There Is One Neighborhood Neglected In This List

This is the neighborhood made up of seniors who have contributed all their lives and were able to buy a home, raise a family and pickup the gold watch but see their fixed expenses increase and increase thanks to hikes in property taxes and utility costs while at the same time service is declining.

Neighbourhoods in need
April 10, 2007

These 13 Toronto neighbourhoods, many of them so-called "inner suburbs," were identified by the city and the United Way as areas that need special investment in social services:

Jamestown

History: Takes its name from Jamestown Cres., which has Ontario Housing Corp. townhouses near the northwest limits of Rexdale. Sometimes called Doomstown by residents because of disputes between gangs.

Population: 33,805

Fast Fact: On average, households report earnings of $47,929, compared to the city-wide average of $69,125.

Jane-Finch

History: Developed as a high-rise suburb in the 1960s, in part by Ontario Housing Corp., the area's population boomed from about 1,300 in 1961 to 33,000 in 1971.

Population: 85,275

Fast Fact: Half of families earn less than $40,376 a year, compared to 11 per cent of families across the city.

Westminster-Branson

History: Located at the northern edge of the city, just south of Vaughan.

Population: 24,585

Fast Fact: Russian is the most common mother tongue (34 per cent), surpassing English (31 per cent). Citywide, Russian is the home language of 1 per cent of the population.

Weston-Mount Dennis

History: Weston was first incorporated as a village in 1881, while Mount Dennis was developed as a suburb in the 1950s. The latter's economy was dominated for decades by the Kodak plant, which opened in 1913 and closed in 2005.

Population: 40,360

Fast Fact: 27.7 per cent of families have a lone parent, compared to 19.7 per cent in city.

Lawrence Heights

History: In the early 1950s, Lawrence Heights was transformed from farmland into one of Toronto's largest public housing developments.

Population: 33,855

Fast Fact:Few visible minorities (31.8 per cent vs. city's 42.8 per cent), but much lower median household income ($39,200, compared to $49,345).

Steeles-L'Amoureaux

History: Once a farming town, L'Amoureaux was developed into a subdivision in the 1950s, '60s and '70s.

Population: 70,060

Fast Fact: Significant visible minority population (72.9 per cent of population, compared to 42.8 per cent in city).

Flemingdon Park-Victoria Village

History: Flemingdon Park was built as an "apartment city" project on the former farm of R.J. Fleming, a mayor of Toronto, for the influx of immigrants in the 1960s.

Population: 39,410

Fast Fact: 65 per cent of residents are immigrants to Canada, compared to 49 per cent in the city.

Crescent Town

History: Crescent School operated on 16 hectares until 1969 when the property was sold to the developers who built the present-day Crescent Town neighbourhood.

Population: 16,200

Fast Fact: 41 per cent of population are recent immigrants, compared to 21 per cent in the city; 67 per cent of households rent, compared to 49 per cent in the city

Eglinton East-Kennedy Park

History: Part of the area is known as Scarborough Junction due to the two railway lines that cross paths in the neighbourhood.

Population: 40,375

Fast Fact: Unemployment rate is 9.8 per cent, compared to 7 per cent in city.

Dorset Park

History: Named after a village in England, this subdivision was built on former market gardens in the 1950s.

Population: 22,300

Fast Fact: 26 per cent of residents speak neither English nor French at home.

Scarborough Village

History: Neighbourhood was developed in 1962 on the site of an 1800s crossroads village and includes million-dollar lakefront properties and public housing.

Population: 17,030

Fast Fact: Children 14 and under make up 25 per cent of the local population, compared to 18 per cent city-wide.

Kingston-Galloway

History: Area has both well-kept single-family homes and housing projects built largely between the 1940s and 1960s.

Population: 24,835

Fast Fact: Youth unemployment rate is 16.6 per cent compared to 13.2 per cent city-wide (2001 figures).

Malvern

History: In the late 1950s the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. expropriated farms in Malvern to build a "model community" of affordable homes. The first residents moved in in 1972.

Population: 44,015

Fast Fact: 10 per cent of households are multiple family, compared to 4 per cent city-wide.

Sources: United Way, torontoneighbourhoods.net