Our Neighbourhood

PIONEER DAYS
Like many other areas in Southern Ontario, our neighbourhood was once a small farming district for 150 years prior to its urbanization. Named Elia, it was home to a community of German pioneers travelling from Pennsylvania in the 1700s. This was followed by a wave of English and Scottish pioneers in the 1800s. Tourists can still experience the city’s rural period at the Black Creek Pioneer Village.

THE PLAN
In 1962, The Ontario Housing Corporation (OHC) along with the North York Planning Department devised a plan to develop existing farm lots (‘District 10’) into a model suburban community with a mixture of low-, medium- and high-density housing, employment, commercial and social services. The plan was created to accommodate Toronto’s growing immigration population.

1960s: RAPID GROWTH
Within the coming years, a series of high-rise apartments were constructed along Jane street, later known as the ‘Jane-Finch corridor.’ A high influx of immigrant families from all over the world begin to settle into the new Toronto neighbourhood. Between 1961 to 1971, the area experienced astronomical growth when the population went from 1,300 to 33,000 thereby accounting for more than 40% of the growth in North York. By 1975, the population reached almost 50,000 with half the residential units coming from a concentration of high-rise apartments (From Longhouse to Highrise, 1986).

POVERTY & ISOLATION
By the mid 1970s, several social issues had surfaced from the rapid growth of the community and large concentrations of low-income households. The area soon becomes notorious for its prevalence of gangs, drugs and criminal activity. These social issues were known to be a result of “overcrowded schools, disconnected social services, inadequate recreational facilities, isolation from the rest of the city and the area’s overall poor self-image” (Lovell).