MoveIn Status
Praying for a team.

Firsthand
On a visit to Victoria Village an observer met people from Palestine, Afghanistan, Lebanon and other countries in the Middle East. Community members told him there was not a lot of crime but they felt it was getting worse.

The Landscape
The wider Victoria Village neighbourhood is bounded on the west by the Don Valley Parkway, on the north by Lawrence Avenue, on the east by Victoria Park Avenue and on the south by Sunrise Avenue. It is located in the former City of North York.

The community is served by three elementary schools, one public library and one high school. The York University Glendon campus is west on Lawrence Avenue East. In addition to rental apartments and condominium buildings, there are houses in the low to low-medium price range. ¹

The MoveIn patch we are focusing on contains three buildings: 1441 Lawrence Ave E, 1840 and 1850 Victoria Park Ave. None of them are subsidized apartments. 1850 Victoria Park Ave was built in 1966, it has 14 floors. A one-bedroom apartment starts at $849² (Toronto average is $1,024/month³) and 3 bedrooms $1099² (Toronto average is $1,989/month³)

In the patch, there are several ethnic businesses including a store that sells Halal meat. Outside the patch, there are businesses such as Toys R Us, Harvey’s and GoodLife Fitness.

The People
In the wider Victoria Village neighbourhood where this patch is located⁴:

• 50% of the people are immigrants
• 52% of residents over 15 have a post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree; 37% of those residents have a degree from outside Canada
• The 2006 unemployment rate was 9.2% as compared with 6.7% average in Toronto
• 42% of individuals were considered visible minorities, the three largest groups were considered Arab, South Asian, and Black
• 74% of families were led by married couples

The History
Victoria Park Village was prime farmland in the Don Valley until 1952 when a group of investors, led by Conservative M.P. R.H. McGregor purchased seven farms totaling six hundred acres to create this neighbourhood. The largest farm was owned by Bob and Martin Fitzpatrick whose family had farmed the area for 120 years. It was planned as a self-contained community with its own schools, shops, parks and industry. The first residents moved came to the neighbourhood in 1953. ⁵

The Challenge
Would you consider joining the effort to transform Victoria Park Village into a thriving community where God is honoured? Would you be willing to move in?

Sources
¹ www.foundlocally.com
² www.urbandb.com
³ Rental Market Report, Greater Toronto Area, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Fall 2008
⁴ All statistics in this section taken from Statistics Canada 2006 Census tract profile for 0262.02 (CT), Toronto (CMA) and Ontario.
⁵www.torontoneighbourhoods.net