

Public Schools

  • Adam Beck Junior Public School, located on Scarborough Road, one block north of Kingston Road.
  • Balmy Beach Community School, located at corner of Pine Avenue and Beech Avenue. The school dates from 1906; the current building was erected in 1975.
  • Beaches Alternative School, located entirely within Kimberley Jr. PS (see below)
  • Kew Beach Junior Public School, located on Queen Street East at Kippendavie, one block east of Woodbine Avenue.
  • Kimberley Junior Public School, located at Main Street and Swanwick Avenue.
  • Norway Junior Public School, located on Kingston Road, one block east of Woodbine.
  • Williamson Road Junior Public School, located on Williamson Road near Main and Kingston, attached to Glen Ames Sr PS.

The following public schools are technically outside of The Beaches area, but due to their close proximity to the neighbourhood serve many Beaches residents:

  • Blantyre PS, located on Blantyre Avenue, near the intersection of Victoria Park Avenue and Gerrard Street East.
  • Bowmore Road PS, located on Bowmore Road, south of Gerrard Street East between Woodbine and Coxwell.
  • Courcelette PS, located on Fallingbrook Road, south of Kingston Road.

Catholic Public Schools

  • St. Denis CS, located on Balsam Avenue, just north of Queen Street East.
  • St. John’s CS, located on Kingston Road, just west of Malvern Avenue.

For more information on schools in the Beach(es) area in Toronto, please click here or book a free consultation with one of Beaches’ top realtors

The Beaches Real Estate

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