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The Beaches (also known as "The Beach") is a neighbourhood and popular tourist destination located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the east side of the "Old" City of Toronto. The original boundaries of the neighbourhood are from Fallingbrook Avenue on the east to Kingston Road on the north, to Woodbine Avenue on the west, south to Lake Ontario. The Beaches is part of the east-central district of Toronto.

Character

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 stores along Queen are known to change tenants quite often causing the streetscape to change from year to year, sometimes drastically. The side streets are mostly lined with semi-detached and large-scale Victorian, Edwardian and new-style houses. There are also low-rise apartment buildings and a few row-houses. Controversy has risen in recent years over new development in the neighbourhood that is changing the traditional aesthetic, with denser housing causing some residents to protect the traditional cottage-like appearance of the homes with heritage designations for some streets. There are several parks just a few steps south as well as a ravine that bisects the neighbourhood from North to South. Kingston Road is a four-lane road along the northern section of the neighbourhood. Woodbine Avenue is a four-lane road originating from Lakeshore Boulevard at the Lake Ontario shoreline, running north. It is primarily residential.

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) to the west. A long boardwalk runs along most of its length with a portion of the Martin Goodman Trail bike path running parallel. 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.

In the 2006 Canadian census The Beache was covered by census tracts 0020.00, 0021.00, 0022.00, 0023.00, and 0024.00. According to that census, the neighbourhood has 20,416 residents, a 7.8% increase from the 2001 census. Average income is $67,536, well above the average for Toronto. The Beaches is known as being a great place to raise a family with very little crime as well as many parks and schools.

"The Beach" or "The Beaches"

The name of the community is the subject of a long-standing dispute. Some long-time local residents assert that The Beach is the proper historical name for the area, whereas others are of the view that "The Beaches" is the more universally recognized neighbourhood name, particularly by non-residents. All government levels refer to the riding, or the ward in the case of the municipal government, as Beaches-East York.

The dispute over the area's name reached a fever pitch in 1985, when the City of Toronto installed 14 street signs designating the neighbourhood as "The Beaches". The resulting controversy resulted in the eventual removal of the signs, although the municipal government continues to officially designate the area as "The Beaches". In early 2006 the local Beaches Business Improvement Area voted to place "The Beach" on signs slated to appear on new lampposts over the summer, but local outcry caused them to rescind that decision. The Beaches Business Improvement Area board subsequently held a poll (online, in person and by ballot) in April 2006 to determine whether the new street signs would be designated "The Beach" or "The Beaches", and 58% of participants selected "The Beach" as the name to appear on the signs.

In fact, the two names have been used to refer to the area since the first homes were built in the 19th century. In his book, Accidental City: The Transformation of Toronto, Robert Fulford, himself a former resident, wrote: "the historical argument for 'the Beaches' as a name turns out to be at least as strong as the historical argument for 'the Beach'". "Pluralists" hold that since the area had four distinct beach areas, using the singular term is illogical. Those preferring the singular term "Beach" hold that the term has historically referred to the area as the four distinct beach areas merged.

Historically, there are or were a number of institutions that used the term "Beach" in the singular, including the original Beach telephone exchange (1903 - 1920s), the Beach Hebrew Institute (1920), the Beach Theatre (1919 to the 1960s), and the Beach Streetcar (1923–1948). The singular form has also been adopted by the local historical society, which is called The Beach and East York Historical Society (from 1974).There are also numerous examples of early local institutions that use the plural form "Beaches", such as the Beaches Library (1915), the Beaches Presbyterian Church (1926), the Beaches Branch of the Canadian Legion and a local war monument in Kew Beach erected post WWII by the "Beaches Business Men's Association".

In May 2009, the City of Toronto started the installation of "The Beach" signs along Queen Street.

Despite the naming controversy, most Torontonians recognize either name as referring to this particular neighbourhood, even though there are several other beaches located elsewhere in the city.

Location

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' according to real estate marketers. The area bounded by Queen Street, Woodbine and Kingston Road is nicknamed the 'Beach Triangle'.

Origin of the beach

Originally a heavily wooded area dotted with private homes and swampland, the current shoreline and the Kew Gardens private park grounds were appropriated by the Toronto Harbour Commission in the early 1900s. The current beach was artificially enlarged and made continuous in 1930 with the use of wooden groynes. The public boardwalk and facilities were officially opened to the public in 1932.

The beach is diminishing as the sand continuously migrates from east to west. Although sand is replaced by new sand generated by the erosion of the Scarborough Bluffs to the east, this source of sand is itself diminished due to municipal efforts to reduce erosion of the bluffs in an effort to preserve homes at the crest of the bluffs.

Local news media, community websites

The Beaches community is served by several locally distributed newspapers including The Beach-South Riverdale Town Crier, the Beach Metro Community News and the Beach-Riverdale Mirror.

There are several websites dedicated to the Beaches community, including The Best Of The Beach Online and Beaches Living Magazine. The Upper Beaches is served by the Woodbine and Gerrard web site.

Public transportation

Streetcars heading to and from downtown Toronto run east-west along Queen Street East (route 501) as well as along Kingston Road (routes 502 and 503) and Gerrard Street East (route 506), and a bus line runs north-south along Woodbine Avenue to Woodbine subway station (route 92). Another north-south bus line snakes its way along several side streets before making its way to the Main Street subway station (route 64). A third bus line runs north-south down Coxwell Avenue from Coxwell subway station and then turns east travelling the entire length of Kingston Road as far as Victoria Park Avenue (only from 7PM-5AM on weekday evenings, and 24hrs on weekends) (route 22A).

Politics

The area is in the political riding of Beaches—East York, and is currently represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by Michael Prue of the provincial New Democratic Party (NDP). Federally, the riding recently elected the NDP again after a few years of voting Liberal and is currently represented by MP Matthew Kellway.

The area's city councillor is Mary-Margaret McMahon. She was elected on 25 October 2010, by a landslide popular vote of 65.1%.

Attractions

In the early 1900s, the neighbourhood was the site of several amusement parks - Victoria Park, Munro Park, and Scarboro Beach Park. Today, their namesakes remain as streets.

Kew Gardens is a medium-sized park in the neighbourhood running from Queen Street to Lake Ontario, and includes a bandstand for concerts. Every July, the neighbourhood celebrates the Beaches International Jazz Festival, drawing thousands of tourists to the area.

Another notable site in the area is the R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant, which has been featured in several television programs, as well as in the films "Half Baked", "In the Mouth of Madness", "Four Brothers" and "Undercover Brother", and in Michael Ondaatje's novel In the Skin of a Lion.

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 (now as Toronto Fire Services Station 227), 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, is outside the Beaches located one block north of Kingston Road.

Catholic high schools

• Neil McNeil Catholic Secondary School, located on Victoria Park Avenue, just south of Kingston Road in Scarborough.
• Notre Dame High School, located on Malvern Avenue, just north of Kingston Road outside the Beaches.

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) in the "Upper Beaches".
• 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 in the "Upper Beaches".
• Norway Junior Public School, located on Kingston Road, one block east of Woodbine in the "Upper Beaches".
• 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 in Scarborough.
• Bowmore Road PS, located on Bowmore Road, south of Gerrard Street East between Woodbine and Coxwell in the "Upper Beaches".
• Courcelette PS, located on Fallingbrook Road, south of Kingston Road in Scarborough.

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 in the "Upper Beaches".

Defunct school

• The Beach School was a private, tuition-based democratic school located in the Corpus Christie School building on Edgewood Ave near Kingston Road and Dundas Street East in the "upper Beaches". Its curriculum was based on the Sudbury principles of education. The school opened in the fall of 2003 and closed in June 2008 due to low enrolment. The Corpus Christie School building was demolished in the spring of 2011 to make way for a new street "Beach Club Drive" on which there are to be built 28 new homes by Toronto development company Urbancorp

 Notable people

Grew up in the neighbourhood

• Academy-award winning director Norman Jewison
• Sports magnate Jack Kent Cooke
• World-renowned concert pianist Glenn Gould
• Author Robert Fulford
• Actor/singer Miley Cyrus, while her father was in town for four years filming Doc

Current residents

• Author Peter Robinson
• Actor Jamie Johnston
• Songwriter Dan Hill
• Columnist Margaret Wente

Attended area high schools

• Comedian John Candy – Neil McNeil Catholic Secondary School
• Actor Keanu Reeves
• Actor Kiefer Sutherland – Malvern Collegiate Institute
• Actor Donald Sutherland
• Television host Alex Trebek – Malvern Collegiate Institute
• Soprano Teresa Stratas

Real Estate in The Beaches Neighbourhood

Average Sale Price in June 2011: $672,129

Property crime:average

Crime against people:average

 

Last spring, city hall silenced the eternal debate on whether this leafy nabe’s name is singular or plural. As the new street signs declare, The Beach it is. What hasn’t changed is its sporty, laid-back vibe—this is as close to Kitsilano as Toronto gets. A restful, small-town feel persists in the tree-lined streets off the main drag (the copious porch swings, charming gardens and wood-frame cottages help set the mood), and in the wildly popular community events (the Easter parade and jazz festival). Well-respected public schools, such as Balmy Beach and Courcelette, are yet another draw for families. Securing an address in one of the city’s most cherished neighbourhoods doesn’t come cheap. “It’s a seller’s market once again,” says Kate Craig of RE/MAX. And with the high demand and low supply of houses, multiple offers have become more common. (In early June, one house sold for $100,000 over asking.)

HOUSING STOCK: The homes south of Queen, many built as summer getaways in the 1920s, offer authentic charm, while townhomes on the former Greenwood racetracks often push the $1 million mark.

BARGAIN ZONES: First-time buyers can expect to pay between $400,000 and $450,000 for a small fixer-upper. The prices start to drop west of Coxwell, or on the northeastern edge, but even these areas are gentrifying.

THE VERDICT: Once people move to the Beach they stay there. If you can afford it, this is not only a great place to live but also a solid investment.

NEIGHBOURHOOD HOT SPOTS:

 Fox Theatre Film buffs flock to the Fox, a grand (if slightly worn) independent theatre that’s the longest-running cinema in the country. 2236 Queen St. E., 416-691-7330.

The Pie Shack Delicious pies routinely sell out at The Pie Shack, a self-consciously rustic café and bakery. 2305 Queen St. E., 647-351-1411.

Red Rocket Coffee This cheery java joint on the Beach’s western edge is a caffeine mecca thanks to its fair trade coffee, free Wi-Fi and killer patio. 1402B Queen St. E., 416-406-0880.