Little Italy

Little Italy was founded in 1900 by Italian immigrants. It has grown to welcome a variety of immigrants including Ukranian and Polish communities, and more recently, from China and Vietnam!

Now, it is home to a number of new condominium and apartment developments, and continues to grow.

Little Italy has a population of around 2000 people and continues to grow as new developments appear in the area.

Students in Little Italy will most likely venture out of the immediate area to go to school in Centretown. There are a few schools in the area, including the Adult High School, and St. Anthony school.

Little Italy has their Italian Community centre and the Rochester Heights Community House to support its community, as well as a few community health and housing programs, community gardens, and more!

In Little Italy, you can take your pets to the Centretown Veterinary Hospital. However, for pet supplies and food you’ll have to head into Centretown or Westboro.

The area itself it relatively pet friendly, but plenty of people have signs in their yard asking for pets to stay off of the lawn. Dog walkers in particular must be mindful of other’s properties. There are also plenty of stray/outdoor cats in the area!

Little Italy is too small to offer much for kids - there is an elementary school, a few parks, kayaking at Dow’s Lake, and some fun restaurants to check out. Little Italy is not an ideal place for kids to be unattended, especially at night.

There is lots of food shopping to be done in Little Italy, but for other items, you’ll want to head down to the Rideau Centre or Bank and Elgin Street to visit more shops.

The main landmarks in Little Italy are the Future Corso Italia Station, and St. Anthony’s Church.

There are tons of amazing Italian grocery stores in the area, including Luciano Foods, Mercato Zacconi, Pietro’s Corner, Di Rienzo’s Grocery, Casa Nicastro Foods, Preston Food Market, and more.

There are a ton of great bars along Preston Street to check out any night of the week!

You can enjoy a ton of amazing authentic Italian Cuisine in Little Italy, but it isn’t the only option! Enjoy standard pub fare, fine dining, and even the fully vegetarian Pure Kitchen, mostly along Preston Street.

Little Italy is primarily single family homes transformed into multi-unit homes, as well as some single family and a few condominiums. In recent years, new developments like the Claridge Icon have begun popping up, especially towards Dows Lake, and are slowly transitioning the traditionally older neighbourhood into a more modern space with more room for new people to move in.

There are a few great parks in Little Italy, including:

• Commissioner’s Park by Dow’s Lake

• McCann Park

• Ev Tremblay Park

• Plouffe Park