Neighbourhood east of Ryerson unsafe, but full of character

On the day we moved into our house, some police officers on bikes told us we should probably leave as soon as possible.

Check out what our walk to school was like this morning:

It was a fair statement. The communities that border Ryerson’s east side are notoriously unsafe. But they’re cheap, close to school and have a lot of character.

The area has so much personality that there’s enough to talk about to have a podcast about it.

For our first episode, we talk about how the area came to be, what it’s like to live here now and what’s in store for it next.

Here are some photos of what the area used to look like:

Photos courtesy of the City of Toronto

We spoke to residents, local business owners, police and more.

Give it a listen!

Tagged as: Gerrard Street East, Gentrification, Crime.