Neighbourhood Stroll: Greenwood-Coxwell
This stroll featured by www.seetorontonow.com includes charming parks and gardens as well as over 125 restaurants and shops within the Gerrard India Bazaar that celebrate the regional diversities of South Asian culture, food, and music.
Main Streets: Gerrard St. E and Coxwell Ave
Note: Some neighbourhood strolls may cross over into more than one ward.
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Monarch Park
115 Felstead Avenue
A 5 hectare park near Danforth and Coxwell Avenue that features a dog off-leash area, an outdoor pool, a wading pool and a children’s playground. During the winter there is also an artificial ice rink in operation. -
The Rail Garden
450 Woodfield Road
*Please note: No visitors are permitted to community or allotment gardens as per Toronto Public Health’s COVID-19 guidance for community & allotment gardens. Please enjoy the garden from the nearest public sidewalk or path. This City of Toronto-operated community garden was founded by four local women in 2012 with help from neighbours and businesses in the surrounding community. -
Pedestrian Tunnel
450 Woodfield Road
A well-lit, colourful link to travel between Woodfield Road and Monarch Park. -
Greenwood Staircase to Nowhere
Torbrick Road & Greenwood Avenue
These abandoned stairs off Torbrick Road & Greenwood Avenue were built in 1959 to provide access to a now-demolished brickyard. -
Graffiti Alley East
471 Craven Road
Located in the alleyways on the south side of Gerrard Street East between Craven Road and Rhodes Avenue, the project was modelled on the Graffiti Alley West at Rush Lane. Artists include Monica Wickeler, Nicolas Sinclair, Tim Skynz & Eskape Reality Collective, Kerry O’Meara, Angel Carrillo and Minha Maconha. -
Under the Radar Mural
1324 Gerrard Street
This vibrant mural, done in partnership with the Riverdale Immigrant Women’s Enterprise, reflects the colourful facades and South Asian identity of the Gerrard Bazaar and Toronto’s “Little India” neighbourhood. -
Riverdale Hub
1326 Gerrard St. E
The Riverdale Hub is a social enterprise located in a vibrantly painted century-old building that has been adapted to offer co-working space, offices and event space for local entrepreneurs, community groups and artists. It also houses a community gallery and the environmentally-conscious Social Gardener Café. The Riverdale Hub shares its location with the Riverdale Immigrant Women’s Centre (RIWC), which is committed to supporting Asian and South Asian women, children, youth and families. The RIWC also uses the rooftop garden for its programming as a safe space for women to volunteer, learn and help build their community. -
Naaz Bollywood Theatre
1430 Gerrard Street East
In the 1970s, the Naaz Theatre stimulated the commercial growth of South Asian businesses in the area, leading to the formation of the Gerrard India Bazaar. Businesses on Gerrard Street East were declining in the late 1960s until, in 1972, local entrepreneur Gian Naz rented the 750-seat Eastwood Theatre and began screening movies in Hindi and other South Asian languages. The screenings became extremely popular with the South Asian community. Naz raised money from the community to purchase the theatre in 1974, renaming it Naaz Theatre and creating a social centre for Toronto’s South Asian community. The cinema closed in the 1980s, but the vibrant South Asian community hub that it helped create continues today. Built in the Beaux-Arts style, the original building had plain faux arches on the symmetrical front façade and three windows topped with Roman arches were located behind the marquee. Although the building has a new façade, the use of faux arches echoes back to this past. The property operates as a mixed-use building today. -
Shamrock Bowl
280 Coxwell Avenue
Enjoy bowling at this historic attraction. It’s one of the city’s oldest bowling alleys! -
Ashbridge Estate
1444 Queen Street East
Open to the public, the Ashbridge Estate boasts not only a beautiful community garden and 19th century house, but also holds an important piece of Indigenous history. A historical dig of the property found evidence of Indigenous settlements extending back 1000 years! The dig also concluded that a longhouse and hearth were located on the land and used by local First Nations peoples 800 years ago. *Please note: No visitors are permitted to community or allotment gardens as per Toronto Public Health’s COVID-19 guidance for community & allotment gardens. Please enjoy the garden from the nearest public sidewalk or path.
Accessibility information: Most of this walk takes place on streets and paved paths, however, there may be some unpaved paths and uneven surfaces in Monarch Park, The Rail Garden, The Pedestrian Tunnel and at Ashbridge Estate. All other points of interest are viewable from the street. Shamrock Bowl is located on the second floor and is not wheelchair accessible.
