Cornell (Census Tract Number 5350400.01) is a new community being developed in northeast Markham, Ontario

Markham, Ontario

Markham is a town in the Regional Municipality of York, located within the Greater Toronto Area of Southern Ontario, Canada. The population was 261,573 at the 2006 Canadian census...

 and bounded by Highway 407, 16th Avenue, Ninth Line, and the Don Cousens Parkway

York Regional Road 48

Donald Cousens Parkway, regionally designated as York Regional Road 48 and historically known as the Markham Bypass or Markham Bypass Extension, is a regionally maintained arterial bypass of Markham in the Canadian province of Ontario...

.

History

Cornell was conceived in the 1990s planning process by the Town of Markham. Unlike other Markham communities, Cornell is a planned community.

Cornell's name was selected in the 1990s from a suggestion by local lawyer Paul Mingay. Mingay's family roots can be traced back to Susan Emily Cornell, a descendant of William Cornell, settler of Scarborough, Ontario

Scarborough, Ontario

Scarborough is a dissolved municipality within the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it comprises the eastern part of Toronto. It is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the west by Victoria Park Avenue, on the north by Steeles Avenue East, and on the east by the Rouge River...

. Later Cornells settled in Markham, Ontario

Markham, Ontario

Markham is a town in the Regional Municipality of York, located within the Greater Toronto Area of Southern Ontario, Canada. The population was 261,573 at the 2006 Canadian census...

 and married into the Reesor

David Reesor

David Reesor was an Ontario businessman and political figure. He was a Liberal member of the Senate of Canada for King's division from 1867 to 1901....

 family. William Cornell immigrated to Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 from Rhode Island

Rhode Island

The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

 is a distant relative of Ezra Cornell

Ezra Cornell

Ezra Cornell was an American businessman and education administrator. He was a founder of Western Union and a co-founder of Cornell University...

, founder of Cornell University

Cornell University

Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

.

Community Description

Most of the houses are townhomes, semi-detached or detached houses with garages at the rear. The communities are built with central amenities in order to contain suburban sprawl. Cornell was seen by the Markham Town Council

Markham Town Council

The Markham Town Council is the governing body of Markham, Ontario, Canada. It is composed of the Mayor, eight Councillors who each represent one of the town's eight Wards, and four Regional Councillors who, along with the Mayor, are elected by the community to represent the Town of Markham at...

 as a way to deter the ongoing sprawl by encouraging residential density. The community, particularly Cornell Village, is an example of new urbanism

New urbanism

New Urbanism is an urban design movement, which promotes walkable neighborhoods that contain a range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, and has gradually continued to reform many aspects of real estate development, urban planning, and municipal land-use...

, designed as a walkable neighborhood with a variety of housing types and retail. Cornell Village, between Highway 7 and 16th Avenue, is fully populated with medium density residential. The southern section of Cornell (south of Highway 7), however, is not populated, and remains as a wild field and a farm.

Demography

Subdivisions within Cornell

Cornell can be further separated by development phases:

• Grand Cornell - locate near Highway 7
  Highway 7 (Ontario)
  King's Highway 7, commonly referred to as Highway 7 and historically as the Northern Highway, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario...
  
   and 9th Line and built by builders H&R, GreenPark and CountryWide

• Upper Cornell - located near 16th Avenue and 9th Line and built by builders Aspen Ridge or Beaverbrook

• Cornell Village - located between 16th Avenue and Highway 7
  Highway 7 (Ontario)
  King's Highway 7, commonly referred to as Highway 7 and historically as the Northern Highway, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario...
  
   along 9th Line to Cornell Center Blvd; built by builders Mattamy or Ballantry

• Cornell Rouge - Located east side of Cornell Center Blvd to Donald Cousens Way between 16th Avenue and Highway 7
  Highway 7 (Ontario)
  King's Highway 7, commonly referred to as Highway 7 and historically as the Northern Highway, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario...
  
  ; built by builders of Madison Homes and Forest Hill

The remaining portions of Cornell are still non-agricultural grasslands, but it will slowly disappear with further development.

Air

The development is not far from the proposed Pickering Airport

Pickering Airport

Pickering Airport is a proposed international airport for the Greater Toronto Area, to be located in the city of Pickering, Ontario, Canada, 50 kilometres north-east of downtown Toronto, and 65 kilometres east of Toronto Pearson International Airport...

 and once one of the sites for landfill

Landfill

A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...

s in the Greater Toronto Area

Greater Toronto Area

The Greater Toronto Area is the largest metropolitan area in Canada, with a 2006 census population of 5.5 million. The Greater Toronto Area is usually defined as the central city of Toronto, along with four regional municipalities surrounding it: Durham, Halton, Peel, and York...

. Toronto/Markham Airport

Toronto/Markham Airport

Markham Airport or Toronto/Markham Airport, , is a private airport operating north of Markham, Ontario, Canada near Toronto.The airport is owned and operated by Markham Airport Inc. and owned by a numbered Ontario company owned by the Thomson family of Toronto. The airport is not part of the...

 is located north in Dickson Hill, Ontario

Dickson Hill, Ontario

Dickson Hill is a small community in northeast Markham, Ontario and is located near Highway 48 and 19th Avenue, on the border to Whitchurch-Stouffville....

. This area is mianly served by Toronto Pearson International Airport

Toronto Pearson International Airport

Toronto Pearson International Airport is an international airport serving Toronto, Ontario, Canada; its metropolitan area; and the Golden Horseshoe, an urban agglomeration that is home to 8.1 million people – approximately 25% of Canada's population...

 for normal civilian air travel.

Public Transit

Transportation links to the community include GO Transit

GO Transit

GO Transit is an inter-regional public transit system in Southern Ontario, Canada. It primarily serves the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area conurbation, with operations extending to several communities beyond the GTHA proper in the Greater Golden Horseshoe...

, and York Region Transit

York Region Transit

York Region Transit is the public transit operator in York Region, Ontario, Canada. Its headquarters are in Richmond Hill, at 50 High Tech Road....

.
The Markham-Stouffville Hospital YRT Terminal temporarily serves Cornell with several YRT routes:

• 1 Highway 7
• 2A 14th Avenue
• 4A Major Mackenzie (Rush Hour Only)
• 9 Stouffville Via Ninth Line
• 18 Bur Oak
• 85 Rutherford/16th
• 303 Cornell Express (to be renamed Bur Oak Express)
• 522 Markham Community

The Markham Stouffville Hospital Terminal is a temporary terminal serving Cornell and the nearby areas. The York Region Transit authority is currently building a permanent bus terminal, namely Cornell Terminal, located at the Don Cousens Way

York Regional Road 48

Donald Cousens Parkway, regionally designated as York Regional Road 48 and historically known as the Markham Bypass or Markham Bypass Extension, is a regionally maintained arterial bypass of Markham in the Canadian province of Ontario...

 and Highway 7

Highway 7 (Ontario)

King's Highway 7, commonly referred to as Highway 7 and historically as the Northern Highway, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario...

. The temporary terminal at Markham Stouffville Hospital will shut down upon completion of the new terminal. The completion date is not yet to be known.

There is also one VIVA

Viva (bus rapid transit)

Viva is a bus rapid transit service operating in York Region, Ontario, Canada. Viva service is integrated with York Region Transit's local bus service to operate as one regional transit system providing seamless transit service across York Region and connections to northern Toronto.Viva was...

 line serving the area, namely Viva Purple

Viva Purple

Viva Purple, or the York University/Richmond Hill/Cornell line, is a line on the Viva bus rapid transit system in York Region, north of Toronto, Canada...

. Viva Purple terminates at the Markham Stouffville Hospital as well, with plans in the future stretching to Cornell Permanent Terminal. Viva Green

Viva Green

Viva Green, or the Don Mills-McCowan-Cornell line, is a bus rapid transit line in York Region, north of Toronto, Canada.There are 11 stations on the Viva Green line between Don Mills Station and McCowan Road in Markham...

, currently ending at McCowan Vivastation, is also planned to extend its service into Cornell via the Highway 7 corridor.

Road

Major roadways in the community include:

• 16th Avenue
• 9th Line
• Don Cousens Parkway
  York Regional Road 48
  Donald Cousens Parkway, regionally designated as York Regional Road 48 and historically known as the Markham Bypass or Markham Bypass Extension, is a regionally maintained arterial bypass of Markham in the Canadian province of Ontario...
  
  
• Cornell Center Blvd
• Bur Oak Avenue
• Highway 7
  Highway 7 (Ontario)
  King's Highway 7, commonly referred to as Highway 7 and historically as the Northern Highway, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario...
  
   - soon to be renamed as Avenue 7

Planned Development

• Community Center with Library (under construction, to be finished by 2013)
• Fire hall (under construction, to be finished by 2012)
• Lindvest Condo and Retail Development - 1,300 condo units, 50 live/work and commercial/retail/office space located on the South side of Hwy 7

Education

Most children in the area are bused to schools outside Cornell.

• Cornell Village P.S: accepts students mostly from Cornell.
• Little Rouge P.S: located just in Upper Cornell. Students living in Grand Cornell, Cornell Rouge, Cornell and Upper Cornell and students from the farmlands northeast of Markham
  Markham, Ontario
  Markham is a town in the Regional Municipality of York, located within the Greater Toronto Area of Southern Ontario, Canada. The population was 261,573 at the 2006 Canadian census...
  
  attend Little Rouge Public School.
• Unamed Cornell P.S N.E is currently planned to be built and it's due open on September of 2012 due to the overflow of both Little Rouge P.S and Cornell Village P.S. The planned boundary are that to accept all students from Cornell Rouge and some from Cornell Village.
• Cornell Secondary School is currently planned for 2015, near the proposed community centre.
• Two additional public school and one Catholic school is also planned by 2015.
• The York Region Catholic School Board has a site reserved for a secondary school.