Talk:Queen Street West

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[edit] The Gallery District, or Parkdale East (or a combination of the two?)?

Living in the Queen and Ossington area for some time now, I have never heard anybody refer to the area as 'the gallery district'. It's considered by most people to be the eastern hub of Parkdale (with Parkdale proper being west of the rail tracks). Where in the world are you getting The Gallery District from? There are lots of neighbourhoods in Toronto with plenty of galleries. 'The Gallery District' is not accurate at all. The neighbourhood has always been refered to as either Parkdale or Parkdale East.

Hi. As I noted on your Talk page a few minutes ago, the eastern boundary of the Village of Parkdale was originally Dufferin. Queen West east of Dufferin is not now, nor has it ever been, a part of Parkdale. I never once heard Queen West east of Dufferin referred to as East Parkdale, or even as a part of Parkdale, when I lived there for five years. Or in the decade since, when I've often visited.

The Gallery District is a relatively-new name for the section of Queen West between Trinity Bellwoods Park and Dufferin. I live just north of this part of Queen West and I've heard people use the term many times, and I've seen it used in local print magazines. While it is true there are other neighbourhoods in Toronto which also have art galleries, there's no neighbourhood in Toronto with as many galleries.

Here's a suggestion: leave 'the Gallery District' in the Queen West article for now, and I'm sure others who know the street and the neighbourhood will comment on this over the next few days. In the meantime, please do research the historical eastern boundary of Parkdale as I suggested. The Village of Parkdale ended at Dufferin, where Toronto began. Cheers, Madmagic 09:03, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

I'm well aware of the historical boundaries of Parkdale Village. However, modern usage does not always conform to historical states (witness the slow creep southward of the Annex, for instance)

The area of Queen West between Trinity Bellwoods and Dufferin is also a part of the Parkdale-High Park electoral district.

Hi again. You added this comment while I was still writing my words, above. :) Regarding the name of the electoral district, that is no more an argument for how people describe the area than saying High Park should be called Parkdale West -- or Parkdale, High Park East. Electoral districts often cut across neighbourhood lines. Cheers, Madmagic 09:03, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

It is a fallacious argument to say that High Park could be called 'Parkdale West' as the name is included in the riding name. Were the riding called Gallery District-Parkdale-High Park, you would have a very good argument though. I'm not claiming that the riding name itself is proof, but along with the fact that many people refer to the area as a part of Parkdale, it all adds up to more evidence.

Respectfully, I'm not suggesting you and I try to reach an agreement right now by discussion. I'm suggesting we both let other Wikipedians add their comments. Can we agree? :) Cheers, Madmagic 09:48, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

It doesn't seem as if anybody else is commenting, so I'm going to go with a compromise solution.

Hello Guys,

I've lived near the Queen/Dovercourt area since 2000, and have referred to my hood variously as Parkdale, Queen street West, West Queen West, and more recently, with the addition of the signs marking such, the Art& Design district. In time, usuage will determine which of these names, if any, will stick.

[edit] Zoning

I removed the reference to the strip between Spadina and University being zoned for "light industrial uses" during the 60s and early 70s. I quickly checked the zoning by-law from that era, and Queen West in that area was zoned for largely the same mix of retail, office, service and residential uses back then as it is today. Skeezix1000 21:08, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] West/East?

Why is this article split between Queen West and East? There is no East article which seems pointless. Why are they split on the Queen Street disambig? Some info on Queen East should be added to this page making it one page for the whole street. TheHYPO 05:43, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

I don't know that it's "pointless" that there is no article on Queen Street East -- it simply hasn't been written yet. As for the reason why this article relates only to Queen Street West, as opposed to Queen Street as a whole (both east and west), it's likely the result of the decision of the person who created the article in 2004. However, I presume the reason that it has remained that way since 2004 is due to the fact that Queen Street West is (or, arguably, was) a metonym/catchphrase for all that is trendy in Toronto, and the various editors over the past two and half years have generally felt that it merits its own article. Personally, I can the logic of having separate articles on Queen West and Queen East, given that Queen West is both a place and a concept (for lack of a better word), although I don't particularly feel strongly about it. The same rationale wouldn't exist for having separate articles on, say, Dundas Street East and Dundas Street West. Just my two cents. Skeezix1000 18:00, 29 November 2006 (UTC)