Cancellation of cultural hub seen as blow to community

Jane and Finch demographics show why long-planned centre would make a huge difference

ANGELYN FRANCIS

When Metrolinx suddenly pulled a plan to donate land to the Jane and Finch community, opening bidding on the land instead, it was a blow to an area that has been in need of a central hub for years.

A look at the neighbourhood demographics highlight the area’s need for more community investment.

The two neighbourhoods that make up the Jane and Finch area, Black Creek and Glenfield-Jane Heights, are home to five recreation centres run by City of Toronto. Based on the population of youth age 14 and under in both areas, as it stands, there is one centre for every 2,078 kids.

The distribution is fairly average for Toronto neighbourhoods but there’s more to the numbers than meets the eye.

Jane and Finch neighbourhoods have density issues, a lower median income than most other neighbourhoods in the city, a disproportionate amount of single-parent homes, and rank sixth and 16th for population of children 14 and under.

These factors combined heighten the need for supportive community space and services.

“Physical community spaces that are accessible for the public is very, very hard to find,” said Michelle Westin, senior analyst at Black Creek Community Health Centre. “The density of the population as well as the design (with) the high number of high rises, and it’s a very compact community.”

“There just needs to be better investment in both the infrastructure and design of our community,” she said.

The need for the proposed Jane Finch Community Hub and Centre for the Arts also goes beyond data that can be easily counted.

With the existing recreation centres, location makes it a challenge for neighbourhood residents to easily take advantage of the services.

Most centres are spread far from Finch Avenue West, which Tiffany Ford, a former TDSB trustee and entrepreneur

SOURCE: CITY OF TORONTO from the neighbourhood, said is the best, neutral area.

“Having this hub in the central part of the Jane and Finch community would have been amazing, because it could bring everyone together. It would have been this unifying spot where people could come together as a community,” Ford said.

“We have all these different fragmented communities within the Jane and Finch community,” she said. “The location is right in the middle of the community. It’s right in the heart of the community.

“We talk about needing more programs for youth, especially to curb gun violence,” Ford added. “Make it accessible. That’s the key.”

What the hub had to offer was much more than what a traditional recreation centre provides, Westin pointed out.

“It’s a space that’s meant for community to gather in and provide programming,” Westin said. “But you also have the opportunity of hosting different services and agencies under one roof.”

Westin, like Ford, emphasized location as well. Due to the economic makeup of the area, many residents rely on public

TORONTO STAR GRAPHIC transportation.

A hub of this scale — that was also proposed and shaped by members of the community — would have long-term benefits, adding to the community’s vibrancy, economic development, health and capacity building, she said.

“This is a huge issue of inequity, and would we be seeing this in other parts of the city?” she wondered.

is a Toronto-based reporter for the Star covering inequity and inequality. Her reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. Reach her via email: afrancis@thestar.ca