MoveIn Status
Praying for a team.

Firsthand
A revitalization plan for the aging Lawrence Heights neighbourhood has many residents fearing their problem-filled but beloved community will change. The plan includes tearing down some of the community housing and replacing it with mixed housing with the addition of condos, seniors homes and commercial space. Residents worry the renewal will uproot them and force them to move elsewhere. A rapper from the ‘hood writes:

I’ve been here since ’89… Stayed with my brethren, needed some food, grandma would let ‘em in. A lot of values were taught, that’s why we’re better men. March Break, house leagues, summertime barbeques. Do I stay, do I go. Why do I gotta choose? Yeah I got a lot to lose, more than they’re showing on the news. See I’m an entrepreneur. So I got different views. But this will always be my home and I’ll be here until it’s gone. And I hear the day’s near. That’s why I wrote this song. Reasons, hope they’re right not wrong. I just hope we’ll get along. In the new Jungle, so my children’s memories are fond. ¹

The Landscape
Approximately 500 people live in this patch. It contains a community housing project with a circle of two- to three-storey brick buildings that look nearly identical. Lawrence Heights East is separated from Lawrence Heights West by the Allen Expressway. The east patch is close to the Lawrence West subway station but has poor access to it. The neighbourhood is also cut off from the nearby Lawrence Square mall and other amenities on the west side of the Allen. A bridge connects the two neighbourhoods that sit just below Highway 401.

A local high school teacher says that a building on the south side of the neighbourhood used to be known as Bathurst Heights Secondary School. It was renowned for basketball prowess but had poor academic programs. Because of various difficulties, including low academic success rates, the school was disbanded in the ‘90s and the students were redistributed to surrounding high schools. Recently the community has invested heavily in the neighbourhood’s Flemington Public School, which has made great strides in all areas.

The Lawrence Heights Community Centre has an outdoor swimming pool and a very active gymnasium. Some of Toronto’s best young basketball players practice at the centre on a daily basis.

Addresses in this patch include:

• 1-87 Bredonhill Ct.
• 1-53, 2-78 Cather Cres.
• 1-91 Dorney Ct.
• 1-125 Flemington Rd.
• 1-5 Leila Ln.
• 1-3 Old Meadow Ln.

The People
In the wider Lawrence Heights East neighbourhood: ²

• 31% of families were led by one parent; 92% of these families are led by women
• 51% of residents were immigrants; 65% of them came to Canada before 1991
• 63% of residents lived at the same address five years ago, indicating that this neighbourhood is not highly transient
• Only 48% of residents over age 15 have a postsecondary certificate, diploma or degree
• 2006 unemployment rate 8.7 % as compared with 6.7% in the rest of Toronto
• 27% of residents were considered to have low before-tax incomes as compared with 18% in the rest of Toronto
• 40% of residents were visible minorities; the largest group is black at 64% of the visible minority population

The History
Lawrence Heights is located on land that was once owned by Henry Mulholland—one of North York’s earliest settlers who came to the area in 1814. The Mulholland farm was sold to developers in the 1940s. In the ’50s, Lawrence Heights was transformed from farmland into one of Toronto’s largest public housing developments. Nicknamed the “Jungle” in reference to an old movie called The Asphalt Jungle, Lawrence Heights is Toronto’s second oldest housing project after Regent Park. The high-rise apartment towers originally planned for the area became low-rise buildings and row-houses when developers realized how close the neighbourhood is to the Downsview Airport. ³

The Challenge
As the Lawrence Heights East patch is physically revitalized would you be willing to pray and work for emotional, social, and spiritual renewal in the community? Would you be willing to move in?

Sources
¹http://www.cbc.ca/toronto/features/lheights/lyrics.html
²Statistics Canada 2006 Census tract profile 0286.00 (CT), Toronto (CMA) and Ontario
³ With information from www.torontoneighbourhoods.net and www.rapdict.org