Willowdale is a neighbourhood in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located in the district of North York. It developed from three postal villages: Newtonbrook, Willowdale and Lansing.
Willowdale began as a postal village (originally Willow Dale) which covered the area from Finch Avenue at the north to Elmwood Ave at the south and Bathurst Street at the west to Bayview Avenue at the east. The postal village of Lansing was from Elmwood Ave. at the north to approx. Hwy. 401 at the south and Bathurst St. at the west to Bayview Ave. at the east. (East of Bayview Ave. was the postal village of Oriole.) The north–south centreline of both Lansing & Willowdale was Yonge Street. The postal village of Lansing remained in existence until the post office at Lansing corner (northwest corner of Yonge St. & Sheppard Ave.) was closed. When a new post office was built in Willowdale, the postal villages of Lansing and Willowdale were combined as the new postal village of Willowdale, within the Township of North York.
North York City Centre is centred at the intersection of Yonge Street and Empress Avenue/Park Home Avenue and is commonly thought to be the core of Willowdale, as well as North York itself, though its high-rise residential and commercial development sets it apart from much of the rest of Willowdale. The Willowdale neighbourhood consists of single-family homes, condominium townhouses and high-rise condominium towers. High density development is restricted along Yonge Street