Community Benefits and the Regent Park Coalition
Over the past 15 years Toronto’s Regent Park neighbourhood has been going through the process of revitalization. Regent Park, once a neighbourhood made up solely of public housing, most of which were buildings over 50 years old, is being transformed into a multi-use, mixed income community. Although on the surface this is a needed change, there is much concern that the Regent Park revitalization will echo the processes of gentrification that many Toronto neighbourhoods have gone through over the last few decades. Gentrification is the process of updating and beautifying a community which on the surface sounds positive, however it unfortunately leads to increases to the cost of living and high housing costs. This in turn leads to an influx of wealthy neighbours while many of the original residents end up being displaced because they are no longer able to afford the cost of living in their community. A strong argument can be made that the Regent Park revitalization has thus far avoided