There's a subset of Toronto residents who just can't seem to stop talking about how cool Ossington Avenue is, and as it turns out, they just might be justified. Time Out released its ranking of the 15 coolest streets around the world, and Toronto's Ossington Avenue made the cut.
According to the ranking, Ossington is the 14th coolest street in the world, with Time Out noting that the west-end avenue is home to "some of the city's best restaurants, live music nearly every night of the week, and the kind of nights out that call for leather jackets, not heels."
The street certainly has some of the most popular spots in the city, from Bang Bang ice cream to the divey bar Sweaty Betty's. One of the street's newer additions, Melanie Auld, has gone viral for its permanently welded jewellery.
"The most noteworthy stretch is between Dundas and Queen Street West: there you can parade the street and shop for everything from carefully selected vintage to garms by rising Canadian designers," Time Out writes. "For a leisurely afternoon, pop into Bellwoods Brewery or cosy up at one of the several hip and snug coffee shops and wine bars."
But Ossington isn't the only Canadian street to make it onto the list. In fact, Montreal's Rue Wellington took home the top spot thanks to its top-notch cocktail bars, brunch spots, and even a sandy urban beach. It also doesn't hurt that the roadway becomes pedestrian-only in the summer, with a free tuk-tuk service running from one end to the other.
"When a street is bookended by one of the best bars and one of the best new restaurants in the city, there’s no questioning its cool factor -- especially when the city in question is one of the world’s gastronomic capitals," the ranking reads.
The full list of the coolest streets in the world is as follows:
- Rue Wellington, Montreal
- Gertrude Street, Melbourne
- Great Western Road, Glasgow
- Yongkang Street, Taipei
- Værnedamsvej, Copenhagen
- Karangahape Road, Auckland
- Tai Ping Shan Street, Hong Kong
- Yaowarat Road, Bangkok
- Oranienstrasse, Berlin
- Hayes Street, San Francisco
- Avenida Ámsterdam, Mexico City
- Kolokotroni, Athens
- Virgil Avenue, Los Angeles
- Ossington Avenue, Toronto
- Via Provenza, Medellín
