The west end: things to do and places to meet

The west end is residential Toronto doing what it does best — a main street with everything on it, a park at the end of it, and neighbours who recognise each other. Less spectacle than downtown and much easier to make a habit in.

5 places to meet here

These are the public places Churr suggests for a first meeting in this part of the city. Each one was picked for being easy to find, easy to describe, and easy to leave.

• Christie Pits

  A bowl with a ball game in it most summer evenings. Sit on the rim and watch.

• Dufferin Grove Park

  Bread oven, farmers’ market on Thursdays, and shade in August.

• Koreatown

  Bloor between Christie and Bathurst. Late food, and nobody minds if you linger.

• Liberty Village

  Brick courtyards between the old factories. Dead quiet at the weekend.

• The Junction

  Dundas West at Keele: second-hand shops and long coffees.

Free things that happen here anyway

No calendar required — these run all year, or near enough.

• Dufferin Grove’s weekly farmers’ market and its bake oven, which is the most neighbourly thing in the city.
• A walk down Bloor through Bloordale and Koreatown, which is three neighbourhoods in twenty minutes.
• Christie Pits on a summer evening, where there is usually a game on and always somewhere to sit.

What’s on free across Toronto this week →

Meeting people in The west end

The advice that works everywhere works here too: pick something that repeats, go six times before you judge it, and be the one who suggests the next thing. The longer version →

Or let your twin do the suggesting. Churr introduces you to people in your part of Toronto with a first thing to do already agreed.