A second Chinatown that grew up as downtown's original became too expensive
Chinatown East
As rising rents pushed businesses out of the original Spadina-area Chinatown from the 1970s onward, a second Chinatown developed along Gerrard and Broadview, giving Toronto's Chinese community a second commercial anchor.
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Chinatown East developed along Gerrard Street East and Broadview Avenue starting in the 1970s, as rising commercial rents and redevelopment pressure in the original downtown Chinatown along Spadina Avenue pushed some businesses and residents to look for a more affordable second location. The Broadview and Gerrard area, with its existing stock of older, lower-rent commercial buildings, offered exactly that.
A second anchor for the community
Chinatown East grew into its own distinct commercial strip, smaller and less internationally known than the downtown original but serving as an important secondary hub for Toronto's Chinese community, particularly for residents of the surrounding east-end and Riverdale neighbourhoods who found it more convenient than travelling downtown. The existence of two separate Chinatowns, rather than one continuously expanding district, reflects a pattern seen in several other major North American cities as downtown property costs pushed immigrant commercial districts to establish satellite locations elsewhere in the city.
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