Richmond Hill, Ontario

Town of Richmond Hill
Richmond Hill's Central Business District (Highway 7 / Leslie Street) Skyline, as seen from Times Square
Flag
Motto: En la rose, je fleuris (French for "Like the rose, I flourish")
Map showing Richmond Hill's location in York Region
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
Regional municipality	York Region
Incorporated as a village	January 1, 1873
Incorporated as a town	1957
Government
- Mayor	Dave Barrow
- Governing Body	Richmond Hill Town Council
- MPs	Lui Temelkovski, Bryon Wilfert
- MPPs	Helena Jaczek, Reza Moridi
Area [1]
- Total	100.89 km² (39 sq mi)
Population (2006)[2]
- Total	162,704 (Ranked 28th)
- Density	1,612.7/km² (4,176.9/sq mi)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	Eastern (EDT) (UTC-4)
Postal Code spans	L4B, L4C, L4E, L4S
Area code(s)	905/289
Twin Cities
- Lakeland, Florida[3]	United States
- Shijiazhuang	People's Republic of China
Website: richmondhill.ca

Richmond Hill (2006 population 162,704, 2008 Estimate: 181,000^[4]) is the third most populous town in York Region, just north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area.

History

Main article: History of Richmond Hill, Ontario

The Regional Municipality of York was established by Bill 102 An Act to Establish the Regional Municipality of York of the provincial parliament, passed on June 26, 1970 and coming into force on January 1, 1971.^[5] The act expanded Richmond Hill's borders, annexing parts of Whitchurch Township, Markham Township, Vaughan Township and King Township into Richmond Hill, expanding the area covered from 1,700 acres (6.9 km²) to 27,000 acres (110 km²) and the population from a little over 19000 to some 34000. The town grew to encompass the communities of Gormley, Dollar, Langstaff, Carrville, Headford, Elgin Mills, Jefferson, Bond Lake, Temperanceville, Lake Wilcox, Oak Ridges and Richvale. While Richmond Hill was a prosperous, well developed town, many of the outlying areas annexed were far more rural, with dirt roads, no water mains or sewers and no streetlights, and the time needed to bring municipal services up in these areas, combined with residual unequal tax assessments caused considerable conflict in the municipal politics for some time. Policing was taken over by the York Regional Police, but fire protection remained with Richmond Hill, whose firefighting force quickly grew. Having hired its first full time employee in 1967, it had fourteen full time employees by 1971.

Yonge Street through Richmond Hill expanded from two lanes to four in 1971, relieving congestion on what had become known as "Ontario's worst stretch of highway".^[5]

The Richmond Hill Dynes Jewellers softball team was the 1972 Softball World Champions.^[5] The Royal Canadian Air Farce was recorded at the Curtain Club Theatre in Richmond Hill for its first 5 seasons on radio, beginning in 1973.^[6] The Air Farce returned for an anniversary recording in the 1990s. Also in 1973 was the centennial of the town's incorporation as a village, and the town set up a number of celebratory activities, including a beard growing contest, commissioning a centennial song, a parade, a street dance and the unveiling of an historic plaque honouring the town's founding in front of the municipal offices. June 27 was officially declared Russell Lynett Day, named after the town's clerk, only the third in its existence. 1973 also saw the sale of the last of the original rose growing greenhouses in Richmond Hill. Development had lead to increasing property taxes and the H.J. Mills greenhouses relocated to Bayview Avenue and Elgin Mill Road. The site of the greenhouses was developed as a subdivision. The fast growing town set aside significant areas for parks, with five new parks dedicated in 1973, and two more in 1974. The Richmond Hill Historical Society was founded in 1973.^[5] The society was dedicated to preserving the history of Richmond Hill and raising awareness of the town's history. Their first action was to restore 150 year old house, known as the Burr House.

As the 1970s went on, the population growth of Richmond Hill remained large. In 1976, home prices in Richmond Hill were among the highest in Canada.^[5] By this time, the town council was split over whether to keep expanding rapidly. The deadlock over a fifty-five house subdivision named Springmills Estate lead to one councillor saying that it was not the reform council it was dubbed, but a "deformed council". Other housing projects faced similar problems as councillors debated many things, including the need for affordable housing and the encroachment of homes into the farmland and the Oak Ridges Moraine.

GO train service was extended to Richmond Hill in 1978, officially opened on April 29, 1978 by Bill Davis.^[7]

Growth in Richmond Hill slowed towards the end of the 1970s, with M.L. McConaghy Public School closing in 1979 due to dropping enrollment.^[5] At the same time, Richmond Hill began to make official plans for future land development. The first official plan concerned a 700-acre (2.8 km²) industrial park at Leslie Street and Highway 7 named Beaver Creek. A commercial area within the park spread into the hamlet of Dollar. The plan was rejected, however, by the Ontario Municipal Board, and Richmond Hill was the first municipality in Ontario to have its official plan rejected outright by the board. The whole affair was subject to much controversy in the community, although the town council eventually declined to appeal the decision.

When the new council convened in 1980, lead by new mayor Al Duffy, the town remained without a development plan. The council hired civic planner Peter Walker to produce a new official plan. By September 1981, the new plan was draft, with limited development of northern Richmond Hill, industrial development centred in the south-east part of town and commercial centres remaining along Yonge Street.^[8] The plan was approved in July 1982 by the Ontario Municipal Board.

A clash over the use of the land in Langstaff, known as the Langstaff Jail Farm erupted in 1982 between Richmond Hill and Toronto, which owned the land.^[9] The 632-acre (2.56 km²) plot of land had been acquired by Toronto in 1911, and was unused in 1982. Toronto's plans for development clashed with those of Richmond Hill over the balance of industry and residential development, with Richmond Hill favouring more industrial development.^[10]

The rose business left Richmond Hill in June 1982, with the closure of H.J. Mills florists. Mills had died in 1980 leaving the company to his son, but the poor economic conditions, combined with increasing property taxes in the growing city made the business unprofitable.^[8] A 1984 contest organised by The Liberal had readers submit entries for a new town slogan. The town council choose three of the submissions which residents then voted on, and "A little north, a little nicer" became Richmond Hill's new town slogan.

Richmond Hill's growth continued explosively in the 1990s, fueled in significant part by immigration. In the early 90s, Statistics Canada named Richmond Hill as the fastest growing community in Canada.^[11] The demographic base began to change too, with the Richmond Hill Association for Multiculturalism founded in 1989 by Jay Chauhan. Today, Richmond Hill is a multicultural town, with a Hebrew school, a Hindu temple, Chinese language churches, and other facilities serving the needs of the communities.

Culture

Politics

The town's motto is En la rose, je fleuris (French for "Like the rose, I flourish"), reflecting either the motto of the Duke of Richmond, or the fact that the town was a center of rose-growing in the early 20th century. At that time, it was known as the "Rose Capital" of Canada. A more recent motto is A little north, a little nicer, in reference to the smaller, quieter lifestyle there as opposed to the metropolis of Toronto further south.

Richmond Hill is the only municipal Canadian government to have light pollution laws in place due to the presence of the David Dunlap Observatory.

Governance

The town is governed by the Richmond Hill Town Council, which operates on a Mayor-Council system with six Ward Councillors and two Regional Councillors, plus the Mayor. The council serves a four year term, after which a new council is elected by qualified electors in Richmond Hill. The current council's term expires November 30, 2010.

The council derives its authority primarily from the Municipal Act, 2001 and the amendments of the Municipal Law Amendment Act, 2006.^[12] Richmond Hill is a lower-tier municipality and has the roles and responsibilities of that position. The municipality has a wide purview relating to the interests of the municipality and its residents to develop and maintain policies, practices and procedures through the issuing of bylaws relating to highways, transportation systems apart from highways, waste management, public utilities, culture, parks, recreation and heritage, drainage and flood control, parking, animals, economic development and the licensing of business. The town in also responsible for maintaining its finances in order to provide relevant services and for maintaining an official plan to guide development.

Elections

Main article: Elections in Richmond Hill, Ontario

Elections for municipal offices are held every four years in conjunction with other municipal elections in Ontario. Elected positions include mayor, regional and local councillor and ward councillors (for six different wards) on the Richmond Hill Town Council, as well as trustees for the York Region District School Board, the York Catholic District School Board and for Conseilleres (school trustees) for the Conseil scolaire de district du Centre-Sud-Ouest and Conseil scolaire de district catholique Centre-Sud. The mayor and regional and local councillors also serve on York Regional Council.

Recreation

Richmond Hill has 166 parks, mostly small urban parks and 544 hectares of undeveloped natural area for recreation.^[13] The largest such park is Richmond Green Sports Centre and Park which includes several baseball diamonds, a skating rink, a 300-person amphitheatre and a skateboard park.^[14] Additionally, each summer, the town features a concert series entitled "Concerts in the Park". Each concert has a specific theme, such as children's music and "The Beach Boys", and all are very popular. These series are held by Mill Pond and the Richmond Green. The Richmond Hill Heritage Centre serves as a museum of the town's history. It also runs a variety of programmes related to the town's history.^[15]

Richmond Hill was a winner in the 2003 National Communities in Bloom competition, with a special mention about the town's floral displays.

Sport clubs

• Richmond Hill Aquatic Club
• Richmond Hill Curling Club^[16]
• Richmond Senators - Soccer
• Richmond Hill Soccer Club^[17]
• Richmond Hill Baseball Club^[18]
• Richmond Hill Stars - Hockey Club^[19]
• Richmond Hill Rowing Club
• Richmond Hill Raiders - Basketball Club
• Richmond Hill Gymnastics Club
• Richmond Training Centre - Figure Skating
• Richmond Hill Rams - Junior A Hockey Club
• Richmond Hill Lightning - Ringette Club
• Richmond Hill Squash Club

Demographics

Richmond Hill is now one of the fastest growing communities in Canada, with a large and multicultural population. It had 162,704^[2] residents according to the 2006 Census, representing 23% growth from the 2001 Census^[1] which was more than four times the Canadian average during that period.^[20] Among the forty seven Canadian census subdivisions with populations over 100 000, only Brampton, Vaughan, Whitby, Markham and Barrie had faster growth rates.^[21] In 2001, the town had been recognised as the fasting growing "large" municipality in Canada by Statistics Canada.^[22] The town's population is projected to exceed 200,000 by the year 2015.^[23]

Ethnic and religious groups

In the Canada 2006 Census,^[1] the self-reported visible minority and religious groups in Richmond Hill were:

History

Population growth in Richmond Hill

Economy

Richmond Hill is a comparatively wealthy community. The average household income was $100 900 in 2003, which was 34% higher than the Canadian average that year, and 26% higher than the Ontario average.^[23] The 1990s and 2000s are a period of strong economic growth for Richmond Hill; In 1999 industrial, commercial and institutional growth was valued at $88.9 million, up from $67.9 million in 1998. The economic growth of 1999 won the town's economic development department three provincial awards from the Economic Developers Council of Ontario.^[36] The border between Richmond Hill and Markham is a rapidly growing area for information technology and high-tech industry with over 1000 such businesses located along their border in 2000.^[37]

The labour force is divided into many areas, with no one area dominating the economic activity of Richmond Hill. The 2001 Canadian census showed some 76 245 people employed in Richmond Hill, with 43 675 employed full time. The participation rate in the labour force was 69.9%, with 66.4% of people actually employed. The unemployment rate was thus a low 5.0%, compared with the 7.4% unemployment rate across Canada as a whole during that period.^[1]

Most business in Richmond Hill are small businesses, with more than half of all employers in the town having four workers or less.^[4] The town is home to the corporate headquarters of Acklands Grainger Inc., Apotex Inc., Black & Decker Canada, Compugen Inc., Compuware Canada, Dynatec Corporation, Levi Strauss Canada, Lexmark Canada, Mazda Canada, Rogers Communication (Ontario), Science & Medicine Canada, Staples Business Depot and Suzuki Canada.^[38]

Education

The York Region District School Board operates 25 public elementary schools in Richmond Hill, with 5 additional elementary schools in the planning stage.^[39] It also operates 5 secondary schools in Richmond Hill: Alexander Mackenzie High School, Bayview Secondary School, Langstaff Secondary School, Richmond Green Secondary School and Richmond Hill High School. Published reviews of the school system rate it favourably. Students in schools in the York Region District School Board have scored above the provincial average on the Assessment of Reading, Writing and Mathematics, Primary Division (Grades 1–3) and Junior Division (Grades 4–6) since their introduction in 2002.^[40] The board's students in academic math streams have performed above the provincial average on the Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics every year since its inception in 2002, while those in applied math streams were below the provincial average in 2002-2005, and above the provincial average from 2005-2007. A Fraser Institute report rated Richmond Hill High School as providing the best education among public high schools in Ontario in 2001.^[41]

The York Catholic District School Board operates 13 Catholic elementary schools in Richmond Hill. It also operates 1 Catholic secondary school, St. Theresa of Lisieux Catholic High School, with a second, Jean Vanier Catholic High School slated to open in 2009.^[42]

There are also three private primary schools located in Richmond Hill, and three private secondary schools, including Holy Trinity School.^[43]

The only post-secondary school located within Richmond Hill is Seneca College, which maintains a campus in Richmond Hill.^[44] Beyond this, post-secondary education services are provided to the residents of Richmond Hill by other post-secondary educational institutions in Toronto.

Regions

Southern Richmond Hill is home to the town's and industrial region housing most of the town's hotels, as well as the main commercial area of the town's Chinese community. The northern part of town is considered to be Old Richmond Hill as it is a historical area. Central Richmond Hill is a very commercial area, housing multiple malls, plazas and entertainment buildings, such as theatres and restaurants. The northern most part of the town is mostly farm land, though it is slowly being developed.

During the 1990s, Chinese immigrants primarily from Hong Kong moved to Richmond Hill, where they set up businesses and shops catering to the community. Many shops and restaurants were established in suburban-style shopping malls and plazas (such as Times Square, Commerce Gate) along a stretch of Highway 7 between Bayview Avenue and Leslie Street. The most intense development is concentrated around the Commerce Valley Drive/Beaver Creek Road loop. Some of the well-known higher end Chinese banquet restaurants are in this area.

Mill Pond

Mill Pond is a park located in the southern region of Richmond Hill. It is based around an old mill pond, hence the name Mill Pond. The park has numerous trails and is home to a variety of wildlife species such as swans, beavers and snakes. The park is used to host a multitude of town events ranging from a winter carnival to concerts and flower shows. Every year, the pond is home to the Richmond Hill Winter Carnival.

Oak Ridges

Oak Ridges is a largely residential area in northern Richmond Hill, which was amalgamated into the town in 1971.

Yonge Street

"Downtown" Richmond Hill is considered the strip of Yonge Street between Major Mackenzie in the south and Richmond Heights in the north. For years this street was infamous for equal numbers of churches and strip clubs/adults only stores. Directly across from the community centre was the bright pink "Fantasia" strip club. Not far down the street stood Richmond Hill's oldest church. Fantasia burnt under suspicious circumstances although no allegations were ever made by the authorities. Most of the "Adult Only" stores are now closed and are replaced by more civic-oriented structures. In 2007, the former "Fantasia" property was levelled, and development of a new exclusive condominium started, adding to a mix of upscale and small town charm that makes up the much improved downtown area.

Construction of a new theatre in the town's downtown core is proceeding. It will open in 2009.

Transportation

Road networks

The town of Richmond Hill is very well serviced in terms of transportation facilities for a community of its size. The eastern border of the town is Highway 404, a major highway which leads directly into the downtown core of the City of Toronto via the Don Valley Parkway (DVP) followed by the Gardiner Expressway. It also intersects Highway 401 which is one of the most traversed highways on the planet and is the principal east/west route in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The town's southern border is defined by the former Highway 7 and a parallel expressway, Highway 407. The latter is a toll route (the only currently existing in the province) and was designed as a bypass for the 401. The combined effect of these highways ensures that Richmond Hill is well integrated into Ontario’s road network and has easy access for all road vehicles. It is worth noting that the ease of accessing the town is threatened by increasing traffic due to growth in the region as the resulting exhaustive commutes (sometimes several hours in the winter) greatly diminish the usefulness of the road network.

Public transit

Public transit within the town of Richmond Hill is on buses co-ordinated by York Region Transit (YRT). In September 2005, YRT unveiled a new rapid transit initiative entitled VIVA which provides enhanced bus service on major routes using vehicles capable of speeding up traffic lights to lessen the time they idle. YRT also operates several feeder routes on secondary streets in the town. While reaction to the VIVA program has been very positive and the funding provided considerable, there hasn’t been as large an increase in commuter use as was hoped. Commuter train service is provided to the town by GO Transit on the Richmond Hill line with two stations in the town, Richmond Hill Station and Langstaff Station. Langstaff Station is near the new Richmond Hill Centre Terminal of York Region Transit at Highway 7 and Yonge Street, and is connected to it (a pedestrian bridge over the railway tracks is completed in March 2008).

Alternative transportation

Richmond Hill is minimally serviced by other modes of transportation. Its landlocked situation inhibits any water transportation and it lacks an airport of its own, though it does border on Markham's Buttonville Airport. The closest large airport is Pearson International Airport.

Geography

The predominant feature of the town's geography, as its name suggests, is its elevation above surrounding regions. Thousands of years ago during the last ice-age, glaciers moving in a southerly direction amassed a considerable amount of earth in front of them which they carried forward as they grew. Gradually, as the temperature increased the growth of the glaciers lessened and eventually they began to recede to what is now the polar ice cap. The earth that had been collected by the glacier's movement however was left in place and the elevated region that remained comprises modern day Richmond Hill.

The town itself is at a much greater elevation than other communities within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and with exclusion of areas closely alongside its borders, the constituent of York region with the greatest height above sea level. The uneven melting of the glacier that formed the town has led to an extremely varied geography within the town's own borders, leading to such features as kettle lakes, minor tributaries and most notably the Oak Ridges Moraine.

Kettle lakes are the result of glacier water getting caught in water-tight depressions in the land and are sustained by only rainfall in the immediate area. The Town of Richmond Hill has many of these water bodies and its three largest in order of decreasing size are Lake Wilcox, Bond Lake and Philips Lake. The kettle lakes are predominantly confined to the northern fringes of the town.

Being elevated above the surrounding region, precipitation in the town tends to flow outwards via the multitude of streams and rivers that flow through the town. Principally water flow is in one of two directions, south to Lake Ontario or north to Lake Simcoe where they join up with larger tributaries that feed into the water bodies. Of note, are the Rouge and Don rivers which receive some of their flow from sources in the town.

Perhaps the most important geographical feature of the Town of Richmond Hill is the Oak Ridges Moraine. The moraine is a further elevated region of loose soil which comprises a significant portion (roughly the northern third) of the land area of the town. Its porous nature allows the collection and natural filtering of waters that flow through it which are then fed into multiple underground aquifers. While the town receives its water from the City of Toronto, these aquifers are an important source for those with their own wells in addition to surrounding communities. The ability of the soil to hold so much water means that despite Richmond Hill's comparatively high elevation, it has a very high water table which poses some problems to construction. The moraine is also host to a staggering amount of biodiversity and in recent years there has been a considerable amount of pressure applied to government to shield the area from development. Consequently, a considerable portion of Richmond Hill is subject to the Ontario Government's Greenbelt legislation.

Landmarks

A motel on Yonge Street is known to display rhymes and provocative quotes on their sign. These quotes usually relate to current events and often are right-wing. The signage often denigrates progressive causes and denigrated either the Federal or the provincial Liberals. The hotel also displays pro-Conservative advertisements. The film, Man of the Year, starring Robin Williams was filmed at Emerald Isle Motel in late 2005. This motel also was featured in the film The Wrong Guy.

The David Dunlap Observatory is home to the largest reflecting telescope in Canada. The 74-inch (1,900 mm) telescope was the second largest in the world upon its construction in 1935. The observatory is a research facility of the University of Toronto.

Media

• Richmond Hill Liberal

Personalities

Famous people from Richmond Hill include world-champion figure skater Elvis Stojko, figure skater Emmanuel Sandhu, actor Mag Ruffman, actor R.H. Thomson, author and professor Craig Walker, wrestler Trish Stratus, professional ice hockey players Jeff O'Neill and Michael Cammalleri, and popular children's author Gordon Korman. Famous novelist Farley Mowatt grew up in Richmond Hill, and even attended Richmond Hill High School. In addition, a number of prominent musicians and composers cite Richmond Hill as their home town. These include the country music & bluegrass band The Good Brothers, composer Steve Sexton, and singer/songwriter Lorne Clarke.

References

External links

• Town of Richmond Hill
• Early Days in Richmond Hill: A History of the Community to 1930
• Communities in Bloom
• R. Soccer club
• Ontario Plaques - de Puisaye Settlement
• Ontario Plaques - Founding of Richmond Hill
• Ontario Plaques - Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Moodie

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