Midtown and Uptown

[Docere]

The concepts of Midtown and Uptown, which are centered around Yonge St., seem to overlap and I'm not sure if Toronto really has both. I've seen Midtown defined as extensively as all or part of the area between Bloor to the old city limits around Yonge Blvd. (I don't agree with Bloor as the midtown/downtown boundary, Bloor is the main east-west thoroughfare of northern downtown, and Yorkville is definitely downtown). Uptown is less often used but when it is it's usually north of St. Clair or synonymous with the historic community of North Toronto (and less often with North York Centre but it's rarely "branded" as such).

Yonge-Eglinton, which is a secondary CBD, is an example of the ambiguity. It is generally seen as the heart of Midtown but the Uptown BIA is also there. If one thinks of it as being in the geographic center, it's midtown. But from the perspective of "old" Toronto where North Toronto is the northern edge it's uptown.

To me, Downtown more or less starts around Davenport Rd. or the CPR tracks, in line with the city's official definition. And I still see North Toronto as a geographic place, even though intensification at Yonge-Eglinton has really "pulled away" from Lawrence Park/Lytton Park. Still when it comes to geography the Mount Pleasant Cemetery and Beltline separate it from Yonge-St. Clair and the core.

In other words I'm not sure quite where I land. I don't think Uptown really exists, it's just North Toronto. Rosedale, Summerhill and Yonge-St. Clair are neither downtown or North Toronto. But I'm not sure if Midtown is essentially the geographic center/secondary CBD at Yonge and Eglinton or more "in between" downtown and North Toronto.