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The State of Business in Mount Dennis: Disinvestment and Gentrification in Toronto’S Inner-Suburbs Katharine N

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The State of Business in Mount Dennis: Disinvestment and Gentrification in Toronto’S Inner-Suburbs Katharine N The State of Business in Mount Dennis: Disinvestment and Gentrification in Toronto’s Inner-Suburbs Katharine N. Rankin, Kuni Kamizaki, and Heather McLean Research Paper 226 Cities Centre, University of Toronto November, 2013 ISSN 0316-0068; ISBN-13 978-0-7727-1485-5 Cities Centre • University of Toronto ii The State of Business in Mount Dennis: Disinvestment and Gentrification in Toronto’s Inner- Suburbs The State of Business in Mount Dennis Disinvestment and Gentrification in Toronto’s Inner-Suburbs Katharine N. Rankin, Kuni Kamizaki, Heather McLean Research Paper 226 November 2013, vii, 70 pp. ISSN 0316-0068 ISBN-13 978-0-7727-1485-5 Cities Centre West End Local Economic Development University of Toronto c/o Action for Neighbourhood Change 455 Spadina Avenue, 4th floor - Mount Dennis Toronto M5S 2G8 Canada 1366B Weston Road Telephone: 416-978-2072 Toronto M4M 4R8 Canada Fax 416-978-7162 Telephone: 416-242-7031 E-mail: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.citiescentre.utoronto.ca Website: http://www.weled.ca The opinions expressed in this or any paper published by Cities Centre (formerly the Centre for Urban and Community Studies) do not necessarily reflect the views of the Centre, or those of the University of Toronto. Cities Centre • University of Toronto The State of Business in Mount Dennis: iii Disinvestment and Gentrification in Toronto’s Inner- Suburbs Acknowledgement This research was carried out as part of a research project on “Commercial gentrification, diverse economies and the politics of social mix in Toronto,” funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (grant no. 107754). It was conducted by a team of researchers in the Department of Geography and Program in Planning at the University of Toronto in collaboration with community-based researchers affiliated with the Action for Neighbourhood Change (ANC) office in Mount Dennis. The research forms a partnership with the SSHRC-funded Anti-Poverty Community Organizing and Learning (APCOL) research project at the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto. We are grateful to the following partners for their participation: Action for Neighbourhood Change Ayana Francis Cutty Duncan Michael Miller Sara Abdo Fatma Yasin Natalia Khabarova York Youth Coalition University of Toronto, Geography/Planning Shadya Yasin Research Assistants Omar Francis Nehal El-Hadi Melissa Fong Social Planning Toronto David Seitz Winston Tinglin Prasad Khanolkar APCOL, University of Toronto Community Researchers Peter Sawchuk Kurt Strachan Erin Oldynski Sojica John Julie Chamberlain Dr. Gail Matthews Thomas Saczkowski Shane McLeod Youssef Sawan Our thanks also go to Professor Robert Lewis and Nick Lombardo, Department of Geography at the University of Toronto, for advice on the collection and analysis of quantitative data from archival sources; Dr. Greg Spencer from the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, with whom we consulted on statistical analysis and who furnished access to data on small businesses; staff at Toronto City Archives who provided guidance on identifying archival documents related to commercial structure and property ownership; and Matt Armstrong who assisted in land use policy analysis. We also value the contributions of business owners and key informants in Mount Dennis, who kindly participated in interviews and surveys. The original version of this report is available at the West End Local Economic Development (WELED) website (http://www.weled.ca/). Thanks go to Professor Alan Walks and anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on the report; to Michael Miller, Prasad Khanolkar and Tamam A. Jama for photography; and to Fatma Yasin for graphic design. Cities Centre • University of Toronto iv The State of Business in Mount Dennis: Disinvestment and Gentrification in Toronto’s Inner- Suburbs Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 6 1.1 Objectives .......................................................................................................................................... 8 1.2 Organization of the Report ................................................................................................................. 8 2 RESEARCH DESIGN ............................................................................................... 10 2.1 Site Selection ................................................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Research Methods ........................................................................................................................... 11 3 MOUNT DENNIS IN RELATION TO THE CITY AND THE WORLD ......................... 15 3.1 Contemporary Neighbourhood Characteristics ................................................................................ 15 3.1.1 Prevalence of Poverty ................................................................................................................... 16 3.1.2 Prevalence of New Immigrants and Racialized Minorities ............................................................ 17 3.1.3 Dual Presence of Crime and Police .............................................................................................. 18 3.2 Manufacturing History ...................................................................................................................... 19 3.3 Structural Changes in Retail ............................................................................................................ 20 3.4 State Presence ................................................................................................................................ 21 4 SUBURBAN VISIONS AND REDEVELOPMENT PLANNING ................................ 22 4.1 Real Estate Development Vision ..................................................................................................... 24 4.2 Green/Cultural Economy Vision ....................................................................................................... 26 4.3 Some Common Ground ................................................................................................................... 27 5 MOUNT DENNIS COMMERCIAL STRIP: STRUCTURAL CHALLENGES, ASSETS AND VULNERABILITIES .............................................................................................. 31 5.1 Structural Challenges ...................................................................................................................... 32 5.2 Assets and Vitalities ......................................................................................................................... 38 5.3 Vulnerabilities to Displacement ........................................................................................................ 42 6 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................... 47 7 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................... 53 8 APPENDIX 1: INTERVIEW SCHEDULE ................................................................. 57 9 APPENDIX 2: SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY ........................................................... 60 10 APPENDIX 3: BUSINESS CODES ........................................................................ 62 11 APPENDIX 4: SITE AND AREA SPECIFIC POLICIES APPLICABLE TO THE AREA SOUTH OF EGLINTON ...................................................................................... 64 12 APPENDIX 5: ABOUT WEST-END LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (WE- LED) ............................................................................................................................... 66 Cities Centre • University of Toronto The State of Business in Mount Dennis: v Disinvestment and Gentrification in Toronto’s Inner- Suburbs List of Figures FIGURE 1: A MAP OF THREE CITIES IN TORONTO (HULCHANSKI 2010) ........................................... 11 FIGURE 2: BUSINESS INTERVIEW SAMPLE BY SECTOR ................................................................... 12 FIGURE 3: MOUNT DENNIS NEIGHBOURHOOD BOUNDARY FOR STUDY ............................................ 13 FIGURE 4: AVERAGE INDIVIDUAL INCOME ....................................................................................... 16 FIGURE 5: MOUNT DENNIS RESIDENTS IN MANUFACTURING JOBS .................................................. 16 FIGURE 6: VISIBLE MINORITIES IN MOUNT DENNIS ......................................................................... 18 FIGURE 7: THE TWO MOST CARDED AREAS IN 2010 (TORONTO STAR 2012) .................................. 19 FIGURE 8: WESTON-MOUNT DENNIS REVITALIZATION INITIATIVES (CITY OF TORONTO 2011A) ........ 23 FIGURE 9: CITY OF TORONTO OFFICIAL PLAN ZONING DESIGNATIONS FOR THE MOUNT DENNIS AREA .................................................................................................................................................... 24 FIGURE 10: MOUNT DENNIS COMMERCIAL STRIP AND THE STUDY AREA ........................................ 31 FIGURE 11: OWNERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS .................................................................................. 33 FIGURE 12: OWNERS' ETHNO-RACIAL BACKGROUND ..................................................................... 33 FIGURE 13: YEARS IN OPERATION ................................................................................................
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