Chinatown, Toronto
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada, has at least seven Chinatowns (Chinese: 多倫多唐人街/duo lun duo tang ren jie') — four are located within the city's boundaries, while the other three are located in adjacent suburbs.
Toronto has the largest Chinese community in Canada, and it ranks among the largest in North America. It has expanded significantly, parallelling Toronto's economic growth, and also because language laws in Quebec persuaded many Chinese to move from Montreal to Toronto.[citation needed]
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[edit] Old Chinatown
This is one of the largest Chinatowns in North America. It is centred around the intersection of Dundas Street West and Spadina Avenue, and extends outward from this point along both streets. It has grown significantly over the years and has come to reflect a diverse set of Asian cultures through its shops and restaurants, including Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai.
Prior to this, Chinatown was located on Dundas Street West and Bay Street. When the City began construction on the current City Hall in the 1960s, Chinese-oriented stores and homes formerly in the old district were required to close down and move shop, so that the area could be cleared for the new building. Consequently, the Chinese community migrated westward to Chinatown's current location. A handful of Chinese businesses still remain around Bay and Dundas.
Since the late 1990s, Toronto's oldest (surviving) Chinatown is struggling to redefine itself in the face of an aging Chinese population, recent declines in tourism, and the lure of the suburban Chinatowns that continue to draw money and professional immigrants away from downtown. Unlike the newer Chinatowns in the suburbs, Dundas and Spadina relies heavily on tourism and Chinese seniors. Younger, higher-income immigrants from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong have moved out, so those left in the district are typically from older generations who depend on downtown's dense concentration of services and accessibility to public transportation. Ethnic Chinese from Vietnam are now the faces of old Chinatown Toronto and turning some parts into Little Saigon.
While the aging population shrinks however, so too do the revenues of businesses in the district. While the majority of the grocery stores and shops still survive, most of the once-famed restaurants on Dundas, especially the BBQ shops located below grade, have closed since the turn of the century. The area has also seen a surge in Latin American immigrants, who are changing the face of old Chinatown.
An influx of University of Toronto and Ryerson University students seeking affordable housing, coupled with the location of the Ontario College of Art and Design adjacent to Chinatown, has accelerated gentrification of the district, bringing in young professionals to the area. The changing landscape of the district's population would bring a more multicultural flavour to the district, but could potentially eliminate its identity as a "Chinatown".
Chinese malls in the area:
- Dragon City
- Chinatown Centre (Toronto)
[edit] East Chinatown
As property values increased in downtown Chinatown, many Chinese Canadians migrated to Toronto's east end in Riverdale. A second, somewhat smaller, Chinese community was formed, centred on Gerrard Street East between Broadview Avenue and Carlaw Avenue. Chinese-Vietnamese and mainland Chinese immigrants dominate this district. East Chinatown, though, is somewhat smaller than Toronto's main Chinatown, but is growing. The main part of East Chinatown is located between Broadview Avenue, and Carlaw Avenue, on Gerrard Street. At the north-most corner of East Chinatown (NW corner, Broadview & Gerrard Street), there is the Riverdale branch of the Toronto Public Library. This branch is quite bilingual in Chinese and English. East Chinatown can be accessed by taking the 504 King, the 505 Dundas, or the 506 Carlton Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) streetcars.
[edit] Scarborough-Agincourt
Agincourt (affectionately called "Asiancourt" by many) a Scarborough neighbourhood, saw an influx of Hong Kong Chinese and Taiwanese during the 1980s, especially around Sheppard Avenue and Midland Avenue. Since the development of Agincourt's Dragon Centre Mall in the 1980s, it has become a booming "Chinatown" and was the vanguard for the proliferation of "Chinese malls", large malls with restaurants and stores catering specifically to the Chinese community, across the GTA.
Since 2000, the Agincourt Chinese population is spread thinly and many are leaving for communities north of Toronto. Pockets of Chinese areas are likely to remain, but they will be less vibrant when compared to the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Chinese malls in the Agincourt area:
- Oriental Centre
- Dragon Centre
- Chartwell Centre
- Miliken Square
- Finch and Midland Square
- Midland Court
- Silverland Centre
- Scherwood Centre
- Midland Village
- Cathay Plaza
- Prince Mall
- Mandarin Shopping Centre
- Pearl Place
- Miliken Wells Shopping Centre
- Chartwell Shopping Centre
- Centreview Square
- Regency Court
- Splendid China Tower
- The Landmark
[edit] North York
The former city is home to large pockets of Chinese immigrants, but there are only a few malls serving it and mostly located in the east end. The smaller plazas containing restaurants and supermarkets have proliferated in the 1980s at the Finch Avenue/Leslie Street intersection, Keele Street and Sheppard Avenue, and around Victoria Park and McNicoll Avenues. These often compete with and complement the Agincourt Chinatown. The Finch-Leslie plaza is still thriving, because of the relative wealth of North York, though its patronage has now diversified. However, the gradual departure of the northern Scarborough Chinese clientèle has led to the decline of Victoria Park-McNicoll.
- Finch Leslie Square
[edit] Mississauga
Mississauga's growing Chinese population is spread out across the vast suburb, but the commercial community has been traditionally centred around the Chinese Centre, located at 888 Dundas Street East, just east of Cawthra Road. This large complex, built during 1978, was constructed to reflect China's cultural heritage; an elaborate gate greets visitors on Dundas Street, with a Nine Dragon mural just inside, while red towers with pagoda-styled roofs abound. Growth of this Chinatown is limited, but Mississauga's Chinatown remains an active community.
The second newer stretch includes markets and restaurants in strip mall plazas close to the intersection of Burnhamthorpe Rd. West at Central Parkway (near the Erindale GO Station) which remains in the growth phase catering mostly to the needs of the growing Chinese population in the city who live nearby.
Chinese malls in Mississauga:
- Mississauga Chinese Centre/Sino Mall
- Golden Plaza
- Golden Square Centre
- Dixie Park
- The Chase Square
- Newin Centre
- Erindale Business Centre
- Deer Run Shopping Centre
[edit] Richmond Hill
During the 1990s, wealthy Chinese immigrants, primarily from Hong Kong, moved directly to suburban Richmond Hill, where they set up businesses and shops catering to that community.
Many shops and restaurants were established in suburban-style shopping malls and plazas (such as Times Square, Commerce Gate) along a stretch of Highway 7 between Bayview Avenue and Leslie Street. The most intense development is concentrated around the Commerce Valley Drive/Beaver Creek Road loop. Some of the well-known higher end Chinese banquet restaurants are in this area.
There are similarly thriving Chinese plazas in Markham several kilometres east on Highway 7, and many families often visit both communities on the same day.
Chinese malls and plazas in the Richmond Hill area:
- Times Square
- Commerce Gate
- Wycliffe Village
- Shoppes of the Parkway
- Ho-View Place
- Lexus Bayview Square
- Goldenview Centre
- Jubilee Square
- Richlane
- Glen Cameron Place
[edit] Markham
Markham's experience as a suburban Chinatown is similar to that of neighbouring Richmond Hill and emerged in the 1990s, though the developments are less intensively developed and more spread out through the municipality.
On Highway 7, between Woodbine and Warden Avenues, is First Markham Place, containing numerous shops and restaurants. Further east along Highway 7 is an older plaza is at the southwest quadrant with the intersection with Kennedy Road.
The most well-known Chinese mall in Markham is the Pacific Mall, at Kennedy Road and Steeles Avenue East, which, combined with neighbouring Market Village Mall and Splendid China Tower, forms the largest Chinese shopping complex in North America, with over 700 stores between the three malls. In close proximity, at Steeles East and Warden Avenue, there is the New Century Plaza] mall and a half-block away there is a plaza of Chinese shops anchored by a T & T Supermarket.
Markham itself has the largest proportion of Chinese among all the GTA municipalities. In the 1980s and early 1990s, then-Mayor Tony Roman was leading trade delegations to Asia in which he promoted Markham as a great place to live and invest. While influx new immigrants brought many jobs and much wealth to the areas they settle, their presence and "Chineseness" became a target of racial intolerance from some. In 1995, Deputy Mayor of Markham Carole Bell argued that the concentration of ethnic groups were a cause of social conflict, saying "the weakness of it comes when there is a concentration, when you are getting only one group of people". She went on to say "everything’s going Chinese" in Markham, stating that they were driving away the "back bone of Markham away...the people who run festivals, coach our kids, organize our business communities, Brownies, Guides, Scouts." In response, the twelve mayors of the Greater Toronto Area signed a letter dissociating themselves from Bell’s comment.[1]
Chinese malls and plazas in the Markham area:
- First Markham Place
- Warden Centre
- Metro Square
- New Century Plaza
- Peachtree Centre
- Newton Centre
- Pacific Mall
- Market Village Mall
[edit] In literature and the media
The 1999 Chow Yun-Fat film The Corruptor was set in the New York City Chinatown, with scenes filmed in the Chinatowns of New York and Toronto.
The television series Kung Fu: The Legend Continues was filmed in Chinatown at Spadina and Dundas for many episodes of its 1993-1997 run. Filmed in Toronto, it portrays the Chinatown of an unidentified major U.S. city.
Toronto's Chinatown is featured prominently in the 2008 collection of short storiesThe Chinese Knot and Other Storiesby Lien Chao.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Chinatown Sextet - Chinatowns in the Greater Toronto Area - Comprehensive site on the history and development of Toronto's Chinatowns.
- Secrets of Toronto's Chinatowns - Satellite cities - Article covering the Asian areas of Mississaugua, Markham, Agincourt and Riverdale, with places to shop and eat.
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