Corso Italia, the other, midtown Little
Italy on St. Clair West. The more prominent Little Italy on
college street developed first, but Corso Italia was not far
behind. It developed in the 1950s as Italian immigrants, and
people from the college Little Italy started to move up to St.
Clair.
Toronto also owes something to Corso
Italia, as in the 1960s, La Sem Patisserie & Cafe fought to
receive licensing to serve food and beverages outside, starting
what has since become a vibrant patio scene.
Corso Italia is located north of
Davenport, south of Rogers Rd, west of Dufferin, and east of
Lansdowne.
I started walking at Lansdowne and St. Clair,
heading south on Lansdowne, and ended at the same place heading
west.
At the western edge of Corso Italia is the
well known gelateria La Paloma.
It has a convenient location right next to
Earlscourt park, which is a great place to eat your gelato on a
warm summer day (which it still was when I walked here). Its a
big park, but I didn’t really explore it very much, as I’ll save
it for another walk.
This part of St. Clair is brimming with
Italian businesses. but the stroll along St. Clair was the very
end of the walk, so for now, lets head into the residential
area.
The residential streets have a warm feeling,
with well cared for houses and gardens, Canadian and Italian
flags blowing in the breeze. Neighbours frequently chatting with
each other in Italian, Portuguese, or English. Or just sitting
on their porches and watching people walk down the street.
Another feature I noticed was the abundance of
corner stores buried in these residential streets. A
diminishing thing in Toronto, it appears the residents of Corso
Italia still go and frequent their corner stores enough to
support this many of them in a small area. I couldn’t help but
think about Jane Jacobs when observing this trend.
On Via Italia, you can find the Loretto
College Catholic Secondary School. This school for women was
started in 1915, but was moved to this newer building in 2006.
At the bottom of the neighbourhood is
Davenport, the location of a long ridge formed by the proglacial
Lake Iroquois coastline. As a result you have to climb up or
down the hill to cross Davenport. The road follows and old First
Nations carrying trail, and was also an important route for
European settlers to get into the area.
As a result you can get some great views from
the top of the hill, like from this set of stairs traversing the
hill from Via Italia to Davenport Rd.
The historic Dufferin/St. Clair Library
(formerly Earlscourt branch) was renovated in 2008, and merges
the reconstructed 1921 facade with the more modern glass wings
on either side. Take a look
inside as well, as there are some great murals and internal
architecture as well.
There are a lot of interesting old bank
buildings in Toronto. Not all of them are currently banks, and
neither are all of those that are, still the banks they once
were (as evident by the mismatch of the engravings and the
modern branding). As can be seen, this CIBC was a CIBC before,
but I feel like the modern CIBC branding looks kind of tacky
when compared with the architectural features and austere
engravings of the original building.
Up on Dufferin, the private Hudson College has
some interesting mural work along its fence and in the
playground. The long expanses of sidewalk next to a school fence
can really detract from the pedestrian experience, and a mural
is a great way to liven it up, and make people want to walk past
that part, or on that side of the street.
Up on the northernmost part of Corso Italia,
Rogers Rd, the businesses remain heavily Italian, but don’t have
the same panache as those on St. Clair. I think it is a good
thing though, that there is a lower rent and more low key space
for these businesses to still operate and offer their services
within Corso Italia, although obviously they are not a part of
the BIA.
Even though they appear more worn, you don’t
get a sense that they are neglected, as clientele are still
going in, or chatting with owners outside. Although a vibrant
well maintained retail scene like on St. Clair is great, I
believe there still needs to be a place for businesses like
Frank’s Shoe Repair.
And finally we get to St. Clair, always a
bustling street full of pedestrians, shoppers, restaurants and
patios.
Corso Italia has an active patio culture,
which is appropriate, as it was a business here that first
convinced Toronto (or at least council), that people do in fact
want to eat or drink outside.
Again, like any place in Toronto, Corso Italia
has lots of churches, but I found the prominent St. Clair
location of St. Nicola DI Bari Roman Catholic Church
particularly appropriate for this neighbourhood.
There are many independent and fairly large
sized grocery stores in Corso Italia (another dying breed),
which says another thing about how Corso Italians are buying
their groceries. The specialization of these stores probably
enhances their value to the neighbourhood, as you could probably
get things here that wouldn’t be likely to be carried by a
chain.
Once again, another walk must come to an end.
So lets all appreciate the artwork above the streetcar stops on
St. Clair, as we wait for the streetcar to take us home.
