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From Allan Gardens to Regent Park: Moise Discusses Town Hall Outcomes, Encampment Solutions, and the Future of Sankofa Square.  In this RPTV interview, Gabriel Meissner speaks with Councillor Chris Moise to tackle the crucial issues facing Toronto Centre’s neighborhoods, including Regent Park, St. Jamestown, and Moss Park. Moise recently held a series of Community Town Halls across the area, aiming to bridge communication between city officials and residents. He explains some tangible initiatives that have resulted from these discussions, such as increased safety measures and urban improvements, and shares how ongoing feedback will influence decisions about housing, public safety, and local services. The interview also covers the recent clearings of encampments in Allan Gardens, with Moise updating on the progress for those connected to shelters and explaining the city’s approach to Indigenous cultural practices within the park, such as sacred fires. Another critical topic is the i...

On June 14th, the St James Town community celebrated a significant milestone as residents and local organizations gathered at Rose Avenue Public School Gym for the 10th annual Spring Gathering and Health Access event. This event, a cornerstone in fostering community resilience and solidarity, brought together residents, community leaders, and local partner organizations, including St James Town Community Corner, Sherbourne Health, and the Residents Council. The primary aim of the Spring Gathering is to strengthen community bonds, provide vital information on health access programs, and, most importantly, consult with the community to address pressing needs such as affordable housing, food insecurity, and holistic health care. Over the past decade, the event has played a crucial role in supporting marginalized communities, including newcomers, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and all residents of St James Town, by fostering inclusive community health access and services. The gathering o...

St. James Town came alive on Saturday, May 11th, as residents gathered at the St James Town Neighbourhood Community Centre for the highly anticipated 2024 Summit, organized by the St James Town Residents Council. With a remarkable turnout, the event showcased a diverse array of voices, ideas, and talents, reaffirming the vibrant spirit of this dynamic community. The summit, themed "Emerging Innovations & Ideas," featured a lineup of engaging activities and insightful discussions.  The agenda was packed with enriching sessions, including a networking continental breakfast to kick off the morning, followed by opening remarks and acknowledgements. Throughout the day, attendees had the opportunity to participate in forums highlighting emerging grassroots groups, indulge in a multicultural lunch prepared by local chefs, and engage in workshops focusing on indigenous knowledge and intergenerational storytelling. Notable grassroots organizations such as TILT (Toronto Indigenous...

For the past 11 years, Toronto has embraced a transformative approach to policing through its Neighbourhood Officer program, inspired by the successful model pioneered in Regent Park. At the heart of this initiative are officers like Kumar Shanmuganathat, who has dedicated the last three years to serving as a neighbourhood officer in St. Jamestown. Through his insights and experiences, viewers gain a deeper understanding of the program's impact and significance. What sets Neighbourhood Officers apart from their counterparts in the police force is their unparalleled dedication to community engagement. Unlike regular police officers, Neighbourhood Officers prioritize spending extensive time interacting with residents. This hands-on approach fosters a profound understanding of the unique challenges and concerns present within the neighbourhood. One of the hallmarks of the Neighbourhood Officer program is its emphasis on post-incident follow-up. Kumar highlights the importance of this ...

Formed outside of an emergency meeting held in January 2014 to address extreme weather events such as the July 2013 floods and the December 2013 ice storm. Community Resilience to Extreme Weather (CREW) is a local climate change initiative that was formed by Rita Bijons, an environmental activist, Dave MacLeod, a senior environmental officer, and twenty one community based groups. CREW’s work has proven to be important as they serve low-income individuals in underserved neighbourhoods such as St. Jamestown.  A big part of CREW’s mission is to promote community resilience by fostering communication. In 2016, CREW developed a Neighbours Helping Neighbours program which was composed of twenty two low income seniors of various ethnic backgrounds. These seniors which are known as Extreme Weather Volunteers gathered a toolkit of materials to reach out to their community. In their outreach work, they focused on building supportive social networks and training their neighbours on how to p...

In Regent Park, a community that is in the process of a massive transformation, from Canada's largest social housing complex to a mixed income/mixed use neighbourhood, the outcome of elections, be they Municipal, Provincial, or Federal is of profound interest to area residents. The Community Civic Engagement Collaborative (CCEC) is a grassroots collective of agencies and residents in Regent Park, Moss Park, St. James Town and Corktown neighbourhoods, working to increase civic engagement in elections and beyond, through non-partisan community organizing. On Wednesday May 18, 2022, the CCEC organized and hosted an all-candidates meeting (held at the Daniels Spectrum, 585 Dundas St E, Toronto) and invited candidates to share their respective party's platforms regarding the key issues facing the Toronto Centre riding, which includes Moss Park, Regent Park, Cabbage Town, Church Wellesley Village, and St. Jamestown.  The meeting was moderated by Ina Labuschgne and Walied Khogali. ...

OASIS Food Hub is working in St. James Town to address food insecurity When you walk a bit further behind food basics in the space between the little park and 200 Wellesley, you will see the old empty swimming pool. The pool is owned by Toronto Community Housing and was closed in 2010, when it was discovered that black tar was leaking into the pool from a newly installed deck. TCHC assessed that the maintenance required to maintain the old pool would be too much. Once a vibrant social hub in the summer, the fenced in pool has stayed forgotten and waiting to be demolished. That is until now. OASIS Food Hub is a program of the St. James Town Community Co-op, a resident owned and operated organization. OASIS stands for Organic Agro-ecological Sustainable Integrated System. Co-op members and residents developed the OASIS Food Hub model to address food security in St. James Town. Their idea, why not transform the empty pool into an urban organic food farm as a way of addressing food ...

In this episode of St. James Town TV, we feature the Weathering the Storm Research Report. The report was prepared for The Corner and the St. James Town Service Providers Network by Lisa Kovalchuk, a professor of sociology at the University of Guelph. Lisa Kovalchuk’s team of researchers included community residents Priyal Goenka, Tanvir Kaukab, and Lovlyn Dsouza. The aim of the study was to determine how the Covid-19 pandemic played out in the highly diverse and densely populated community of St. James Town. The study focused on three demographics, youth, newcomers and other immigrants, and seniors. According to Lisa and her team, in the area of children and youth the study found that parents with infants and pre-teen children reported lockdown impacts that affected child development such as the lack of social interactions and gaining of learning experiences because of the disruption of day-care and the closure of recreational family outing options. Parents of special needs c...

The St. James Town Food Co-op launches an emergency food Pop- Up On August 12, 2021, the St. James Town Co-op launched an outdoor emergency food distribution pop-up in an open space behind the swimming pool located at 275 Bleecker and Wellesley Street. Located in the middle of the neighborhood, this pop-up was a temporary substitute for the regular food distribution in the Wellesley Community Centre. The Wellesley Community Centre, located at 200 Wellesley Street is now been used as a vaccination clinic. The importance of the pop up was to distribute emergency food to residents struggling with food insecurity. Although the Co-op is struggling to secure a place for their food insecurity initiative, making sure that the needs of the community have been met is the Co-op first priority. Yasmine, the Food distribution department manager explains to us how the initiative tries to offer different kinds of food that is culturally appropriate and that would keep the community healthy an...

St. James Town is a neighborhood located in Toronto’s downtown core.Comprised of a diverse and resilient community, it represents the best of Toronto. Here are some facts you may not know about St. James Town: Fact 1 It’s one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods in Canada. The population of St. Jamestown James Town is officially listed as approximately 17,000 residents but estimates say there could be more than 25,000 26,000 residents living here. Fact 2 St. James Town is one of the smallest neighborhoods in Toronto. With a land area of just 0.23 kilometres comprised of 19 high rises, explains why St. James Town is regarded as one of the smallest and most densely populated neighbourhoods! Fact 3 St. James Town was once known as the Homewood Estate. Yes, back then (in the 1800’s) it was occupied by upper middle-class residents and the homes and had more in common with Rosedale. Once the car became popular, most of the wealthy folks left for the suburbs. Fa...

A youth reporter leads you on a tour of the St. James Town Community. St. James Town is one of the most underrated neighborhoods of Toronto, Ontario. It is home to over 25,000 residents and is one of the most multicultural neighborhoods in all of Toronto. It lies northeast of the downtown area covering Jarvis Street to the west, Bloor Street East to the north, Parliament Street to the east, and Wellesley Street East to the south. St. James Town is like traveling the entire globe within one block. St. James Town has a sea of multicultural restaurants from all over the globe. There are just not enough neighborhoods in the world where you can go out and taste foods from all around the world in a matter of blocks. St. James Town is one of the areas St. James Town has astonishing murals. In a community where there is very little green and lots of lots of buildings, murals bring color and creativity to the community. St. James Town has one of the tallest murals in the world at 200 We...

Yael explains why St. James Town is a perfect habitat for the St. James Town pigeon. The St. James Town pigeon is well known to area residents. They can be found in the neighbourhood mornings to night. One of the favorite places where the St. James Town pigeon calls home is at Food Basics. Food Basics is an area which is densely populated, and where there is people – there is food. More precisely people willing to provide feed. And even more precise seniors! The pigeons in this vicinity are commonly referred to as the Food Basic Pigeons. Food Basic Pigeons differ from most other St. James Town Pigeons by their lack of fear for not only people but for cars. In fact, when not focused on cosying up to seniors, pooping on cars is one of the favorite past-times of the Food Basic Pigeons. The competing Rose Ave School pigeons, find begging for bread crumbs from seniors a little below them. Considered far more educated than their peers, the St. James Town Rose Avenue School Pi...

St. Jamestown is located on the northeast side of the downtown Toronto area, the high populated community is filled with high-rise buildings and constant construction. With so much city life in the neighborhood, do the people in the community take notice of the environment around them? Why is it so important to keep a sustainable environment around us, and what is St. Jamestown doing to help? Having a well-sustainable environment is very important to the community. Conserving natural resources can protect global and local ecosystems and contribute to ones’ health and well-being. In St. Jamestown, there are not many green spaces in the community. On top of that, streets are filled with litter and unwanted garbage. This litter, whether on sidewalks or near housing buildings, reflects on the community and gives a negative impression of the neighborhood. Environmental sustainability at the local level should focus on how residents should take care of their carbon footprint and what reso...

St. James Town is a community known notably for its high-rise buildings. However, few people realize that you can eat cuisines from around the world all within a few blocks. You can find restaurants specializing in Korean, Filipino, Caribbean, Indian foods and more - all in St. James Town. Here are three must-visit restaurants in St. James Town. Tinuno is a Filipino restaurant located at 31 Howard Street, located near Sherbourne Street & Howard Street. Tinuno means to cook on a grill or over a hot with extreme heat. They have a wide variety of Filipino cuisines like Tapsilog consisting of smoky beef tapa, garlic rice, 2 eggs + salad. Another interesting dish is Bangsilog. This dish consists of Bangus belly, garlic rice, 2 eggs + salad. To top it off, I recommend that you can end with a beautiful suman dessert. In the words of one dinner,“ the food here delicious, a perfect spot to bring your girl on national girlfriend day ha, ha..” At Tinuno, you can eat foods from all ove...

With an astonishing four playgrounds available for children and youth, St. James Town is really lacking in parks and playgrounds. St James Town has a sea of tall residential buildings like trees in Redwood National Park. Having 19 high rise buildings and 4 low rise buildings with a population of approximately 17,100 to 25,000 residents, St James Town is one of the most highly densely populated neighbourhoods in Toronto. With an immense population of youth and children, lack of playgrounds and parks can lead to negative impact on their health. In 2014, there was a plan to rejuvenate the tennis court beside 260 Wellesley St building and to replace the court with a massive playground. I remember the planning of the park. We had a party at our school organized by planners of the playground. At the party they presented the final designs of the playground being built that would replace the tennis court. Information was given to us to take home to our parents with petitions for them to si...

Accessibility is a human right. Is the St. James Town community failing or passing, on making the area as accessible as possible to people who need it? St. James Town is a diverse and multi-faceted community located in the heart of Toronto, bordering Sherbourne Street to the west, Bloor St E to the north, Parliament Street to the east and Wellesley St E to the south. The community is made up of more than 17,000 residents and is comprised of many high-rises built in the 1960s. Many of the residents that live in St. James Town are senior citizens and require mobility devices and other supports needed to live, work and play independently. The problem is that the St. James Town community is severely lacking in the supports needed to make it a truly accessible community. For example, certain residential buildings like 240 Wellesley may have a ramp but, they have no automatic door push button at the entrance for people with mobility issues to enter or leave. Therefore, people wi...

"It is a waste of time to be angry about my disability. One has got to get on with life." - Stephen Hawking St. Jamestown- is my hometown of ten years. My family and I moved here for the sole reason that where I lived before was not very accessible. We thought Toronto in general would be better, and it was. After a short time of living in St. Jamestown, I was beginning to see that it had some serious accessibility concerns for its residents like me, who have a disability. Something so minor as the curbs on the sidewalks not being leveled, to more serious concerns - like, why every place of business doesn't have a ramp and a handicapped button on the outside. As a person with a disability, I shouldn't have to rely on others to hold doors or to help me get up sidewalk curbs or stairs. At the same time its a horrible feeling to realize that my independence costs the city money. A lot of money. Take the Dollar store on Wellesley and Yonge, for example. The store ...

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 Housin...

Over the past years, the murals and art in St. James Town kept expanding, making it easy to spot paintings and art everywhere.  But why should people care about the murals, and what makes them so important?  St. James Town is a highly dense population with many significant murals surrounding the community, but not many residents acknowledge the amazing art in the neighborhood and how much color and livelihood it gives. Community murals give light and positively to an urban neighborhood full of highrises and lacking in green spaces, like the St. James Town neighborhood. In St. James Town you can notice murals in different areas like around the schools as children pass by, the Wellesley buildings, the grocery stores, restaurants, and many more places. Just by observing the community closely you realize how much of an energetic and vibrant impact murals give off. The murals in St. James Town serve as a visual representation of the connections and stories expressed and told...

Re-imagining the St. James Town West Park through collaborations between City of Toronto, urban planners, consultation firms, youth, Indigenous leaders and St. James residents and community members. St. James Town is in the early stages of being revitalized. The overall goal is to bring significant improvements to the public and open spaces. One of these public places scheduled for redevelopment is the St. James Town West Park, located on the East side of Sherbourne Street just south of Howard Street. It is a key thoroughfare and gateway to the St. James Town Area. The park which measures 4200 sqm (by comparison Dundas Square is 3800 sqm and a Soccer Field is 4050 sqm), is used by area residents as: a place to relax; to enjoy nature; to sit and eat a meal; to spend time with a friend or to be a lone; to walk a pet; as a children’s playtime area; and to engage in sports and games activities. In densely populated areas where the majority of residents live in high-rise dwellin...