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Corso Italia

 

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.

 

 
 
 
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