Malvern, Toronto
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Malvern is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with a population of 50,000. It is located in the northeast corner of the city, in the former City of Scarborough. Scarborough was merged with five other municipalities and a regional government to form the new City of Toronto in 1998. There are over 60 different cultures represented in Malvern, with the most dominant ethnic groups being people of Black Canadian and Indo-Canadian background, along with a large handful of Srilankan tamils. It has the highest concentration of young people in Canada.[1]
Although Malvern has had a negative reputation as a community plagued with violence, conditions in the community have been improving following Project Impact. Hundreds of officers from the Greater Toronto Area have cracked down on known associates of the "Malvern Crew" street gang in early morning raids across the city on May 12, 2004. During the raids, 71 warrants were executed resulting in the arrest of 65 people. Later raids, and the implementation of Project Pathfinder would result in arrests of the Malvern Crew's rival gang, the "Galloway Boys", in West Hill.
Other important factors that have contributed to the improvement of living conditions in the community include the major renovation of the Malvern Branch of the Toronto Public Library, the construction of new housing developments in the neighbourhood, the opening of a new park in 2004, and the opening of the Nike Malvern Sports Complex in 2006. The Toronto Zoo, the Rouge River, and the Rouge Valley Park are also located in Malvern, as was Mammoth Hall, a wooden structure that was once a municipal office, meeting hall and curling rink. Also, the Malvern Community Coalition serves as an active incorporated, non-profit, grassroots community organization which exists to promote and enhance the Malvern Community by engaging, empowering, and connecting community, organizations and institutions.[2]
Malvern is served by Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) buses (131 Nugget, 132 Milner, 133 Neilson, 134 Progress, 39 Finch East, 116 Morningside, 85 Sheppard East, & the 102 Markham). In the 1980s, there was a plan to bring rapid transit to Malvern by extending the TTC's Scarborough Rapid Transit line, but lack of government funding prevented any extension of the line. In August 2006, Scarborough city councillors rallied for the expansion of the Scarborough RT, or it's possible light-rail replacement to the Malvern community.
[edit] History
The history of Malvern began in 1856, when the Malvern Post Office was opened in David Brown's general store, which stood at the south-east corner of Finch Avenue and Markham Road. This post office was named after a resort town in England. A year after the post office was opened, Senator David Reesor — formerly of Markham Village — began selling "Village Lots" in Malvern. Reesor trumpeted Malvern as the future "Capital of Scarborough," anticipating that the Grand Trunk Railway would extend a branch line through here. Unfortunately, when the Grand Trunk Railway began service to this area in 1871, it bypassed Malvern in favour of the neighbouring village of Agincourt.
While Malvern never did become a prosperous railway centre, it flourished as a farming community for over one hundred years. In the late 1950s, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation expropriated Malvern's farms to build a "model community" of affordable homes. The first residents of this modern day Malvern community moved into their homes in 1972.
The former Malvern Schoolhouse, built in 1872, is still standing today at 5810 Finch Avenue, and is now a private school named Whitfield Christian Academy. Other important community hubs include: the Malvern Town Centre shopping mall, the local public high school - Lester B. Pearson C.I., and the local Catholic high school - Blessed Mother Teresa C.S.S. Confusingly, the Toronto high school known as Malvern Collegiate Institute has no connection to the Malvern neighbourhood, being located many miles to the southwest in The Beaches neighbourhood.
