Corso Italia is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on St. Clair Avenue West, between Westmount Avenue (just east of Dufferin Street) and Lansdowne Avenue. It is contained within the larger city-recognized neighbourhood of Corso Italia-Davenport, which is bounded on the west by the CNR tracks, on the north by a line north of Morrison Avenue, on the east by Westmount Avenue and Oakwood Avenue, and on the south by Davenport Road.
The neighbourhood includes numerous cafés, clothing shops, shoe stores, restaurants, food markets, as well as several gelaterias and bakeries. The community is considered Toronto's second Italian neighbourhood after Little Italy on College Street. There is also a significant Latin American and Portuguese community in the area.
The community is the eastern half of what was earlier known as Earlscourt. Earlscourt was originally settled by British immigrants in 1906, and was annexed by the City of Toronto in 1910. During the late 1950s a large wave of Italian immigrants, in addition to Italians from College Street, moved to Earlscourt and the surrounding area. Corso Italia has been a Business Improvement Area (BIA) in Toronto since 1984.
Corso Italia hosts several annual festivals, including the Corso Italia Toronto Fiesta in July.
Famous quotes containing the word corso:
“The indifferent clerk he knowing what was going to happen
The lobby zombies they knowing what
The whistling elevator man he knowing
The winking bellboy knowing
Everybody knowing! I’d be almost inclined not to do anything!”
—Gregory Corso (b. 1930)