Willowdale, Toronto

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Willowdale is a neighbourhood in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located in the district of North York. It developed from three postal villages: Newtonbrook, Willowdale and Lansing.

Willowdale began as a postal village (originally Willow Dale) which covered the area from Finch Avenue at the north to Elmwood Ave at the south and Bathurst Street at the west to Bayview Avenue at the east. The village of Lansing was from Elmwood Ave. at the north to approximately Hwy. 401 at the south and Bathurst St. at the west to Bayview Ave. At the east. (East of Bayview Ave. was the village of Oriole.) The north–south center line of both Lansing and Willowdale was Yonge Street. The postal village of Lansing remained in existence until the post office at Lansing corner (northwest corner of Yonge St. and Sheppard Ave.) was closed. When a new post office was built in Willowdale, the postal addresses of Lansing and Willowdale were combined as the new postal village of Willowdale, within the Township of North York.

North York City Centre is centered at the intersection of Yonge Street and Empress Avenue/Park Home Avenue and is commonly thought to be the core of Willowdale, as well as North York itself, though its high-rise residential and commercial development sets it apart from much of the rest of Willowdale. The Willowdale neighbourhood consists of single-family homes, condominium townhouses and high-rise condominium towers. High density development is restricted to along Yonge Street.

History

Willowdale was first settled by

David Gibson, a distinguished land surveyor, was another leader in this community. Like most of his neighbours, Gibson participated in the ill-fated Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837. He was thus charged with high treason and escaped to the United States, where he found employment as the First Assistant Engineer on the building of the Erie Canal.

Gibson returned to his Yonge Street farm in 1851, after being pardoned for his role in the Rebellion. He then helped to establish the "Willow Dale" post office, named after the many willow trees that once graced this district. Members of the Gibson family were still living in Gibson House in the 1920s when the residential subdivision of Willowdale began to take place. The Gibson House, built in 1851 in the Georgian Revival style, still stands in its original location at 5172 Yonge Street, and is now a historic house museum.^[1]

Opened in 1948, York Cemetery was located in the southwest of the neighbourhood. Several notable individuals are interred there, including the Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia, and Tim Horton. The single-family homes range in age from the original 1910 to 1950s construction (one- and two-storey pre-war houses and modest one-and-a-half-storey postwar houses).

Beginning on a large scale in the 1990s, very large replacement two-storey luxury homes were constructed on lots originally occupied by smaller houses. It is in this neighbourhood that the term "monster homes" was first applied by Torontonians.^[2]

In 2018, the

This church (Cummer Chapel) was built on the northeast corner at Church and Yonge St.[3] In at least the early 1920s, the northwest corner was occupied by St George's Anglican Church. The first church in Willowdale was called the Cummer Chapel, located at the northwest corner of what is now Yonge and Churchill. This log meeting house was built in 1816 by Jacob Cummer on part of his farm. He and other early members of the church are buried in the cemetery which remains on the site, now on the east side of Yonge Street. The Cummers, who were the first German loyalists and farmers from Pennsylvania, had Lutheran roots. However, they readily mixed in with and married people with Methodist and other roots. Thus the chapel was designated as non-denominational.

A large, yellow, brick and stucco church with a tall spire replaced the log building in 1856. It was called the Methodist Episcopal Church, and became part of the new United Church of Canada in 1925. Between 1931 and 1932, Yonge Street was widened and the front end of the church, facing west, was removed. The front door was relocated to the south side of the building. Following World War II, many veterans and their families began to settle in Willowdale. In 1946, the Rev. Welburn Jones became the minister of Willowdale United Church (WUC) and initiated a building program. In 1954 a substantial building was built on nearby Kenneth Avenue.

In 1966, his successor, the Rev. Lindsay G. King, completed the program. The Rev. King spent the rest of his ministry, 27 years, at WUC. While he was the minister of WUC, the Rev. King wrote a regular column for the community paper and he was frequently heard on radio and television, including the CTV and the CBC. Because of his lifelong interest in bringing psychology, religion and health together, in 1973 he initiated the founding of the Family Life Foundation (FLF) of Willowdale, a registered charity encouraging the development of healthy community and family life.

Demographics

The Willowdale ward population is 118,800 with growth of 8.3% from 2011 census, Willowdale is an ethnically diverse community, with 70% of all Willowdale residents being immigrants as of 2021. Major ethnic groups in Willowdale include: Chinese: 22%, Korean: 9.35%, and Iranian: 8.77%.

While English is the mother tongue for 31.4% of the population, other languages with large numbers of speakers include: Chinese: 12.3%, Persian: 11.1%, and Korean: 8.9%.^[4][5]

Willowdale number of households stand 49,955 where 43% of houses are constructed between 2001 and 2016. 61% of residents are home owners and 39% renters. Majority of the dwellings equal to 61.2% are apartment building that has over 5 or more storeys and 24.5% single-detached houses.

Cityscape

Education

Two

In addition to public amenities, the neighbourhood is also home to Empress Walk, a condominium and retail complex that includes an IMAX cinema operated by Cineplex Entertainment.

Transport

Several major roadways are situated in the neighbourhood. Yonge Street is a major north–south roadway, and a major commercial thoroughfare in Toronto.

In addition to the subway, the TTC also operates bus routes in Willowdale. TTC buses may be accessed at subway stations, and bus stops located throughout the neighbourhood. In addition to the TTC, bus routes operated by GO Transit and York Region Transit may be accessed at Finch, and Sheppard–Yonge station.

Notable people

• Andy Borodow (born 1969), Olympic wrestler
• Joseph Boyden, author
• Dean and Dan Caten, luxury fashion designers, founders of Italian fashion house DSQUARED2
• Geddy Lee, bassist, keyboardist and lead singer of progressive rock band Rush
• Alex Lifeson, lead guitar player of progressive rock band Rush
• David Clayton-Thomas, singer for Blood, Sweat & Tears
• Dream Warriors, hip hop group
• Winston Cup Series
  driver
• Corey Haim, actor who starred in The Lost Boys
• Jimenez Lai, architect, lived on Cummer Avenue
• Henry Lau, singer, musician, and actor
• Howie Mandel, comedian, actor, television host, and voice actor
• Kirk McLean, ice hockey player
• Mark Napier, ice hockey player
• Vic Parsons, racing driver
• CTV News with Lloyd Robertson
• Seymour Schulich, businessman and philanthropist
• Dick Shatto, Canadian Football League player
• Steve Shutt, ice hockey player
• Harland Williams, comedian

In popular culture

• The opening line of the song "
  The Necromancer" by Rush is: "As grey traces of dawn tinge the eastern sky, the three travelers, men of Willowdale [or Willow Dale], emerge from the forest shadow". Two of the three travelers is a reference to Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson
  , both of whom grew up in Willowdale.

• Willowdale (federal electoral district)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Willowdale, Toronto.

• "Topographic Map sheet 30M14". Atlas of Canada. Natural Resources Canada. 2006-02-06. Retrieved 2009-01-08.