Gentrification Of The South Parkdale Neighborhood - 857 Words

The gentrification process can be seen through the demographic and physical changes of the South Parkdale neighborhood. Gentrification is â€Å"the invasion of working-class areas by the upper- and middle-classes, who upgrade shabby, modest housing into elegant residences, resulting in the displacement of all, or most of the original working-class occupiers†. (Lyons, 1996) South Parkdale is a neighborhood in downtown Toronto that faces problems of gentrification. This problem has been ongoing since the nineteen fifty’s’. Thesis: Therefore, focusing on the principal factors that led to South Parkdales economic decline and social problems, consisting of The creation of the Gardiner Expressway started South Parkdales abrupt decline. By 1959, the neighborhood was detached from Lake Ontario; they no longer had access to the waterfront. Due to the placement of the Gardiner Expressway, â€Å"more than one hundred and seventy homes were torn down†. (Slater, 2004) Displacing those whom were forced to pick up and leave. As early as the beginning of the nineteen sixty’s, several high rise apartments were getting built. They built these apartments with the intent to keep those citizens who had lost their homes in the area. In spite of this, because they were low income rental properties, many of the higher and middle class occupants moved to the suburbs. Prior to building the Gardiner Expressway the intensions of building it were to make South Parkdale a place for business; advertising to the