Firsthand
“I have seen hunger in all shapes and colours,” said a Flemingdon Park resident at a meeting to help organize a new food bank in the neighbourhood. “We want this to improve and not to deteriorate. This community is so loved by people who live here.” ¹

The Landscape
The Flemingdon Park Vendome patch occurs in the area west of the Don Valley Parkway (DVP), south of Rochefort Drive, east of Deauville, and north of the park. Weaving its way into the center of this patch is Vendome Place, after which it is named. This patch contains a network of dead-end courts surrounded by government-subsidized townhouse complexes. There are a few playgrounds hidden in the area, with basketball courts and community gardens available just to the south of the patch in the park. Flemingdon Park Vendome is a fair distance from any shopping and is completely closed off in the west due to bordering the DVP.

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 Vendome: ³

• Population in 2006 was 3,699
• The population density is 15,627 people per square kilometre compared with Toronto’s 866/km² average.
• In 2006, 33% of the population was age 14 or under, as compared with 19% in the rest of Toronto. A remarkable 35% of those under 14 were 4 or younger!
• 39% of families have one parent - 87% of those are led by women
• The 2005 median income for all private households was $24,367, compared with a median of $64,128 for the rest of Toronto
• 71% of residents’ mother tongues are something other than English or French
• 65% of the population are immigrants.
• 47% of residents over age 15 have a post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree
• The 2006 unemployment rate was 17.2%, as compared with 6.7% in the rest of Toronto.
• 86% of the population are visible minorities - the largest group is South Asian, followed by black

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 bring the love of Jesus to the many children and parents in this needy neighbourhood - Vendome? 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 0260.05 (CT), Toronto (CMA) and Ontario.
⁴ All statistics in the section taken from Flemingdon Park neighbourhood profile
⁵ With information from Toronto Neighbourhoods