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Yonge-Dundas Square
Categories: Local Flavour Public Services & Government Landmarks & Historical Buildings Local Flavour, Landmarks & Historical Buildings [Edit]
40 Dundas St WToronto, ON M5G 2C2
Neighbourhood: Downtown Core
(416) 979-9960
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 6 am - 6 am
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
18 reviews for Yonge-Dundas Square
18 reviews in English
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Review from Meena A.
5/25/2012 3 Check-ins Here
If you don't know what to do and you're in Toronto, this is the place to be. There are always crazy people trying to convert you to some extremist sect, performers trying to earn a few bucks, homeless people asking for change. And that man who calls you "sister" and says he's raising money for Black History Month - all year long.
And now they've introduced those sad little fountains. Those always provide some minor amusement. Tourists walking around taking pictures of something I see everyday.
It's no Time Square. And if you come here with a Time Square attitude, you will be disappointed. There are times of the night (Winter at 4am) when you can walk around and there will be no one here. And that's kind of exciting in it's own way. -
Review from Johnny H.
Toronto, ON
4/24/2012 2 photos
I noticed they still have that bubbly Christmas tree with bluish white lights. Didn't they start putting that thing in 2006? It was pretty back then, but not now! Are the apes in city hall really that lazy to change designs, or just cheap to invest in updated aesthetics?
Other than that, I don't care about what goes on at the square during summer. Sure they make all kinds of noises, but seriously they don't look too much fun to me. Free concerts, exhibitions, film screening, etc are held at this place during summer and autumn. And that's about it. All I know is that it doesn't help improve our city's image, attract tourists, or contribute to our city's colorful culture. All it contributed to was traffic. Did they really have to make the diagonal pedestrian crossing section at Yonge/Dundas for this? At least make that thing time-dependent! -
Review from Letie W.
9/27/2011
I've read mixed reviews about this place. I wasn't sure what I would encounter on a Sunday night. I was thinking it might be dead considering everyone probably has to work the next day or so? Wrong!!
It's loud ,resembles Time Square in NYC, and well...I think an event was being held around there so maybe that added to the congestion. There are a lot of shops and eateries so it's hard to choose where to go, especially if you're not familiar with the area. The Eaton Center is not far away and I definitely wanted to stay away from that place considering what I saw in the Y-D Square. While the area is very appealing, the outskirts (like after you leave Y-D Square), feel a bit ghetto. But that's just me... -
Review from Janna S.
6/29/2011 1 Check-in Here
Toronto is not NYC and it never will be, so the pathetic attempt to create something like "Toronto's Times Square" is just plain embarrassing. This entire concept seems as unimaginative and commercially straightforward as it gets: put up big ads, send in some bands now and then, and make people buy stuff.
That being said, Times Square itself is the lest interesting part of NYC; if you're going to imitate something, at least raise the bar and aim high! There is nothing about this entire area that seems to represent Toronto; you could easily transplant the whole deal quite easily into any major American city. BORING.
This venue is easy to get to by TTC but I find all the billboards and ads too distracting. It's hard to be moved by profound music or lyrics when the blinking ads for vitamin water shine brighter than the center stage. Honestly I'd rather pay for a ticket in a venue without the ads! -
Review from Vivek S.
1/12/2011
My old man drives by Yonge-Dundas Square every time he's in Toronto. For him, it's not just the flashing lights and crowds, it's the fact that this intersection represents Toronto's psychological centre. Like Times Square in New York or Market Street in San Francisco, it's our city's blinking eye: the light on the locomotive.
Although people often talk about the intersection, Yonge-Dundas Square is properly the public open space at the Southeast corner. Almost an acre in size, it's often used as an event venue. In warmer weather, the square features many concerts and community events -- which for some reason always results in the sale of beaded necklaces in tents.
Designed by Brown + Storey, the construction of this square was originally met with some hostility when it was unveiled in 2003. Yes, it's a green-less expanse of granite slabs that doesn't really 'do' anything, but I think that's the point. It's a blank slate that really compels organizers to throw any kind of event. It's central location makes it a focal point during tourist season, and there is almost always something happening there on summer weekends.
Sadly, what happens here is rarely interesting to me. Usually highly commercial agglomeration of tents OR it's a concert. Nothing terrible, but just once I'd like to see someone turn that place out, with something creative, compelling and fun. I'm of course talking about breakdancing.
Obligatory Title Pun: This SQUARE is not hip.
Menu Readability: Nein.
Need to mention: The square is home to T.O. TIX where you can buy rush tickets to theatre performances in the city.
What this place teaches me about myself: God, I wish I could helicopter.Listed in: Not Easily Categorized, Toronto on zero dollars a day
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Review from Laura C.
Toronto, ON
11/26/2011
This cluster-mess of lights and billboards and tall buildings are reminiscent of a slightly cleaner Time Square. It's smaller and more crowded. Time Square is entire intersection of a few streets; this is just one corner.
It's awfully bright, and you wonder why we had a complete blackout and wasting energy.
Parking in the evening is not especially affordable, unless you spend some money at Pickle Barrel ($10) or Spring Rolls ($20) - 3 hours parking. Or you can go to Ryerson with a $6 flat rate in the evenings. Anything else you may as well take the subway.
Any time there is an event here, it would make sense to block off the streets. It's always full of people,so if you hate crowds, don't come.
The last event I went to here was the lighting of the tree ceremony. There was Samba Squad Performing and a Circus that was flying through the square. Cool for kids (I think), but was a Yawner for us.
However, this public space does give the city opportunity to have events in the so-called city core. Prior to this, they can only do things at City Hall. This is a much more convenient alternative.
In the summertime, there are chairs, public wifi and some funny fountains for the kiddies to run around in.
I do wish that the design was more functional than a giant slab of concrete. Maybe even a coffee stand (dare I say Starbucks or Second Cup), and have patio space for when there is not a special event.
And I wish they would dim those lights on the billboards. I mean, really who's looking that them? You can really only appreciate it from far away. It's distracting for the folks driving. -
Review from Kat F.
4/23/2009 1 Check-in Here
To give you an idea of how bright and garish Yonge-Dundas square has become in recent years, it's essentially the first and brightest thing you see when you start approaching downtown Toronto on a Porter flight. It's ridiculous. It now eclipses the CN Tower/Skydome/Fairmont Royal York as the most noticeable juggernaut when looking down on the city from the sky.
Pegged as being "Toronto's Times Square" (do we really need more comparisons to NYC, guys? Start making a few more places 24/7 and then we'll talk), the city has been trying to pimp out and jazz up Yonge-Dundas for years as the ultimate shopping/meeting/hangout destination.
I don't know about you, but I've never asked someone to meet me at Yonge-Dundas Square. In fact, I kinda avoid it the same way I do Moss Park or fauxbos on Queen Street. It's just that gaudy.
They have the 'all cross' now at Yonge-Dundas so that pedestrians can cross the street diagonally instead of once each way. People seem to use it but even at the busiest of times it's nothing like the East Asian cities that started it.
Sometimes on the terrace there are jugglers, buskers, magicians and the like doing performances. -
Review from Tina C.
7/4/2010 1 photo
Modelled after my native city of New York which the renowned Times Square originated, Toronto emulates the same liveliness of the active nightlife with gargantuan billboards and animated advertising screens. Why does a lot of metropolitans literally copy NY's Times Square (i.e. Hong Kong and Toronto)? Dudes, create your own unique individualism to highlight your city's own flair!
After a one hour and four minute flight from New York's John F. Kennedy (JFK) Airport on an empty stomach from morning to mid-afternoon, I was immensely famished. My party and I walked from our nearby hotel to Yonge-Dundas Square (Times Square) in search for a decent restaurant. There are many Chinese restaurant in this area as well as shops.
http://en.wikipedia.or... -
Review from Robin D.
9/26/2010
I actually wanted to write about the crosswalk on Yonge and Dundas. I will just assume it is part of the square. This crosswalk is cool. It is the only crosswalk in Toronto where you can cross the street diagonally. Can give you a rush when there is a lot of people crossing.
Very similar to the famous Shibuya crosswalk in Japan!! -
Review from Lynda W.
Toronto, ON
9/25/2008
As much as I hate the Yonge and Dundas area and all the lights and billboards, the Square is a pretty nice and cool concept. Think of it as putting a chillax area in the middle of Time Square and that's what the Yonge-Dundas Square essentially is.
The great thing about the square is that there's always (or almost always) something happening there. Whether it be the Artisan Market, free concerts or free film showings (yes, a free outdoor film), it's a cool place to be. There are tables and chairs to sit on, and an inground sprinkler system that kids like to run through.
I've been here for John Mayer concert, food festival, artisan market, and movie night (it was Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which happens to be one of my fav movies of all times).
A great thing about the square and the area in general is that it's always bustling. Eaton Centre is right across the street and the subway is a short walk away. They recently introduced the "scramble" at the intersection of Yonge & Dundas, where the traffic lights are red in both directions and walkers can walk diagonally across the intersection. It may sound weird or not interesting, but if you go and try it out, you'll see it's a lot of fun! I did the scramble two times in a row the day after it was released. And I look forward to doing it again soon in the near future! -
Review from Connie T.
Toronto, ON
12/4/2008 1 photo
Though I miss the dancing man handing out flyers in front of the old World's Biggest Jeans Store, I don't mind the space that's replaced it and him -- Yonge-Dundas Square.
It's opened up the intersection, for sure, and promotes community gathering, a concept that's core to city planning in many cities worldwide. However, it's surrounded by too much visual stimuli and traffic to make people watching and slow living the reason for hanging out there. I love the fact there's movable chairs, but they've been man-handled so much that it kind of grosses me out to man-handle them myself.
I could list a number of things that would've made this place much better (steps, levels, etc), but it's doing its job by offering event organizers a good space for promoting the big events in our city -- Film Festival, North By Northeast, summer movie nights, etc. And despite the busy nature of the intersection, it's incredibly decent for sound.
It's all right. It's all right. -
Review from Melissa J.
Toronto, ON
12/4/2008
I really don't care for this area of the city. I guess it's a lot nicer than it used to be, and it's fostering some sense of "community" (although most of the attendees are usually tourists), but I just don't care about it. To me, it just makes it more difficult for me to get to Victoria and cut through to Ryerson because I have to walk through the crowds.
The only thing that has improved drastically is access to the subway, and that affects my life on a daily basis, so I approve of the staircases. I also approve of the T.O. Tix centre, which I used just recently to pick up tickets, and it was SO convenient and fast. Seems like a great place to get information about what's going on in the city when you're visiting.
Not to get totally down on Dundas Square, I do love the movie nights they have in the summer, and the fountain things are kinda fun sometimes. It is difficult to have an open outdoor space in a city that gets so damn cold all the time.
But it is good that Dundas Square has a bunch of events going on throughout the year. If they didn't, the "Square" would literally just be a slab of concrete with some chairs that homeless people use to sleep on. -
Review from Catherine M.
ON
12/11/2008
I've heard people (and occasionally been guilty myself) describe Yonge-Dundas Square as "Toronto's Times Square." Lord help us if that's true, because Yonge-Dundas Square sucks. And I mean, much, much worse than Times Square does.
Sure, they have free concerts and movies in the summertime, but overall it's just a big patch of concrete surrounded by mall stores, commercials, and oh yeah, sponsored events (worlds biggest shawarma made by CBC for Little Mosque on the Prairie, anyone?). Their are some random ugly brushed metal seats, random creepy buskers (the good ones stay far away from here) and some unpredictable fountains.
In general, I know people who've been here a long time who say that the area is a million times better than it used to be, both in terms of the tone and the space. And generally I don't think it's that bad that the city pimps the space out - after all, it's preferable to tax dollars having to pay for what is essentially our largest tourist zone. -
Review from Jimi S.
ON
12/6/2008
I think its great to have a fairly large open space in the midst of all the digital hoopla where on most days theres a bunch of people doing absolutely nothing. we dont get enough of nothing in the city.
in the summer you often see children playing in those fountains that shoot up from the concrete slabs of the squares floor. youll also, on weekends, not see much of the squares floor at all, because its filled with booths for crafts and so on in their market.
people need an even space that has no walls, that is accessible to everyone and is for everyone. its nice also that it seems to pour right into the large intersection that now has that four way light for pedestrians.
the square also has t.o. tix which is a great spot to get affordable theatre tickets for large to smaller theatres around the city.
it might be nicer somehow, if there were more trees there though, so maybe someone could sit in the shade, but i dont know, i suppose they wouldnt be able to have as many events there if it was that way.
either way, its like our own piazza...might be nice to have cobblestones though...better go to the distillery. -
Review from Kim B.
ON
12/2/2008 3 photos
The square plays host to so many things throughout the warm weather months, it's a staple for those living right downtown.
My favourite thing about it is the fountains in the summer and the free movie nights at sunset (BYOChair).
But sometimes the square is best when there is nothing going on and instead it's a big empty space available for a time out away from the crowds right across the way at the Eaton Centre.Listed in: CHEAP Toronto
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Review from Luke A.
Toronto, ON
10/12/2008
Dundas Square is essentially an empty space--that's a good thing and a bad thing. Let's start with the good: I'm a big fan of open spaces in otherwise crowded, downtown environments, and the urban-planning mess of lower Yonge was crying out for a bigger vision. A whole bunch of squalid buildings were torn down, and bigger ones built ringing the square.
Now for the bad: the new buildings consist of the typical corporate mexaplex crap, and won't age very well. And Dundas Square itself is little more than a concrete plain; there's little in it that distinguishes it aside from a few fountains and a curvy portico that looks like an OCAD class project.
I actually think comparisons with Times Square are rather apt. In both cases, notorious sleaze has been swept away in favour of soulless retail commerce, and a little local colour was lost in the transition. Look at Trafalgar Square in London to see how to modernize an urban square for the twenty-first century. -
Review from Alejandro A.
Toronto, ON
12/18/2008
Yonge-Dundas square is home to many events over the course of the year. The summer months sees it home to a weekly movie (Tuesday nights) which ranges in genre from year to year. At different points in the year there will be different video game tents set up by Best Buy or Future Shop. There are also many concerts that happen here, but trying to plan for it is kind of a crap shoot. I never seem to hear about anything that happens, here, which makes me wonder about their advertising.
On days when the space is not being rented out for a jillion and one different events, you'll find several different tables and chairs set up for anyone to use. It's a fun place to just sit and chat or hang out on a warm summer day. Also, in the summer, you'll see the fountains going strong, and flying up and down. It's practically a water park, and you can often see kids (or the young at heart) playing in the water. -
Review from Mike S.
Toronto, ON
9/5/2008 1 photo
I realize that there are many detractors to the Yonge Dundas Square, I am not one of them. I love the square I think that every city deserves to have its place where the people congregate. Don't fool your self into comparing this with Times Square, it's not and it will never be. Toronto is not New York, it's Toronto, and as Torontonians we should be proud of our city and our square, other than a lack of interesting geography we have the best Canada has to offer and that splendor includes Yonge Dundas Square. It's a place where you can go anytime day or night and feel a part of the city and breathe in the life that is the city. Yonge Dundas square is still evolving and that makes it all the more worthwhile. One day soon people will talk about Yonge Dundas Square in the same breath as Times Square and Picadilly Circus and Canada and Toronto should be proud that we have our own world class square. I would recommend Yonge Dundas Square to everyone who is in Toronto, there is always something happening, and by going you make the city greater for participating
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