The area's growth increased following the opening of North York Centre station at Mel Lastman Square and the Sheppard subway line.

In the 1800s, the forests in the area were cleared for farmland, around settlements made by Jacob Cummer and David Gibson alongside Yonge Street, which was the main road for travel from Toronto northward, and which served as Provincial Highway 11 from 1920 until 1998.

As the area's population grew, the roadside became lined with commercial establishments, some being one-level highway arterial-type uses such as gas stations, with others being tightly knit two-storey buildings.

On the east side of Yonge Street across from the Civic Centre, the Empress Walk mixed-use development, consisting of a shopping mall, cinema, and two condominium towers, was completed in 1997–2000.

[2][3] Canada's deadliest vehicle-ramming attack occurred on April 23, 2018, when a rented van collided with numerous pedestrians, killing 10 and injuring 16 others on Yonge Street between Finch and Sheppard Avenues.

[6] The North York Civic Centre office complex and Mel Lastman Square, on the west side of Yonge Street, are central to the area.

Across Yonge Street to the east is Empress Walk, a shopping mall that connects directly to the local subway station.

The Joseph Shepard Building, a federal government office, is located on the west side of Yonge Street one block north of Sheppard Avenue.