Toronto was built off of Yonge Street, sprouting east and west from the city's main thoroughfare since Ontario was called Upper Canada. In the 1970s, it was definitely the place to be: the site of Caribana and all the best clubs, closed to cars in the summer so that pedestrians could shop, hang out, see and be seen.

But as the 20th century drew to a close, Yonge slipped into seediness and then worse – irrelevance. Artists and musicians had already headed to the west end, while upscale shoppers never ventured south of Bloor. There wasn't much reason to travel the strip between the Eaton Centre and the Toronto Reference Library, except perhaps a groom's insistence that his bachelor party be held at the Brass Rail or Zanzibar.

Lately, though, it seems like the most downtown part of Yonge, from Bloor south to Queen, might soon be the centre of it all once again. Dundas Square attracts endless crowds, and the Eaton Centre has welcomed a slate of fancy new tenants, including a massive Nordstrom set to open in 2016. Ryerson University continues to colonize the blocks around Gerrard Street, buying land as fast as it can and putting up new buildings even faster.

Story continues below advertisement

Instead of transient crowds, Yonge is attracting people who want to stay put for a while: Last year saw the opening of Aura, the country's tallest condominium, at Gerrard. About 17,000 new condo units will be sprouting in the next half-decade or so, including the long-delayed 80-storey tower at 1 Bloor East, a massive project still in the design stage on the site of Stollery's 113-year-old store, and two towers with at least 70 three-bedroom condos at the Teahouse at Wellesley.

As the nail shops and bong stores close, no one quite knows what exactly Yonge will turn out to be, or to mean for Toronto as a whole. "The City draws pretty pictures of buildings, but we wanted to engage the larger community in the conversation," says Mark Garner, executive director of the Downtown Yonge BIA. For most of 2014, his group's Yonge Love project has been collecting and broadcasting ideas about what the iconic street should and could be. Mr. Garner says that his Yonge Street is about both fancy restaurants and buskers, and populated by social agencies as well as students. Here are three people who spend a lot of time on Yonge, and what they think about its past, present and future.

David Amborski, director of the Centre for Urban Research and Land Development, Ryerson University

Next February, Ryerson's glassy Student Learning Centre is scheduled to open at Yonge and Gould, offering students well-lit classrooms and quiet contemplative spaces, as well as a bridge to the existing library. Housing the techy Digital Media Zone, the eight-storey building will open right onto Yonge Street, integrating the school into the streetscape in a way a City of Toronto report first suggested in 1982. "Ryerson was somewhat hidden – I used to give people directions to my office by saying 'the learning resources centre at Victoria and Gould,' and I would hear silence on the phone," says David Amborski, who has taught at the school since 1974. "Then I would say 'the tower behind Sam the Record Man,' and I would get an affirmation." As the ability to live and work in the neighbourhood has increased, Mr. Amborski says Ryerson's own signage and presence has also improved.

Mr. Amborski says that Aura has already changed the neighbourhood, bringing more foot traffic and life to the strip, as well as higher-end stores and restaurants. Although some parts of the street could still use "some cleaning up," he says, it would also be a shame if veteran businesses were forced out by higher rents. There's also a need to make sure that the scheduled influx of new residents doesn't overwhelm the area's parks, hospitals, transit and other services. "Infrastructure always comes into play," says the professor. "Whether Yonge is over capacity is a very important concern."

Candice Luck, resident, Aura

"There was always this hesitancy to go south of Zanzibar," says Candice Luck of her teenage visits to Yonge Street from her home in Richmond Hill. The 54-year old strip club just south of Gerrard was where the tony College Park neighbourhood morphed into the Yonge Street of head shops and pot smoke. "I can't think of anything I'd do on Yonge other than the Pride parade or another event."

Story continues below advertisement

Now, the 28-year-old is the owner of a home on the street, an 840-square-foot condominium inside Aura, the 78-storey tower at Gerrard that has transformed the city skyline. She bought her unit last summer, and moved in last fall: it's walkable from the University of Toronto, where she's doing her MBA part-time at Rotman, and right on the subway line that takes her to work as an architectural designer in North York.

"We need places that encourage people to meet others," says Ms. Luck of what's lacking in the area. "Sometimes everybody seems quite busy – Yonge is often a transitional space, where people just move from point A to point B." But she has no plans to move any time soon. She likes the proximity to Loblaws' huge revamp of Maple Leaf Gardens, and she's extremely excited about the late November opening of the Japanese design store Muji, in the Atrium on Bay. Though many of her co-residents are students who stick to themselves, she's become friendly with some store-owners in the mall underneath the condo, like the owners of one sushi spot who moved from Burlington to live and work in Aura, off of Yonge.

Carl Blum, owner, Papaya Hut

"This is not really an area where people shop," says Carl Blum, who has run the Papaya Hut smoothie bar and restaurant just south of Maitland since 1978. "It's an area between subway stops." His father opened the spot's original location in the 1960s at Yonge and Elm, a busier, more vibrant location often visited by Sam "The Record Man" Sniderman. When that building was knocked down, Mr. Blum moved up here, where there's less traffic: He's managed to make a success of it, but the shop next to him has had 24 different incarnations in the same time span.

Now it's time for him to move on, too: his block will be demolished to make way for Lanterra's Teahouse condos as soon as 70 per cent of the units are sold. Mr. Blum, who lives in Scarborough, isn't surprised. He remembers when the strip was overrun by crackheads, and has seen it slowly cleaned up. This part of Yonge could still use brighter lighting at night, he says, but over all the change has been for the better.

Mr. Blum plans to keep slinging juice on Yonge – he's confident he can find a new space and make a go of it. After all, he's stayed afloat over the decades as the rent for his 800-square-foot spot rose from $1,200 to $5,000 (lately, he's had a bit of a break, since Lanterra lowered rents while waiting to launch its condo project). Plus, he has generations of hardcore fans. "I introduced the smoothie to Toronto when Booster Juice, Jugo Juice, all those guys were in their diapers," he says. "People expect there to be a Papaya Hut on Yonge."