In 2000 the residents' association decided to rename itself and the area Harbord Village, after the main street running through the middle of the community.

The city of Toronto for administrative purposes places Harbord Village and most of the St. George campus into a region it calls "University."

Somewhat grander middle class houses began to appear in the late 1880s and 1890s, after a local school had been built and the city had completed paving the streets and installing water and sewer lines.

They, along with the Black residents, faced considerable discrimination renting or buying homes in more affluent Toronto neighbourhoods.

Subsequent waves of immigration altered the demographics of the area, with many Hungarians arriving following the failed revolution in 1956, and Portuguese in the 1960s and 70s.

Smaller towers were built along Spadina and the rest was given to the University of Toronto to create playing fields and outdoor recreation for their students and the local community.

[3] In the 1970s and 80s the neighbourhood was gradually gentrified with an influx of professionals, many affiliated with the university, although many of the houses remained divided into apartments and populated by a diverse mix of people.

Since the 1990s many of the houses have been restored to single family dwellings, and because of the heated real estate market, an increasing number are being gutted and rebuilt by developers to sell as luxury properties for several million dollars.

In 2005, the Harbord Village Heritage Conservation District was established in the area of Lower Brunswick Avenue (below Ulster St.) as well as Willcocks Street west of Spadina.

It was originally part of lot 17 purchased in 1815 by George Taylor Denison for the building of his new home "Belle Vue.