Keele Street & St. Clair West / Stockyards

[tendim]

I couldn't find a thread dedicated to the St. Clair West & Keele area in the Neighbourhood Node, but then again, I might have not known what the "official name" for the area is. I did see a smattering of posts in the generic St. Clair west thread, but that thread seems to try to tackle all of St. Clair, with overlap with Corso Italia, etc.

Anyways, I digress.

A few months back there were some grassroots efforts to start up an organization in the neighbourhood around the stockyards. I can't find a BIA on the City of Toronto website (the only BIA seems to go as far west as Old. Weston Road, but no further). Does anybody have any information on business associations, or community associations, in the Stockyards area?

Thanks,
-10d

 

[JasonParis]

I think most still consider it The Junction.

 

[tendim]

I think most still consider it The Junction.

Huh, well that still won't work. Junction BIA (link) doesn't cover St. Clair, at all. I know there is a lot of controversy over what "the junction" is (having just moved out of the area 6 months ago), and most consider the tracks as the "Northern Border". I'm literally on the wrong side of the tracks.

 

[JasonParis]

BIA's don't necessarily encompass a whole neighbourhood. In fact, in most cases they don't even come close.

Rockcliffe-Smythe I think is the more accurate neighbourhood name for where you are talking about. However, as said, many non-Junctioners will also simply call the Stockyards area "The Junction" too.

 

[Johnny Au]

I consider that part "The Stockyards" and is an extension of The Junction. I sometimes call The Stockyards "North Junction."

 

[junctionist]

It is the Junction, a neighbourhood that reflects the former City of West Toronto. The Stock Yards was the Junction's main industrial area, where many of its blue collar residents worked in the meatpacking, tanning and railway industries. It's also where some of its white collar managers and many of its industrialists made their money as well.

That's why there are street names like "Junction Road" and "West Toronto Street" in the Stock Yards area. You can even find a West Toronto Junction manhole cover in the area from the late 19th century. When the dominant industries shuttered in the 1980s and 1990s, the Junction lost its vitality. The Dundas strip was characterized by empty storefronts and decaying buildings in that time period.

There was a residents' association a few years back. From what I recall, the most active members moved away. It fizzled out, though there might be interest among local residents today. The Stock Yards area needs a lot of improvements. Aside from St. Clair, its streets and public spaces are generally in bad shape.

A few years' back, I wouldn't expect a business association to emerge because the businesses were mostly corporate big box stores. Those kinds of stores rarely seem to work together to improve an area. But now there are smaller businesses that would benefit from increasing the area's prominence like craft brewers, studios, fitness centres, and small retailers and restaurants.

 

[W. K. Lis]

What people or groups were behind the "idea" of a "St. Clair West" SmartTrack station?