York, Ontario
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- This article is about the former City of York in Toronto. For the regional municipality immediately north of Toronto, see York Regional Municipality, Ontario. The city of Toronto itself was historically named York. There is also a York community within the Seneca Township in Haldimand County, Ontario, near Caledonia. See also North York, Ontario; East York, Ontario; and York University.
| City of York (Dissolved) | |
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| Country | Canada  |
|---|---|
| Province | Ontario  |
| Established | 1 January 1850 (township) |
| Amalgamation | 1998 with Toronto |
| Government | |
| - Mayor | David Miller (Toronto Mayor) |
| - Governing Body | Toronto City Council |
| - MPs | Mario Silva, Alan Tonks, Joe Volpe, Carolyn Bennett |
| Area [1] | |
| - Total | 23.18 km² (8.9 sq mi) |
| Population (2001)[1] | |
| - Total | 150,255 |
| - Density | 6,482.1/km² (16,788.6/sq mi) |
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) |
| - Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| Area code(s) | 416, 647 |
York is a community in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Formerly a separate city, it was one of six municipalities that amalgamated in 1998 to form the current city of Toronto. Its population as of the 2001 census was 150,255, the second smallest of the six former municipalities, yet it is one of the most ethnically diverse. By the 2006 census, the population had fallen somewhat, to 143,255. Its local newspaper is the York Guardian, published by Metroland Media Group, a division of Torstar, which also publishes the Toronto Star, as well as the Metro in Toronto.
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[edit] History
York Township was incorporated by the Province of Ontario in 1850, bounded in the west by the Humber River, in the east by what would become Victoria Park Avenue, and in the north by what would become Steeles Avenue. Etobicoke Township and Scarborough Township were located west and east, respectively, while the townships of Vaughan and Markham bordered on the north.
Humewood-Cedarvale was developed in the 1910s to attract development in the growing township. Oakwood-Vaughan was also developed during this time. In the 1920s, the character of the township changed, with its southern reaches abutting the city of Toronto taking on a more urban character, compared with the very rural character of the north. The decision was made to split the township in two, with the northern, rural portion becoming North York. The remaining, two pockets of unincorporated urban development at the north end of the city, were split by the village of North Toronto, which was by then a part of the City of Toronto. Within years, the Province of Ontario saw that this arrangement was impractical, and further subdivided York, creating the township of East York out of the eastern pocket. The Township of York contracted streetcar and bus services from the Toronto Transit Commission, but remained independent from Toronto. During this time, famed American novelist Ernest Hemingway resided in the Humewood-Cedarvale community.
Vaughan Road Academy (in the Oakwood-Vaughan neighbourhood), was York's first high school, which was built in 1927, along with York Memorial Collegiate Institute at Eglinton Avenue and Keele Street, and St. Michael's College School at Bathurst Street north of St. Clair Avenue.
York was part of the federation of twelve suburban municipalities that joined Toronto in 1954 to form Metropolitan Toronto. York's first and largest library, York Public Library, was built near the intersection of Eglinton Ave. and Dufferin St. in 1964, later renamed Maria Shchuka and rebuilt in 2003. In 1967, it absorbed the village of Weston, and later became the City of York. It was amalgamated into the new City of Toronto on January 1, 1998. Since amalgamation, Maria Shchuka is part of the Toronto Public Library system.
York's Civic Centre is located at 2700 Eglinton Avenue West, between Black Creek Drive and Keele Street, near York's Museum and York Memorial Collegiate Institute.
[edit] Demographics
All statistics are taken from the Canada 2001 Census.[1]
- 61.0% White (predominantly Portuguese, Italian)
- 14.4% Black (predominantly Jamaican, African, and other Caribbean)
- 5.8% Latin American (predominantly Salvadoran, Mexican, Ecuadorian, and other South/Central American)
- 4.7% South Asian
- 3.8% Filipino
- 3.2% Chinese
- 2.7% Southeast Asian (predominantly Vietnamese)
- 4.4% Other
Among non-visible minority groups, a sizeable group of Portuguese (southern half of Oakwood-Vaughan and along the whole southern part of York), Eastern European (Humewood-Cedarvale) and German populations live in the area as well. Many Caribbean people live along Eglinton West or Weston. Africans such as Ghanaians, Nigerians, and Somalians live along Weston and Jane Street with many Latin Americans too. Filipinos concentrate in the eastern half of the former city. The religious demographics of York vary from Roman Catholic in the southern half Oakwood-Vaughan to Anglican in Weston to Jewish in Humewood-Cedarvale to even Rastafarian in Little Jamaica in the northern half of Oakwood-Vaughan and west along Eglinton Avenue to slightly west of Keele Street. There are also significant numbers of Seventh-day Adventists, Pentecostals and Evangelical Christians.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Community Profile: York city , Ontario; Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (2001). Retrieved on 2007-05-11.
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