Don Valley Village
Encyclopedia
Don Valley Village is a neighbourhood in the city of Toronto
, Ontario
, Canada
. It is located north of Highway 401, and is bounded by Sheppard Avenue
to the south, Leslie Street to the west, Finch Avenue
to the north and Highway 404 to the east. Like the nearby Don River Valley (to the east), the neighbourhood has hill and dale
topography
.
s in the early 19th century. In 1963, Consolidated Building Corporation developed a large part of Don Valley Village, advertising three-bedroom houses for $16,550, and providing a "trade-in" on purchasers' current houses.
Three historical landmark
s still exist from that period: the Zion Primitive Methodist
Church, the Zion Schoolhouse, and the Alexander Muirhead Victorian
farmhouse. The area currently includes Fairview Mall
, one of Toronto's largest shopping centres. Noteworthy facilities just outside this neighbourhood include North York General Hospital (on the south side of Sheppard Avenue), Seneca College
's Newnham Campus (on the north side of Finch), and the Cummer Park Fitness Centre (on the west side of Leslie, just north of Finch), which is one of Toronto's largest municipally operated recreational facilities.
Don Valley Village contains low- to middle-income housing, and is home to many new Canadian immigrants, including those of Armenian
, Chinese
, West Indian
, East Indian or Middle East
ern descent. The mix of housing here includes split level homes, semi-detached
homes, and family size detached houses featuring Georgian
, Tudor
, and contemporary
-style designs. There are also a large concentration of high-rise
apartment and condominium buildings.
The area is extremely well connected to the rest of the city. Close by is the crossroads of two major freeways (Highway 401 and Highway 404/Don Valley Parkway
). As well, two subways stations, Don Mills Station
– the current eastern terminus
of the Sheppard subway line, which connects with nine Toronto Transit Commission
routes, one York Region Transit
route, and the Viva Green
line – and Leslie Station
are both located within the neighbourhood.
-shaped plot of land created by divergence of the north and southbound lanes of Don Mills Road north of Sheppard Avenue
and south of Finch Avenue
. The north and southbound lanes, known as Don Mills Road West and Don Mills Road East, split and then are re-joined south of Finch Avenue. This configuration was modeled after Queen's Park in downtown Toronto.
The plot of land formed between the divergent lanes is the site of Woodbine Junior High School, Woodbine Public Arena, Oriole Park and the Oriole Community Resource Centre
, Georges Vanier
Secondary School, and the "Peanut Plaza" shopping centre. The areas to the east and west of the Peanut are usually referred to as Don Valley Village. Local teens and youths often refer to the surrounding area as the "Four Corners" due to the location of four notable housing projects in the area (Sparrowways, Villaways, Allenbury Gardens, and Brahms).
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, 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...
. It is located north of Highway 401, and is bounded by Sheppard Avenue
Sheppard Avenue
Sheppard Avenue is an east-west principal arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. A small portion of a continuation of the road in Pickering, Ontario is also called Sheppard Avenue.-History:...
to the south, Leslie Street to the west, Finch Avenue
Finch Avenue
Finch Avenue is an arterial thoroughfare and concession road which travels east–west through the city of Toronto. The road also has short extensions into Peel and Durham Regions as Peel Regional Road 2 and Durham Regional Road 37.-History:...
to the north and Highway 404 to the east. Like the nearby Don River Valley (to the east), the neighbourhood has hill and dale
Valley
In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...
topography
Topography
Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...
.
Demographics
The population in Don Valley Village mainly consists of mostly Muslim Persian and Arab immigrants, with sizable Asian, African and Caribbean populations as well. The areas residents are mostly low to middle income. It is home to four notable housing projects (Sparrowways, Villaways, Allenbury Gardens, and Brahms) which comprise the infamous "4 Corners."Character
The neighbourhood, developed in the 1960s and 1970s, occupies the space that was originally a collection of farming hamletHamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
s in the early 19th century. In 1963, Consolidated Building Corporation developed a large part of Don Valley Village, advertising three-bedroom houses for $16,550, and providing a "trade-in" on purchasers' current houses.
Three historical landmark
Landmark
This is a list of landmarks around the world.Landmarks may be split into two categories - natural phenomena and man-made features, like buildings, bridges, statues, public squares and so forth...
s still exist from that period: the Zion Primitive Methodist
Primitive Methodism
Primitive Methodism was a major movement in English Methodism from about 1810 until the Methodist Union in 1932. The Primitive Methodist Church still exists in the United States.-Origins:...
Church, the Zion Schoolhouse, and the Alexander Muirhead Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
farmhouse. The area currently includes Fairview Mall
Fairview Mall
Fairview Mall is a major shopping centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada of about 80,000 m² , located at the northeast corner of Don Mills Road and Sheppard Avenue in the former borough of North York...
, one of Toronto's largest shopping centres. Noteworthy facilities just outside this neighbourhood include North York General Hospital (on the south side of Sheppard Avenue), Seneca College
Seneca College
Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology is a Canadian public college in the greater Toronto area. Seneca College is currently Canada's largest college with approximately 108,000 students.-History:...
's Newnham Campus (on the north side of Finch), and the Cummer Park Fitness Centre (on the west side of Leslie, just north of Finch), which is one of Toronto's largest municipally operated recreational facilities.
Don Valley Village contains low- to middle-income housing, and is home to many new Canadian immigrants, including those of Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
, Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
, West Indian
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, East Indian or Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
ern descent. The mix of housing here includes split level homes, semi-detached
Semi-detached
Semi-detached housing consists of pairs of houses built side by side as units sharing a party wall and usually in such a way that each house's layout is a mirror image of its twin...
homes, and family size detached houses featuring Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
, Tudor
Tudor architecture
The Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period and even beyond, for conservative college patrons...
, and contemporary
Contemporary architecture
Contemporary architecture is generally speaking the architecture of the present time.The term contemporary architecture is also applied to a range of styles of recently built structures and space which are optimized for current use....
-style designs. There are also a large concentration of high-rise
Tower block
A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, office tower, apartment block, or block of flats, is a tall building or structure used as a residential and/or office building...
apartment and condominium buildings.
The area is extremely well connected to the rest of the city. Close by is the crossroads of two major freeways (Highway 401 and Highway 404/Don Valley Parkway
Don Valley Parkway
The Don Valley Parkway is a controlled-access six-lane municipal expressway in Toronto connecting the Gardiner Expressway in downtown Toronto with Ontario Highway 401, the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway. North of Highway 401, it continues as Ontario Highway 404. The parkway runs through...
). As well, two subways stations, Don Mills Station
Don Mills (TTC)
Don Mills is the eastern terminus station of the Sheppard line of the subway system in Toronto, Canada. It is also a "Vivastation" on the Viva Green line of York Region's Viva bus rapid transit system...
– the current eastern terminus
Train station
A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...
of the Sheppard subway line, which connects with nine Toronto Transit Commission
Toronto Transit Commission
-Island Ferry:The ferry service to the Toronto Islands was operated by the TTC from 1927 until 1962, when it was transferred to the Metro Parks and Culture department. Since 1998, the ferry service is run by Toronto Parks and Recreation.-Gray Coach:...
routes, one 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....
route, and the 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...
line – and Leslie Station
Leslie (TTC)
Leslie is a station on the Sheppard line of the Toronto subway and RT. It is located at 1209 Sheppard Avenue East at Old Leslie Street. It was opened in 2002....
are both located within the neighbourhood.
Schools
- Don Valley Junior High School: a public middle schoolMiddle schoolMiddle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
on Don Mills Road north of the Peanut. It is a dual track school (English and French ImmersionLanguage immersionLanguage immersion is a method of teaching a second language in which the target language is used as the means of instruction. Unlike more traditional language courses, where the target language is simply the subject material, language immersion uses the target language as a teaching tool,...
). There is ESL (English as a second language), Special EducationSpecial educationSpecial education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials,...
, DH, LEAP, and French Immersion.
- Georges Vanier Secondary SchoolGeorges Vanier Secondary SchoolGeorges Vanier Secondary School is a public high school located in Toronto, Ontario.The school was selected by the Canadian Education Association as one of 21 exemplary schools across Canada. There are many specialized courses offered in the school...
: a public high schoolHigh schoolHigh school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
on Don Mills Road in the Peanut area
- St. Matthias Catholic School: an elementary schoolElementary schoolAn elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
located on Van Horne Avenue
- St. Timothy's Catholic School: an elementary school located on Rochelle Crescent. It was founded in 1964. In 2005, a new building was opened to replace the older one. The school currently has approximately 600 students. Some prominent alumni include: actor Scott SpeedmanScott SpeedmanScott Speedman is a British-born Canadian film and television actor. He is best known for playing Ben Covington in the coming-of-age drama television series Felicity and Lycan-Vampire hybrid Michael Corvin in the gothic horror/action Underworld films.-Early life:Speedman was born Robert Scott...
, NBANational Basketball AssociationThe National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
basketball player Jamaal MagloireJamaal MagloireJamaal Dane Magloire is a Canadian professional basketball player who last played for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association . The , center was selected out of the University of Kentucky by the Charlotte Hornets with the 19th overall pick in the 2000 NBA Draft, after withdrawing...
, rapper MaestroMaestro (rapper)Wesley Williams , better known as Maestro and formerly Maestro Fresh-Wes, is a Canadian rapper, record producer, and actor. His pioneering status and outstanding achievements have led to him being referred to as the "Godfather of Canadian hip hop".In 1989 he became the first Canadian rapper to have...
and former Toronto Maple LeafToronto Maple LeafsThe Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
Pat GrahamPat Graham (ice hockey)- Career statistics :-External links:...
.
- Woodbine Junior High School: a public middle school on Don Mills Road in the Peanut area
- Kingslake Public School: an elementary school east of Woodbine Junior High School
- Seneca Hill Public School: an elementary school
- Crestview Public School: an elementary school
- Lescon Public School: an elementary school
- Dallington Public School: an elementary school
The Peanut
Don Valley Village encompasses smaller, non-official neighbourhoods. The most prominent of these is "The Peanut", which is centered on 43°47′00"N 79°21′05"W. It is named for the peanutPeanut
The peanut, or groundnut , is a species in the legume or "bean" family , so it is not a nut. The peanut was probably first cultivated in the valleys of Peru. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing tall...
-shaped plot of land created by divergence of the north and southbound lanes of Don Mills Road north of Sheppard Avenue
Sheppard Avenue
Sheppard Avenue is an east-west principal arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. A small portion of a continuation of the road in Pickering, Ontario is also called Sheppard Avenue.-History:...
and south of Finch Avenue
Finch Avenue
Finch Avenue is an arterial thoroughfare and concession road which travels east–west through the city of Toronto. The road also has short extensions into Peel and Durham Regions as Peel Regional Road 2 and Durham Regional Road 37.-History:...
. The north and southbound lanes, known as Don Mills Road West and Don Mills Road East, split and then are re-joined south of Finch Avenue. This configuration was modeled after Queen's Park in downtown Toronto.
The plot of land formed between the divergent lanes is the site of Woodbine Junior High School, Woodbine Public Arena, Oriole Park and the Oriole Community Resource Centre
Community centre
Community centres or community centers or jumping recreation centers are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole community or for a specialised group within...
, Georges Vanier
Georges Vanier
Major-General Georges-Philéas Vanier was a Canadian soldier and diplomat who served as Governor General of Canada, the 19th since Canadian Confederation....
Secondary School, and the "Peanut Plaza" shopping centre. The areas to the east and west of the Peanut are usually referred to as Don Valley Village. Local teens and youths often refer to the surrounding area as the "Four Corners" due to the location of four notable housing projects in the area (Sparrowways, Villaways, Allenbury Gardens, and Brahms).
External links
- Don Valley Village at TorontoNeighbourhoods
- Don Valley Village neighbourhood profile at the City of Toronto website
- Four Corners - Rap Dictionary