OPINION PEICE: WHEN WILL ST. JAMES TOWN GET THEIR REVITALIZATION?

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With the revitalization of Regent Park, Sharleen wants to know when the nearby community of St. James Town will be revitalized.

Eighteen years ago, the city of Toronto approved Regent Parks revitalization. Today, as of 2021, Regent Park is almost fully developed with attractive high-rise condos and apartment buildings, an amazing community centre, and a big serene park. A "Regent Parker's" life has substantially improved since the 80s or 90s when housing was substandard and crime was rampant. Today the area's social service providers are flooded with funding from the city and

upscale businesses are flocking to the neighbourhood. Why would they not? It's the city's newest "it" spot.

Whilst Regent Park basks in their newly found glory, here at St. James Town we hang in our overshadowed community. The St. James Town "Towers in the park," as they were once referred to, are now wasting away, poorly maintained by Toronto Community Housing.

It was not always this way. The rotting buildings were once hailed as an idyllic residential location for young middle-class workers who gravitated to the Downtown area. However, over the years, the plan has backfired due in part to the lack of convenient shopping and street life.

Though Regent Park is just a kilometre away, we (those of us who live in St. James Town) live in different worlds.

The buildings we live in were built in the 60s. So what is the delay in their redevelopment?

Is it because our community is considered a "landing pad” in which 64% of the residents in St Jamestown are immigrants? Is their non-voting status the reason for the delay? Why would politicians care about people who can't vote? Racial demographics in St. Jamestown are indicative of Toronto's changing immigration patterns.

In 2014 as part of Toronto Strong Neighborhood Strategy 2020, the city chose 31 out of Toronto's 140 neighbourhoods to be classified as neighbourhood improvement areas. They looked at income, education, voting rates, physical and mental health and the overall environment of the neighbourhood. North St. Jamestown scored 47.55 points out of 100. Five points higher than the "benchmark to be designated as a neighbourhood improvement area of 42.89."

Councillor Wong-Tam believes a mapping error might have been the issue. Apparently, a stretch of affluent housing on Jarvis street in the neighbourhood boundaries and might have resulted in the community not being added to the list. "I believe those are the numbers that skewed the St. James Town evaluation," she said.

Thankfully the City is aware of the problems in St. James Town and has announced the revitalization of some of the streets and parks in the area (see previous articles on revitalization of St. James Town). Although they are still doing public consultations, sooner or later revitalization will be visiting St. James Town as it did when they built the "towers in the park" for the "young and middle class" workers." Maybe there is a possibility that St. James Town will get a make over in my life time?

 

Written by
Sharleen Chebet

Journalist
FOCUS Media Arts Centre


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