on
Danforth Avenue Prior to World War II, Toronto's nascent Greek population of about 3,000 was concentrated in the area bounded by
Yonge Street,
Carlton Street,
Church Street and what is now
Dundas Street East. It was this area that was the focus of the
1918 Toronto anti-Greek riot. A sizeable Greek neighbourhood later emerged in the Bloor Street West area . In the 1950s and 1960s, the Danforth saw an influx of European immigration (particularly from Italy and Greece), many of whom were fleeing political and economic unrest which culminated in the seizure of power by the
Greek military junta of 1967–74. By 1960s, Toronto's Greek population numbered 12,500. However, during this time Greeks were but one of many ethnic groups on the Danforth, with Estonians, Lithuanians, Italians, Chinese, and Finnish immigrants also present in significant numbers. In the 1970s and 1980s the Danforth was regarded as the largest
Greektown in
North America. Columnists Warren Gerard and
Christie Blatchford, writing in 1976, noted that the Danforth was sometimes referred to as "Little Athens" and that some 65,000 Greeks lived in the vicinity. English-language media began to excitedly cover the Greek restaurant and nightclub scene in the 1970s, highlighting
bouzouki players and busy dance floors. Artistic and counter-cultural voices found a home in cafes like The Trojan Horse where exiled and local musicians and poets like
Gwendolyn MacEwen would gather and perform. However, by the 1980s, the Toronto Star wrote that Greektown had become associated with "
yuppies".. . In 1993, the BIA Board of Management's lobbying of City Hall paid off, and the BIA was officially renamed "GreekTown on the Danforth". More recently, the area has experienced a wave of
gentrification as higher-priced restaurants and bars have moved in, as well as a public square (at Logan Avenue by
Alexander the Great Parkette). Greektown on the Danforth boasts one of the highest concentrations of restaurants per kilometre in the world. Several scenes in the movie
My Big Fat Greek Wedding were shot here, mentioned on free walking tours of the neighbourhood. Some parts of Greektown are still dominated by Canadians of Greek descent (
Greek-Canadians). As of the 2016 federal census, Greeks still constitute one of the most significant ethnic groups in the
Toronto—Danforth ward (in which Greektown is located) by population, at 4.5% of the total ethnic origins reported. Greek is the third most-commonly reported mother tongue and home language in the ward, behind English and Cantonese On July 22, 2018, there was
a mass shooting in Greektown that killed two and injured 13. ==Taste of the Danforth==