The Beach

The Beaches (also known as "The Beach" by most older Beach residents) is a neighbourhood and popular tourist destination located in Toronto. It is located on the east side of the "Old" City of Toronto. The original boundaries of the neighbourhood are from Fallingbrook Avenue on the east to Kingston Road on the north, to Woodbine Avenue on the west, south to Lake Ontario. The Beaches is part of the east-central district of Toronto.

The Beach was first settled by the Ashbridge family who came to Canada from Philadelphia, in 1793. Ashbridge's Bay Park is named after these pioneers. The Ashbridges, and a handful of other families, farmed this district until the latter part of the 1800's, when many of The Beach properties were subdivided. At that time, large parcels of land were set aside for local parks.
The Beach looks and feels more like a lakeside resort town, than a big city neighbourhood. In the summertime, thousands of Torontonians and tourists flock to The Beach to walk on The Boardwalk, exercise along the Martin Goodman Trail, relax by the water, or shop and dine at the colourful stores and restaurants along Queen Street.

The Beach has the greatest variety of architectural house styles of any Toronto neighbourhood. The charm of these homes is accentuated by the tree-lined streets that wind their way down to the lake. Many of the original frame Beach cottages built in the latter half of the 1800's and the early 1900's, have been modernized and are still standing today. However, the majority of The Beach homes were built during the 1920's and 1930's.

The former Greenwood racetrack site located at the foot of Woodbine Avenue is now the site of a large new home development known as The Beach. This large collection of heritage inspired custom built homes will include detached and semi-detached houses, and townhomes. Also included in this mix will be a handful of low-rise condominium apartment buildings.

Information from Wikipedia.org