[URBAN NOTE] "Gerrard East might be Toronto's next hot street"

[rfmcdonald]

blogTO's Amy Grief reports on signs that Gerrard Street East is set to gentrify.

Saturday Dinette's been sitting at the corner of Logan and Gerrard for the past two years. The area, just east of East Chinatown and north of Leslieville, is still relatively sleepy. But over the past of couple of year's it's been waking up.

"I lived in Williamsburg before it was like Williamsburg," says Saturday Dinette's Suzanne Barr. "And so for me, when I got to this neighbourhood, it almost took me back to that time."

Numerous Toronto neighbourhoods, including West Queen West, have been compared to Brooklyn. And while this stretch of Gerrard Street East may never become as trendy as Toronto's west side, a number of restauranteurs and business owners are starting to move into the area's long-shuttered storefronts because they see its potential.

And no one knows that better than Johnson Yeh. He opened Mad Dog Cafe more than five years ago after losing his job in the corporate world. He lives in the area with his family and while at the Beer Store one day, he noticed the building at 817 Gerrard was for sale. He bought it and transformed it into a bustling neighbourhood hotspot.

There is more, including photos, at blogTO.