West Queen West: things to do and places to meet

West Queen West is where Toronto keeps its galleries, its record shops and the people who are out on a Tuesday. It is walkable end to end, the storefronts change often enough to give you something to talk about, and Trinity Bellwoods anchors the whole thing.

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.

• Trinity Bellwoods

  The city’s living room. A bench on the slope is the easiest first meeting there is.

• Kensington Market

  Cheap food, no dress code, and a loop you can do twice without noticing.

• Graffiti Alley

  Fifteen minutes of walls that change every month. Good for people who hate sitting still.

• Chinatown

  Open late, cheap, and busy enough that a quiet conversation is still private.

• Little Italy

  Patios on both sides of College. Afternoon is calmer than you would guess.

Free things that happen here anyway

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

• Trinity Bellwoods on any warm afternoon, which is less a park than a standing appointment the whole neighbourhood keeps.
• The galleries along Queen West, most of which cost nothing to walk into.
• The stretch of Ossington after dark, for a walk that has somewhere to duck into every thirty metres.

What’s on free across Toronto this week →

Meeting people in West Queen West

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.