There goes the neighbourhood?
Residents worry new GO station will destroy quirky area by gentrification
At least one building owner is worried the new $44-million GO station on James Street North is being built to change her way of life.
Lori James, whose building on James Street North is occupied by a Mennonite thrift shop, is concerned all the talk of residential and business development around the station does not bode well for her.
Her building was listed within “Opportunity Site 3” at a public meeting Tuesday night on the James Street North Mobility Hub, which takes in the area within an 800-metre radius of the new sta- tion, or about a 10-minute walk. This was news to her until she walked in and saw it on a board at Liuna Station.
“(They’re) not going to maintain the existing neighbourhood,” James said. “I don’t like being someone’s prey. It feels like you are in a Communist country.”
Ruth Kaulback, who lives on MacNab Street North and works at the thrift shop, was of two minds with the arrival of the station. She called having the station help build up James Street North “very exciting,” but had “deep concerns” about the “increased gentrification” of the neighbourhood and “huge concerns” about the impact on traffic.
“I’m concerned about all of this development not being balanced and it turning into a mini-Toronto,” Kaulback said. “We have a lot of incredible things, independent businesses, quirky things, and I’m scared we will lose that. Part of the beauty is the mix of neighbours.”
The Mobility Hub study is a review and analysis of the impacts of the GO station on the surrounding neighbourhood and related municipal policy. About 75 people attended the meeting, the second public information centre held on the hub.
Anne McIlroy, a consultant hired by the city to prepare the study, said the hub plan will not prevent current businesses from continuing to operate, but “will create more business for people. More people will live around the station.”
She said business owners may decide to retire one day, which open a new opportunity for a building.
Residents have asked for the hub to have more and better green spaces, be a destination for shopping, eating and art view and have better signage. They’ve also asked for it to be sensitive to the neighbourhood’s history and culture, boost economic development, improve the pedestrian experience and avoid “gentrification.”