Liberty Village is undoubtedly one of Toronto’s greatest success stories. This 43-acre master-planned community combines residential, commercial, and retail components, attracting young professionals in media, high-tech, and design businesses who live and work in the urban core.
Sandwiched between Dufferin Street and Strachan Avenue and the Gardiner Expressway and King Street West, Liberty Village reflects the new urban cool—the revitalization of a gritty industrial zone into a highly livable community.
The streetscape is dominated by red brick Victorian industrial architecture that speaks to an interesting past. Liberty Village was an industrial area that was also the site of Toronto’s Industrial Exhibition, which was replaced by the Canadian National Exhibition in 1858. It was also home to the Strachan Avenue Prison, which closed in 1911, and it was the location of a women’s prison until 1969. In fact, Liberty Avenue ran between the two prisons.
By the 1980’s industry within the Village moved out or closed down and the lands became a barren wasteland. In 1999, the process began to transform Liberty Village into the exceptional neighbourhood it has become today.
