Rexdale

Rexdale
Neighbourhood
Coordinates: 43°43′19″N 79°34′19″W / 43.72194°N 79.57194°W / 43.72194; -79.57194Coordinates: 43°43′19″N 79°34′19″W / 43.72194°N 79.57194°W / 43.72194; -79.57194
Country  Canada
Province  Ontario
City Toronto Toronto
Community Etobicoke-York
Changed Municipality 1998 Toronto from Etobicoke
Government
 • MP Kirsty Duncan (Etobicoke North)
 • MPP Shafiq Qaadri (Etobicoke North)
 • Councillor Michael Ford (Ward 2 Etobicoke North)
The Rexdale Community Hub is located on the former site of Father Henry Carr Catholic Secondary School
Toronto Public Library Rexdale Branch on Kipling Avenue
St. Paul the Apostle Anglican Church on Kipling Avenue

Rexdale is an informally-defined district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located north-west of the central core, in the former suburb of Etobicoke. Rexdale defines an area of several official neighbourhoods north of Highway 401 and east of Kipling Avenue. Rexdale was originally a post World War II residential development within Etobicoke, and today is applied to a general area from Malton and Toronto Pearson International Airport in the City of Mississauga to the west, Highway 401 to the south, Steeles Avenue to the north, and the Humber River to the east. It is centred on Rexdale Boulevard and Islington Avenue.

History

Rexdale was named for local real estate developer Rex Heslop, who purchased farmland in the area in 1955 for a cost of $110,000, and installed water mains, streets and sewers, as well as houses which listed for sale at either $9,000 or $10,000. The homes sold well, and soon 330 families were living in the development. In 1956, Heslop opened the Rexdale Plaza (since demolished and replaced by a power centre anchor by Walmart Supercentre). By then, 70 industries and 3,600 homes were located in Rexdale.[1]

Rexdale's first residents were mostly English and Scottish, but evolved into a multicultural neighbourhood in the following decades. The population of Rexdale, according to the 2006 Census, is 94,469 living in 30,238 households. The population grows at a rate comparable to surrounding communities.

In 2006, Christopher Hume, now a journalist with the Toronto Star, wrote that Rexdale "has become shorthand for suburban blight, social breakdown and gang violence. In 2005 alone, five young men were shot dead in the area, a grey landscape of highways and highrises, shopping malls and churches." Hume wrote that children who lived in Rexdale had nothing to do, and were "wandering around the anonymous streets of this place". The vision of Rexdale's planners, Hume wrote, was a patchwork of separate precincts for working, living, shopping and playing, connected by expressways. However, this single-use zoning, separation, industrial-scale development and reliance on cars contributed to Rexdale's problems.[2]

Located in Rexdale are the Canadian Standards Association, Humber College, University of Guelph-Humber, Woodbine Centre shopping mall, and Woodbine Racetrack.

Communities

There are a number of neighborhoods within the area known as Rexdale:

Education

Secular Anglophone public schools are operated by the Toronto District School Board. Before 1998 the Etobicoke Board of Education operated public schools.

In addition to the secular Anglophone public school system, Etobicoke is home to several public separate schools, overseen by the Toronto Catholic District School Board. The Conseil scolaire Viamonde operates secular Francophone schools, and the Conseil scolaire de district catholique Centre-Sud, which operates Catholic Francophone schools.

Previously Marian Academy was located in Rexdale, within an area that, in 2001, was the poorest area of Rexdale.[3]

Notable people

In 2006, Rexdale was the setting of the TV movie Doomstown. The youth TV series How to Be Indie took place in Rexdale.

References

  1. ↑ Filey, Mike (2006). Toronto Sketches 9: "The Way We Were" Columns from the Toronto Sunday Sun. Dundurn. pp. 103–105.
  2. ↑ Hume, Christopher (February 18, 2006). "At The Least, Build a Community Centre". Urbantoronto.ca.
  3. ↑ Royson, James. "Closing school dagger to heart of Rexdale." Toronto Star. December 12, 2001. News p. B01. Retrieved on August 27, 2013.
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