North York - Central Business District

Central Business District

While much of the area still retains a suburban nature, efforts led by former Mayor of North York and Toronto Mel Lastman were made to intensify development in the North York Centre area along Yonge Street between Finch and Sheppard Avenues, coinciding with the path of the Toronto Transit Commission's Yonge subway line.

There are many stores and high-rise office and condominium apartment buildings along this central North York corridor, particularly centred around the old North York City Hall. Directly beside the old City Hall is the Toronto Centre for the Arts. Thanks to a new subway line along Sheppard Avenue, more high-rise condominiums are being built along the Sheppard East corridor.

The central area is gradually ceasing to be suburban, resembling a smaller version of the city's downtown. Major corporations have built their own office towers along Yonge Street in central North York, including the Canadian head offices of Procter & Gamble, Nestlé, Cadbury Adams, Lindt & Sprüngli, Equifax, and Xerox, while the Government of Canada maintains offices north of Sheppard Avenue. McDonald's of Canada is also located in North York, although not along this corridor. This particular area is the region in the foreground of this photograph. Many more office and condo towers have sprouted in the area of this photo since it was taken.

The section of Highway 401 which traverses North York is the busiest section of freeway in North America, exceeding 400,000 vehicles per day.

In the 1980s, the administration of Mel Lastman transformed North York. The former North York City Hall looks out upon a reflecting pool. Directly south of the city hall in the same complex is the former North York Board of Education building (now home to the Toronto District School Board. To the north and east of the complex are two large malls connected by an underground passage with subway access. The northern mall is connected to the North York Central Library, the largest full-service Toronto Public Library building in Toronto (second to Metro Reference in square footage). The library is a part of a much larger facility including a school board work station, swimming pool, snack bar, veterans centre and large hotel, the rooms of which look onto the inside of the mall. The more recently-built eastern mall (called "Empress Walk") is built around a large multi-storey cathedral-like hall and contains an Empire Theatres movie theatre and a Loblaws supermarket.

North York is the northern extent of the Carolinian forest zone.