The Annex is likely the most eclectic real estate amidst Toronto’s most affluent neighbourhoods; made up of a diverse assortment of housing and commercial properties within the boundaries of Bloor Street, Dupont Street, Bathurst Street and Avenue Road. The subdivision had two separate surges of growth between 1880 – 1910 and 1910 – 1930, and the consequent structural detail in the Victorian, Queen Anne, Richardsonian and Romanesque homes is some of the finest in the city.
Bordering and enveloping Toronto’s most prestigious university, The Annex is a student-friendly neighbourhood sporting easy-on-the-wallet pizza joints, sushi restaurants, pubs and cafes. Bloor Street is the main attraction with Honest Ed’s, The Bloor Cinema and Sonic Boom anchored conveniently near the Bathurst subway stop. Further south on Harbord, restos like Tati and the Harbord Room bring in the 30 plus crowd to a stretch that is quickly becoming a dining destination.
As the Annex has been regaining its elite status for the past two decades, many of the rooming houses of years past are once again being converted back to stately single family dwellings. Bloor Street is a shopping mecca, home to a huge array of restaurants, cafes, art supply stores, book stores and even one of the city’s last independent movie theatres, the Bloor Cinema, which is over one hundred years old.
The Annex is also well known for its vibrant nightlife. Many fine public and private schools serve the neighbourhood, most notably, the University of Toronto which gives this neighbourhood the feel of an elaborately large campus as many of the faculty and students have made the Annex their home. With several subway stations and surface routes, public transit is very effective, and motorists have a quick drive to anywhere in the downtown core.
