East end vs. the West end.

For the last four years I have lived in the East End/Upper Beaches area of Toronto. Prior to that I lived downtown. I loved the convienience of downtown, the east end, not so much. In that last few years I have fallen deeply in love with another end of town, the opposite to where I live now, in many aspects. I adore Parkdale/Roncesvalles area and would one day soon like to live there. There is something magical about those neighborhoods, in a quirky, crazy, unpredictable way and I am drawn to the artistic, out of control energy there. I also feel like I fit when I’m there; I’m comfortable and feel like I’m at home. I don’t feel that way in the east end and have decided I’m just not an east end girl.

All of this has me pondering the vast differences between the two areas. I’ve come up with a list. You tell me if you agree that the city west of Yonge is in fact cooler.

East End

• Beaches
  
• Distillery
  
• Scarborough Bluffs
  
• Cabbage Town
  
• Leslieville
  
• Leslie Spit
  
• Cherry Beach
  
• Greektown
  
• Little India
  

West End

• CNE
  
• CN tower
  
• The Annex
  
• China Town
  
• Queen West Village (west of Bathurst)
  
• Queen West
  
• Bloor West Village
  
• Kensington Market
  
• The AGO
  
• The ROM
  
• University of Toronto
  
• The Bata Shoe Museum
  
• The Eaton Centre
  
• Dufferin Grove
  
• Christie Pits
  
• Korea Town
  
• Little Italy
  
• Little Portugal
  
• Roncesvalles
  
• Parkdale
  
• High Park
  
• Harbourfront
  
• High Park Zoo
  
• Ontario Place
  
• The Entertainment District
  
• The Junction
  
• The Fashion District
  
• The Financial District (boring!)
  
• The Gladstone
  
• The Great Hall
  
• Sunnyside
  
  No Man’s land
  The Toronto Islands (though if you look on a map it is more on the west side than the east)
  
  So really, doesn’t the west end win out!!!

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