MoveIn Status
Praying for a team.

Firsthand
The City of Toronto plans to revitalize Lawrence Heights over the next decade in an effort to reduce the level of crime and social problems in the neighbourhood, which is cut off from the surrounding community. When interviewed about the revitalization, residents mentioned positive things that have instilled pride and a sense of ownership in their neighbourhood including: an annual Canada Day festival, clean-up days, youth programs, sports tournaments and co-op gardens. Some feel that money should be spent on programs for the existing neighbourhood rather than on tearing down some of the community housing to put in mixed housing including seniors residences and commercial space. “There’s a lot of culture here,” said one resident. “It’s an amazing place.”¹

The Landscape
This patch is located in the former City of North York and is separated from the Lawrence Heights East patch by the Allen Expressway. A bridge connects the two neighbourhoods. A community mall with about 80 shops and services lies to the south of the west patch. Toronto’s second largest mall, the up-scale Yorkdale Shopping Centre, is immediately to its north below Highway 401.

Approximately 2,000 people live in this patch in a series of row houses on cul-de-sac streets connected by foot paths. Waist-high fences surround both back and front yards.

A local teacher says that Lawrence Heights Middle School has been the subject of much interest due to its remarkable three-year turnaround under the direction of Dr. Chris Spence, a charismatic teacher and administrator who became the school’s principal in 1998 and is currently Toronto’s public school board superintendent.

Addresses in this patch include:

• 15-87 Amaranth Ct.
• 50-58 Blossomfield Dr.
• 2-28, 46-96 Edengarth Ct.
• 1-125 Flemington Rd.
• 2-84 Pengarth Ct.

The People
In the wider Lawrence Heights West neighbourhood²:

• 39% of families are led by one parent; 92% of these families are led by women
• 48% of residents are immigrants; 47% of them came to Canada before 1991
• 54% of residents over age 15 have a post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree
• The 2006 unemployment rate of 7.6% was fairly low but still higher than the 6.7% average in the rest of Toronto
• 36% of residents are considered to have low before-tax incomes as compared with 18% in the rest of Toronto
• 48% of residents are visible minorities; the largest group is black at 46% of the visible minority population

Many residents are from the Caribbean and an increasing number of immigrants are coming from Africa, especially Somalia.

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 1950s, Lawrence Heights was transformed from farmland into one of Toronto’s largest public housing developments. Nicknamed the “Jungle” after 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
Would you be willing to help residents of Lawrence Heights West find Jesus as the source of renewing life? Would you be willing you move in?

Sources
¹www.thestar.com
²Statistics Canada 2006 Census tract profile 0287.01 (CT), Toronto (CMA) and Ontario
³With information from www.torontoneighbourhoods.net and www.rapdict.org