Bay Street
Encyclopedia : B : BA : BAY : Bay Street
Bay Street is a street in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the centre of Toronto's financial district and is often used by metonymy to refer to Canada's financial industry just as Wall Street is used in the United States. The name of the street originated in 1797 from the fact that it connected (then) Lot Street (now Queen Street West) to a bay in Toronto harbour.
Bay Street stretches from Queens Quay (Toronto Harbour) in the south to Davenport Road in the north. The original section of Bay Street ran only as far north as Queen Street West. Sections north of Queen Street were renamed Bay Street as several other streets were consolidated and several gaps filled in to create a new thoroughfare in the 1920s. The largest of these streets, Terauley Street, ran from Queen Street West to Grenville Street, and was longer than Bay Street as it existed at the time of its consolidation.
Condominium development on Bay north of financial district boomed during the 1990s attracting many who work there to live donwtown thereby avoiding the daily commute.
Bay Street is home to numerous corporate headquarters, high-powered legal firms, insurance companies and stockbrokers. In turn, the presence of so many decision-makers has brought in advertising agencies and marketing companies. The banks have built large office towers, much of whose space is leased to these companies. The bank towers, and much else in Toronto's core, are connected by a system of underground walkways, known as PATH, which is lined with retail establishments making the area one of the most important shopping districts in Toronto. The vast majority of these stores are only open during weekdays when the financial district is populated. During the weekend, the walkways remain open but the area is deserted and the stores are closed.
It is estimated that 100,000 commuters enter and leave the financial district each working day. Transport links are centred on Toronto's Union Station at the south end of the financial district, which is the hub of the GO Transit system that provides railway and bus links to Toronto's suburbs. The intersection of Bay and Bloor is the location of the Toronto Transit Commission's Bay subway station.
Attractions along Bay Street
- Air Canada Centre - home of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors
- Design Exchange - former home of the Toronto Stock Exchange
- Toronto City Hall
- Old City Hall - now provincial court house
- City Hall Cenotaph
- Bay Queen Street
- Toronto Island Ferry Docks
- Union Station
- Toronto Dominion Centre - TD Bank Financial Group Headquarters
- Commerce Court - CIBC headquarters
- First Canadian Place - BMO headquarters
- Royal Bank Plaza - RBC headquarters
- Scotia Plaza - Bank of Nova Scotia headquarters
- Toronto Bus Terminals
- Panorama Lounge - World's highest licensed patio
See also
Major streets in Toronto which intersect with Bay Street (south to north):- Queen's Quay
- Lakeshore Boulevard
- Front Street
- King Street
- Wellington Street
- Adelaide Street
- Queen Street
- Dundas Street
- Gerrard Street
- College Street
- Bloor Street
- List of neighbourhoods in Toronto
- List of Bay Street law firms
- Bay Street Lawyers
References
- Wise, Leonard and Gould, Allan, Toronto Street Names (Toronto: Firefly Books, 2000)
| North: Yorkville | |||||
| West: Kensington Market | Toronto | East: Church and Wellesley | |||
| South: Harbourfront |
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