Firsthand
“It’s a needy community, but it’s a very nice community,” said a resident of Flemingdon Park at a meeting attended by neighbours who were trying to organize a self-run food bank in the community when the Red Cross decided to pull out in 2003. ¹

The Landscape
The Flemingdon Park Gateway patch occurs in the area east of Don Mills Road, south of the park, west of the Leeward Glenway complex, and north of the DVP as it curves around the larger Flemingdon Park neighbourhood. Within this patch, the prominent street is Gateway Boulevard (hence the name) - and all of the buildings in this patch radiate off Gateway directly. Gateway is just south of the neighbourhood’s park which is home to soccer fields, a baseball diamond, as well as tennis and basketball courts.

The wider Flemingdon Park neighbourhood, located in the former city of North York, has an abundance of parkland including centrally located sports fields. The community is bounded by ravines on three sides—unfortunately this cuts them off from surrounding neighbourhoods. More than half of the households don’t own a car in this densely populated area. Due to poor planning, it is not convenient to walk in this community because it is broken by a hydro zone, ravines, the Don Valley Parkway and erratic street layouts. A frustrating intersection at Don Mills Road and Overlea Boulevard makes it difficult for pedestrians coming from Flemingdon Park to access the community’s high school and middle schools. ²

The People
In the census strip that is most closely aligned to Gateway: ³

• Population in 2006 was 6,819.
• The population density is 9,091 people per square kilometre compared with Toronto’s 866/km² average.
• 78% of couples are married.
• 17% of families are led by one parent - 80% of those are led by women.
• The 2005 median income for all private households was $47,291, compared with $64,128 for the rest of Toronto.
• 77% of residents’ mother tongues are something other than English or French.
• 70% of the population are immigrants.
• 55% of residents over age 15 have a post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree.
• The 2006 unemployment rate was 11.5%, as compared with 6.7% in the rest of Toronto.
• 76% of residents are visible minorities - South Asians dominate this patch, with Tamils being the largest recognizable group.

In the wider Flemingdon Park neighbourhood: ⁴

• In 2006, 22% of the population was age 14 or under, compared with Toronto average of 16%
• The top five languages spoken (in order): Chinese, Urdu, Tamil, Persian (Farsi), and Gujarati
• Following a housing expansion in the community in 2000, the percentage of population below the poverty line dropped from 47% (in 1996) to 36% (in 2001)
• In 2006, 37% of economic families in this neighbourhood had low, before-tax incomes

The History
The Flemingdon Park neighbourhood is built on farmland formerly owned by R.J. Fleming, who was mayor of Toronto in the late 1800s. Flemingdon Park was Canada’s first completely planned “apartment city.” It was modeled after similar projects in Europe and Scandinavia and was created to make room for the wave of immigrants coming to Canada after the second world war. When the project was proposed in 1958, residents of North York and politicians had concerns about the high density of the neighbourhood and wondered how the city would adequately service the area. The project was approved in 1959 and completed in the early 1970s. ⁵

The Challenge
Would you be willing to take the revitalizing love of Jesus to this under-serviced neighbourhood - Gateway? Would you be willing to move in?

Sources
¹ “Hope In The ‘Hood: I Leave Flemingdon Park Meeting On Fleeing Food Bank Inspired” By Carlyn Zwarenstein NOW, JUL 3 - 9, 2003, VOL. 22 NO. 44
² Blog post by Dylan Reid, May 7th, 2008 Walking Flemingdon Park
³ All statistics in the section taken from Census tract profile for 0260.01 (CT), Toronto (CMA) and Ontario.
⁴ All statistics in the section taken from Flemingdon Park neighbourhood profile
⁵ With information from Toronto Neighbourhoods