The ConversaTion
“I was at work when my husband Julian called, with a kind of sexual excitement in his voice that I knew only too well. ‘I just saw a for sale sign. I didn’t bother looking at the house but I think we should put an offer in. Today.’
“The house was a stately bungalow listed for $3,150,000 in Toronto’s trendy Cat Food Manufacturing District. Seemed like a steal. But there were some red flags. The paint was chipped, the lawn was poorly cared for, and the entire roof was missing.…”
And here’s an excerpt from a GoFundMe campaign, courtesy of one Todd Ferguson, which implored likeminded, deep-pocketed types to “Help This Brave Gentrifier Family!!” At last check, he’d raised close to $5,000.
“Like many of you, I spit out my canapé in shock whilst reading the tragic story of the HumphreysJheon family in Toronto Life. These pioneering spirits just wanted what any of us deserve— a three-storey detached home on a corner lot in a rapidly gentrifying neighbourhood.
“With growing horror, I read how they had to sell their existing home for merely $635,000 to secure their new home, only to find out that poor people were still living in it!!! If you, like me, cannot imagine the hard work it would take to make the people who used to live there homeless… rest assured that the article spares no detail.…
“And so, I call on you, Internet, to help pay off this family’s debt of $730,000 so they can enjoy the three-storey detached Toronto home they evicted undeserving renters from in peace. If successful, I will personally have my chauffeur drive me to their Parkdale home and turn the money over in the form of a giant novelty cheque.
“If this campaign fails to meet its $730,000 goal, I will donate whatever pittance we raised to Parkdale Community Legal Services, the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, the Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations and ACORN Canada.”
The social media backlash triggered some weightier harangues, including a Vice piece called “How One Story Pissed Off Just About Every Non-Rich Person in Toronto,” and a U of T News Q&A with faculty experts who fervently denounced “a story that dehumanizes the very people facing displacement and maybe homelessness, while valorizing the problems elites face in causing it.” We also received this official response from the Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre:
“While we at PARC understand that the intent of the recent Toronto Life article was to provide one family’s personal account of a challenging renovation, the way in which these challenges were depicted highlights several issues that we feel compelled to address.
“The author provided a superficial portrayal of the tenants, using insensitive descriptors that many of PARC’s members feel denigrate them. The language neglected to consider the personal dignity of the tenants, describing them as disposable entities. Such depictions reinforce the stereotypes that vulnerable people who are already facing significant barriers live under, day in and day out.
“Nowhere in the article did the author consider the impact of the house sale on the existing tenants. Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust recently released a study that estimates the neighbourhood will lose over 800 units of affordable housing over the next several years. This article clearly highlights the growing need for homeowners to recognize the impact of their actions on other community members.”
—James Partanen, Caucus Co-Chair, PARC Board of Directors
On a slightly less controversial note, we were interested to discover that the property had a fascinating former life (around the late 1990s), as a bohemian crash pad: