The Annex is a neighbourhood in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The traditional boundaries of the neighbourhood are north to Dupont Street, south to Bloor Street, west to Bathurst Street and east to Avenue Road. The City of Toronto recognizes a broader neighbourhood definition that includes the adjacent Seaton Village and Yorkville areas.
Bordering the University of Toronto, the Annex has long been a student quarter, and it is also home to many fraternity houses and members of the university's faculty. Its residents are predominantly English-speaking and well-educated. According to Canada 2011 Census, the neighbourhood has an average income of $66,742.67, significantly above the average income in the Toronto census metropolitan area.
The Annex is not known for its big population of immigrants – in 2011, Statistics Canada declared that there were about 4,665 immigrants (predominantly from the United Kingdom and the United States) living in the area. As of the 2021 census, the three census tracts that compose the Annex have a total population of 14,149 and an average population density of 9,685 people/km².
Character
The Annex is mainly residential, and streets are lined with tall trees dwarfing the large Victorian and Edwardian houses, most of them built between 1880 and the early 1900s. The 1950s and 1960s saw the replacement of some houses with mid-rise (and a handful of high-rise) apartment buildings in the International style. These were surrounded with landscaped green spaces in an attempt to better fit into the neighbourhood. Due to a government freeze on development in 1975 for buildings higher than 45 feet, most of the original houses still exist.
There are now over 500 buildings in the Annex that are protected by the Toronto Historical Board, so developers have less chance of maximizing their ventures by tearing down old mansions and developing low rises and townhouse complexes. Some of architect Uno Prii's most expressive, sculptural apartment buildings are located in the Annex. Because of its proximity to the university, the Annex has a high rate of seasonal tenant turnover, and its residents range from university students to older long-time residents.
The stretch of Bloor Street between Avenue Road and Bathurst Street is a vibrant social and mixed-use area offering a wide range of services from moderate-priced dining to independent discount retailers, in buildings which often include residential space in upper floors.
Just west of the Annex proper, along Bloor Street (between Bathurst Street and Christie Street), there are street signs that post Koreatown due to the high percentage of Korean-owned businesses (although that neighbourhood is officially called Seaton Village), but many locals refer to the area as "West Annex" (even though the official West Annex area is bounded by Bloor, Bathurst, the CP Railway, and Spadina). During the 1950s and 1960s, an influx of Hungarian immigrants moved into the neighbourhood after the 1956 Hungarian Revolution was suppressed, and some of the businesses and properties along Bloor may still be owned by Hungarian-Canadian families.
Annex style house
The Annex is home to many examples of a uniquely Torontonian style of house that was popular among the city's elite in the late nineteenth century. Examples of this style survive in the former upper class areas along Jarvis and Sherbourne Street, and also around the University of Toronto campus. Most of these buildings are found in the Annex, and the style is thus known by some as the 'Annex style house.'
The original conception is attributed to E. J. Lennox, the most prominent architect in late nineteenth century Toronto. His design for the residence of contractor Lewis Lukes at 37 Madison Avenue (completed in 1887) introduced a design that would be imitated and modified over the next two decades.
The Annex style house borrows elements from both the American Richardsonian Romanesque and the British Queen Anne Revival. Annex style houses typically feature large rounded Romanesque arches, along with Queen Anne style decorative items such as turrets. Attics are emphasized in the exterior architecture. The houses are most often made of brick, though some also incorporate Credit Valley sandstone.
Originally built for some of the city's wealthiest citizens, the houses are generally large. As the wealthy moved away from the neighbourhood, many of the houses were subdivided into apartments.
