After shipping patterns changed and the use of the Toronto Harbour declined, the area was converted from industrial uses to a mixed-use district that is mostly residential and leisure.

Prior to the 1972 federal election, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau announced the Harbourfront project, which would expropriate the industrial port lands from York Street west to Bathurst Street, south of Queen's Quay and convert them to a cultural and residential district for Toronto, similar to the Granville Island district in Vancouver.

The surrounding neighbourhood, formerly industrial has been converted by private land developers into a series of condominium towers overlooking the project and Lake Ontario.

In July 2012, Waterfront Toronto began a major reconstruction of Queen's Quay West, requiring the 509 streetcar to be replaced with buses for the duration of the construction.

[1] On October 12, 2014, streetcar service resumed on 509 Harbourfront route after an absence of over two years in order to rebuild the street to a new design.

The Martin Goodman Trail (a bicycle path), two rows of trees, benches and a wider pedestrian space are located on the immediate south side of the streetcar tracks.

The airport, located to the southwest of the neighbourhood, is opposed by local community groups and some city politicians, including Toronto's past mayor, David Miller, as an impediment to the redevelopment of the waterfront lands.

[4] The Toronto Port Authority confirmed on September 12, 2008, that Porter Airlines was fined for breaking noise curfews in its operations at the airport.

[5] Harbourfront is the site of the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal which provides transportation services to the Toronto Islands from the foot of Bay Street.

Harbourfront hosts an extensive program of arts and cultural events throughout each summer, including craft and artisan fairs, theatre and dance performances and musical concerts.

The 510 Spadina and 509 Harbourfront streetcar routes terminate at Union Station, travel underground along Bay Street, and surface through in the centre right-of-way lane on Queens Quay west.

The streetcar route travels along Queen's Quay in a separate right-of-way, either to the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) grounds, up to Spadina or to Bathurst, depending on day of the week and other factors.