Revitalization of historic ethnic enclaves

[King of Kensington]

What are some examples of old ethnic communities where the older generation has moved on, but have been somewhat revitalized (albeit not anywhere near its peak) by younger generations "moving back"?

The best example I can think of is the revitalization of the Jewish community in the Spadina-College-Harbord area in recent decades. For instance, there's a recently established Makom, a downtown Jewish organization that opened its office on College (and currently has the old Yiddish signage from Mendel's Creamery on display https://www.thestar.com/entertainme...mandels-sign-remounted-on-college-street.html). Caplansky's at College and Brunswick. Free Times has been there since the 80s and does a Jewish brunch on Sundays with klezmer music. The Narayever synagogue on Brunswick, rather than move follow the community movement north, held out until around 1980 or so when the old timers gave way to a new generation of downtown academics and professionals. The JCC at Bloor and Spadina underwent big renovations maybe 15 years ago.

What about some other communities where this is occurring? There was a piece in the Star about Little Portugal two years ago (https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...gals_death_have_been_greatly_exaggerated.html) - which gives the example of a Portuguese restaurant replacing a hipster joint and the continued Portuguese presence in the area, though I think it overlooks the role of Brazilian and Angolan immigration to the area.

Chinatown - with its proximity to U of T - may start to see a revitalization from younger generations. Incidentally you could can see a bit of a "pan-Asian" district around Bay and Dundas, the very old Chinatown.

 

[christiesplits]

While the Greek population of the Danforth and East York is a fraction of what it was thirty years ago, much of the nightlife along the Danforth strip seems geared towards Greek and Eastern European millennials who make the trip down from the 905 on the weekends.

 

[prosperegal]

What are some examples of old ethnic communities where the older generation has moved on, but have been somewhat revitalized (albeit not anywhere near its peak) by younger generations "moving back"?

The best example I can think of is the revitalization of the Jewish community in the Spadina-College-Harbord area in recent decades. For instance, there's a recently established Makom, a downtown Jewish organization that opened its office on College (and currently has the old Yiddish signage from Mendel's Creamery on display https://www.thestar.com/entertainme...mandels-sign-remounted-on-college-street.html). Caplansky's at College and Brunswick. Free Times has been there since the 80s and does a Jewish brunch on Sundays with klezmer music. The Narayever synagogue on Brunswick, rather than move follow the community movement north, held out until around 1980 or so when the old timers gave way to a new generation of downtown academics and professionals. The JCC at Bloor and Spadina underwent big renovations maybe 15 years ago.

What about some other communities where this is occurring? There was a piece in the Star about Little Portugal two years ago (https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...gals_death_have_been_greatly_exaggerated.html) - which gives the example of a Portuguese restaurant replacing a hipster joint and the continued Portuguese presence in the area, though I think it overlooks the role of Brazilian and Angolan immigration to the area.

Chinatown - with its proximity to U of T - may start to see a revitalization from younger generations. Incidentally you could can see a bit of a "pan-Asian" district around Bay and Dundas, the very old Chinatown.

I'm not sure if the younger generation is necessarily "moving back" when it comes to Chinatown (at least the Chinatown in the Dundas/Spadina and Bay/Dundas areas). Most Chinese Canadians in their 20s and 30s grew up in the suburbs and really only went down to those areas once in a while - especially the 20-somethings who probably spent most of their time in areas like Markham. If they're a bit older (say, mid-30s), they may have been warned against going to "downtown Chinatown," because it's not a place for respectable young people. At least that's what I (and people in my circle) was told.

 

[jje1000]

I would imagine Chinatown is gearing itself more towards younger U of T (and some Ryerson) students rather than any long-term residents.

 

[Johnny Au]

Meanwhile, Little Italy is being gentrified, as more young people (some without any southern European blood even) moved in.

 

[wild goose chase]

Meanwhile, Little Italy is being gentrified, as more young people (some without any southern European blood even) moved in.

Would an ethnic neighbourhood be thought of as "gentrified" as opposed to revitalized if hypothetically it was rich members of the same ethnic group, rather than a different ones, moving in to an ethnic enclave that was historically immigrant and working class?

 

[King of Kensington]

Little Italy hasn't been very Italian for a few decades.

 

[wild goose chase]

There was a piece in the Star about Little Portugal two years ago (https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...gals_death_have_been_greatly_exaggerated.html).

The Star article in discussing its relatively successful cultural preservation mentions Little Portugal having a quarter of its residents with Portuguese as mother tongue while Little Italy and the Danforth only each have 6% who speak Italian or Greek as mother tongue.

Yet the Danforth feels much more Greek than Little Italy feels Italian. I wouldn't have guessed that the Danforth's Greeks preserved their language no more than the few remaining Italian speakers of Little Italy did.

Also, while there is a similar Taste of Little Italy, the Taste of the Danforth being much more prominent probably contributes to the perception of the Greek culture being more preserved/displayed in the city.

I would have perceived in terms of authenticity of culture, Greektown to rank pretty high, as much as Little Portugal, with both much more than Little Italy.

 

[King of Kensington]

The Star article in discussing its relatively successful cultural preservation mentions Little Portugal having a quarter of its residents with Portuguese as mother tongue while Little Italy and the Danforth only each have 6% who speak Italian or Greek as mother tongue.

Yet the Danforth feels much more Greek than Little Italy feels Italian. I wouldn't have guessed that the Danforth's Greeks preserved their language no more than the few remaining Italian speakers of Little Italy did.

Also, while there is a similar Taste of Little Italy, the Taste of the Danforth being much more prominent probably contributes to the perception of the Greek culture being more preserved/displayed in the city.

I would have perceived in terms of authenticity of culture, Greektown to rank pretty high, as much as Little Portugal, with both much more than Little Italy.

The Greek community is a lot smaller than the Italian community though, and the biggest concentration is still in the Danforth/East York.

 

[King of Kensington]

Would an ethnic neighbourhood be thought of as "gentrified" as opposed to revitalized if hypothetically it was rich members of the same ethnic group, rather than a different ones, moving in to an ethnic enclave that was historically immigrant and working class?

Presumably yes, but generally gentrifiers are assimilated so it's unlikely there would be one dominant ethnicity.

 

[prosperegal]

Presumably yes, but generally gentrifiers are assimilated so it's unlikely there would be one dominant ethnicity.

Well, culturally different, anyway.

 

[King of Kensington]

I would imagine Chinatown is gearing itself more towards younger U of T (and some Ryerson) students rather than any long-term residents.

I'm not sure if the younger generation is necessarily "moving back" when it comes to Chinatown (at least the Chinatown in the Dundas/Spadina and Bay/Dundas areas). Most Chinese Canadians in their 20s and 30s grew up in the suburbs and really only went down to those areas once in a while - especially the 20-somethings who probably spent most of their time in areas like Markham. If they're a bit older (say, mid-30s), they may have been warned against going to "downtown Chinatown," because it's not a place for respectable young people. At least that's what I (and people in my circle) was told.

Yeah, this is more likely it. Any "revitalization" is due just to the growth in the downtown population rather than moving back to the specific old neighborhood.

 

[wild goose chase]

What would generally be considered revitalization rather than gentrification -- does it depend on the character of the neighborhood in terms of shops, businesses and "authentic" culture remaining (which for ethnic neighborhoods can be hard to do if assimilation is going to happen anyway and immigrants' children don't purchase products that the recent immigrants preferred to begin with, regardless of income level, and "hipsters" who check out those shops once in a while to see how authentic and worldly they are won't be enough of a customer base to continue selling them) or the pre-existing population being happy/content and living side-by-side with the newcomers without being or feeling "displaced", regardless of whether or not they partake in the same "culture"?

I know often times revitalization has been criticized as just being gentrification under a different name or label.

 

[WislaHD]

Chinatown - with its proximity to U of T - may start to see a revitalization from younger generations. Incidentally you could can see a bit of a "pan-Asian" district around Bay and Dundas, the very old Chinatown.

I'm not sure about that, recent Chinese immigration is very different from traditional Chinese migration. Their origins are from different parts of the country, and they come from different class groups.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

I don't think Chinatown proper will see an inflow of younger residents - but Chinatown may very well evolve to serve this particular group of clientele as the city densify around it.

AoD