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I don’t know, the east side of Toronto (east of Yonge Street) contains many interesting and charming (and affluent) neighborhoods, including: Rosedale, Cabbagetown, Riverdale, the Danforth, the Beaches, St. Lawrence, Lawrence Park, Bridle Path, Bayview Village, Guildwood. Yes, there are rougher and less affluent neighborhoods like Malvern, but the West End has Jane/Finch.

Attractions include the Science Centre and the Toronto Zoo, the Beaches and Scarborough Bluffs, to many ethnic neighborhoods such as Greektown, Little India, Flemington Park and Asiancourt. The Gay Village is east of Yonge, so too is the Distillery District and Brick Works.

Now, the West End may have more hipster areas, like Ossington and Liberty Village. And certainly many other interesting (and affluent) neighborhoods, including the Annex, High Park and Forest Hill. There is the University of Toronto and the Exhibition grounds, Koreatown and Little Italy, and yes, Yorkdale has more high-end stores then Scarborough Town Centre. But then the Ford family and all their drug-fueled antics all take place in the West End – not a great advertisement.

So I don’t know if you can say objectively that the west side of Toronto is so superior to the east side. Saying “Most of the trendy neighbourhoods outside of Riverdale and Leslieville are all west of Yonge Street” isn’t really much. I mean, do we value trendy neighborhoods more than other things? We could just as easily say Toronto south of Bloor Street has all the trendy neighborhoods. “Obviously, there's the Scarborough problem as well.” I’m not sure what problem that is. I grew up in Scarborough, have many relatives living there, and see it as one of the most multiethnic parts of the city – multi-ethnicity being one of the strengths of Toronto, one of the things we brag about. (It still bugs me that when crime happens in Scarborough it’s blamed on Scarborough, but when crime happens in Etobicoke it’s labeled as “West End.” Why don’t we hear about the guns and drugs and gangs in Etobicoke, the Ford stomping grounds?)
 
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There are still neighbourhoods in the east end that have not gone through the gentrification process like the west end has. Maybe in a few years when Regent Park, Cabbagetown and St Jamestown go through some developments that will make the east end of downtown on par with the west end. If we go further east then the east end of Danforth, the Kingston Road area, and Many parts of scarborough are still a bit rough.

That and there really isn't much to do or see east of the DVP. I live in East York and I hardly ever venture east of Warden, but I do find myself going to the west end a lot.

Cabbagetown is definitely gentrified now... multi million dollar homes now.

It's also a great example of a beautiful neighbourhood east of Yonge. Same with Rosedale.

Of course, the east side has the Don Valley, the beaches, the bluffs etc.
 
I don't either. The street is not as vibrant east of Donlands.

The opening of the Danforth Subway apparently took much of the vibrance of the Danforth underground with it since people were now passing under the community, rather than through it. Business owners on Danforth petitioned the TTC to reintroduce surface transit hoping that it would bring back some of the vibrance and business.

It's interesting that we didn't see the same effect on Bloor. Perhaps it goes back to the west end of the city (including Bloor) being well established, while the east end (including Danforth) was relatively young when the Bloor-Danforth opened in 1966.
That could be it. Even in Etobicoke bloor is very nice
 
Weston is on the west end of Toronto and it had heavy industry.

The Junction is also on the west end and also had heavy industry.

I must agree that the West End is much more walkable than the East End (and I am West End-biased, since I live in the West End).
 
I can only speak from my experience as a young midtown-living working person, but amongst my cohort, the west end is far more prominent. 3/4ths of the people I know work west of Yonge and south of Dundas. The greatest concentration popular bars are on King, Queen, and Bloor west, or in Kensington. If not at the Eaton centre, my friends and I shop on Queen west. Trinity-Bellwoods and High Park, the two "hang out on a summer day" parks (again, for my demographic) are in the west end. I have friends that claim to have been east of Yonge only a handful of times.

I think there are a few reasons for this (most of which have been brought up already). The greater accumulation of population west of the core (no river to interrupt) allows for a greater array of commercial enterprises. The sort of stores and restaurants that encourage ambling pedestrians have yet to gain critical mass on the east side of downtown and in the east end because of the greater prevalence of social services (on both sides of the river) and their users. I think that as mixed income housing and new condo developments bring in a new mix of consumers, we'll see more commercial enterprises that encourage pedestrian liveliness and greater attention/prominence. Hopefully as this gentrification develops, there will still be room for all sorts of communities.
 
I don’t know, the east side of Toronto (east of Yonge Street) contains many interesting and charming (and affluent) neighborhoods, including: Rosedale, Cabbagetown, Riverdale, the Danforth, the Beaches, St. Lawrence, Lawrence Park, Bridle Path, Bayview Village, Guildwood. Yes, there are rougher and less affluent neighborhoods like Malvern, but the West End has Jane/Finch.

Attractions include the Science Centre and the Toronto Zoo, the Beaches and Scarborough Bluffs, to many ethnic neighborhoods such as Greektown, Little India, Flemington Park and Asiancourt. The Gay Village is east of Yonge, so too is the Distillery District and Brick Works.

Now, the West End may have more hipster areas, like Ossington and Liberty Village. And certainly many other interesting (and affluent) neighborhoods, including the Annex, High Park and Forest Hill. There is the University of Toronto and the Exhibition grounds, Koreatown and Little Italy, and yes, Yorkdale has more high-end stores then Scarborough Town Centre. But then the Ford family and all their drug-fueled antics all take place in the West End – not a great advertisement.

So I don’t know if you can say objectively that the west side of Toronto is so superior to the east side. Saying “Most of the trendy neighbourhoods outside of Riverdale and Leslieville are all west of Yonge Street” isn’t really much. I mean, do we value trendy neighborhoods more than other things? We could just as easily say Toronto south of Bloor Street has all the trendy neighborhoods. “Obviously, there's the Scarborough problem as well.” I’m not sure what problem that is. I grew up in Scarborough, have many relatives living there, and see it as one of the most multiethnic parts of the city – multi-ethnicity being one of the strengths of Toronto, one of the things we brag about. (It still bugs me that when crime happens in Scarborough it’s blamed on Scarborough, but when crime happens in Etobicoke it’s labeled as “West End.” Why don’t we hear about the guns and drugs and gangs in Etobicoke, the Ford stomping grounds?)

I don't think Rosedale is generally thought of as being "the east end."
 
^ No, and that's one of the reasons why the more prominent division isn't so much west of Yonge and east of Yonge but rather west of the Don River and east of the Don River.
 
Neither is the Don Valley.

I would say it is a pretty significant division. As my first post here and TigerMaster have shown, the area east of the Don generally developed later than the west end did. And it's mostly "streetcar suburb" urban development, in contrast to what you see on the adjacent west side. Also, east of the Don is a bit removed from the heart of the city and many rarely venture there.
 
The upper reaches of the Don also divides Yonge into two parts. North of Hoggs Hollow, the reverse seems to hold true, east being slightly more prominent than the west.
 
I would say it is a pretty significant division. As my first post here and TigerMaster have shown, the area east of the Don generally developed later than the west end did. And it's mostly "streetcar suburb" urban development, in contrast to what you see on the adjacent west side. Also, east of the Don is a bit removed from the heart of the city and many rarely venture there.
Agreed. Great Stats above by the way!
 
The east side has a lot of great spots, but disjointed from one another. It currently contains greater disruptions in the urban fabric aside from the Don. The huge parking lot on Queen East, the Moss Park Armoury, all the homeless shelters, the St. Jamestown, Moss Park, and Regent Park tower clusters, all damage the sense of urban cohesiveness that is gradually beginning to form in the west.
 
The east side has a lot of great spots, but disjointed from one another. It currently contains greater disruptions in the urban fabric aside from the Don. The huge parking lot on Queen East, the Moss Park Armoury, all the homeless shelters, the St. Jamestown, Moss Park, and Regent Park tower clusters, all damage the sense of urban cohesiveness that is gradually beginning to form in the west.

And most people wouldn't even really consider this the "east end". This is downtown for most.
 

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