West Kildonan, Winnipeg

West Kildonan is a residential suburb of Winnipeg, Manitoba, lying on the west side of the Red River, and immediately north of the old City of Winnipeg in the north-central part of the city. It is bounded by the Red River on the east, the north limit of Kildonan Golf Course, Main Street, Seaforth Avenue, the Canadian Pacific Railway Winnipeg Beach Subdivision, and Templeton Avenue on the north, McPhillips Street on the west, and Carruthers Avenue, McGregor Street, and the lane between McAdam and Smithfield Avenues on the south. The population was 23,905 as of the 2001 Census and 24,225 as of the 2006 Census (source Statistics Canada).

The area has a large park called Kildonan Park.

History

The Battle of Seven Oaks was fought in what is now West Kildonan in 1816. The area was part of the original Municipality of Kildonan which was established in 1876. Kildonan was divided in eastern and western halves in 1914 and the more heavily developed areas of West Kildonan separated from areas which remained primarily rural (Old Kildonan) to assume the current boundaries in 1921. West Kildonan is one of Winnipeg's earliest residential suburbs. The areas east of the CPR Winnipeg Beach tracks and south of Hartford Avenue were substantially developed by the 1910s and 1920s. West of the tracks, the Garden City neighbourhood was developed in the 1950s and 1960s, as was the area north of Hartford Avenue east of the tracks. The Garden Park community located north of Leila Avenue and west of the CPR tracks was developed beginning in the late 1970s and is continuing to expand today.

Demographics

West Kildonan attracted many people from Winnipeg's working class North End who became more affluent beginning after World War I, but who wished to remain close to their roots. To this day, the area has a large Eastern European population. Much of the West Kildonan Jewish population has more recently now shifted to the South End, where there already was a significant Jewish presence. Until then, Garden City was one of Canada's largest Jewish neighbourhoods.

Trivia

Prior to 1972, it was the independent City of West Kildonan. Today, it is a suburb of the City of Winnipeg.