Paving a United Way for the Greater Golden Mile
During last week’s visit to the United Way Greater Toronto headquarters and the Greater Golden Mile of Scarborough, we were introduced to the specific questions we will tackle for our final options report for the United Way. I was thrilled to see my name listed under the theme of gentrification, as this is something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately given my recent move to Toronto’s Parkdale/Roncesvalles neighbourhood.
When tasked with defining “gentrification” in class prior to our excursions, I was envisioning the string of designer vintage shops, “boutique juiceries”, and quirky stationary stores that line Roncesvalles Ave, replacing the Polish bakeries and butchers of not-so-long-ago.
As soon as we stepped off the bus in the Golden Mile, I quickly realized that this was a very different situation. The data shows that diversity of the community is continuously evolving, largely shaped by the immigration patterns of the day, and there is not one dominant ethnic community. The Greater Golden Mile is not the historic home to any particular ethnic group, opposed to the historically Polish neighbourhood of Roncesvalles village, along with many other gentrified Toronto communities. In fact, it’s not historically home to anyone (post-colonization)because the community has largely been dominated by industrial and commercial infrastructure, with residential areas only popping up more recently.
Reading through the Greater Golden Mile community priorities voiced by its residents, it’s clear that there is a strong desire to build a community, rather than preserve one. The Greater Golden Mile differs from many notable gentrified communities because there is not an overwhelming sense of resentment or anger towards development. Quickly gentrifying communities like Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn and Echo Park, Los Angeles are undeniably underfunded and lacking in adequate resources, but they also have thriving cultural communities and their residents vehemently advocate against further development. Greater Golden Mile residents, on the other hand, want development. According to the community responses, they want transportation and frankly, something to do. At a community meeting with city planners on June 26, residents pleaded with planners to keep the Eglinton Square Mall, as it was the only source of entertainment in the community, especially for the growing elderly population.
We can thus conclude that the challenge of gentrification in the GGM is not so much cultural preservation, but displacement — while also building a unified and thriving community culture. It is also vital that proposed solutions not only prevent displacement, but it’s equally important that policies do not divert gentrification to other communities in the city. Striking the right balance will be no easy feat, but I think the best outcomes will result from direct consultation with the residents themselves who are best suited to define and shape their own community’s needs, priorities, and culture.
