[URBAN NOTE] "Toronto’s immigrant enclaves spread to suburbs"

[rfmcdonald]

The Toronto Star's Nicholas Keung writes about ethnic neighbourhoods in Toronto. There's ongoing shifts, with old ethnic neighbourhoods in the downtown emptying out as suburban communities combining different ethnic groups emerge.

Driven by a better living environment, bigger and more affordable homes in the suburbs, more newcomers are settling in the 905 areas as older immigrant communities matured, moved out of the city and reached a critical mass in certain outlying neighbourhoods.

The Jewish community, for example, has taken hold of the Bathurst corridor from Lawrence Ave. to Centre St. in Thornhill, the Chinese in Scarborough, Markham and Mississauga, Italians in Vaughan and Indians in Brampton.

While there are still religious institutions and ethnic businesses dominating the old enclaves in the city, for many they are now little more than tourist attractions and places of reminiscence. (There are also residential clusters of impoverished immigrants who can’t afford the suburban dream.)

“The Greektown is not Greek; Chinatown is not Chinese. They are just ethnic business enclaves where you go, eat, play, have fun and go home,” said Ryerson University professor Sandeep Agrawal, an expert on ethnic enclaves and urban planning.

And:

According to Shuguang Wang, a demographics geographer at Ryerson University, many ethnic enclaves in the 905 have become “multi-centric,” meaning a dominant group has more than one cluster, often surrounding an ethnic mall or plaza, in a single municipality, sharing the space with mixed neighbours.

“These businesses may be owned and operated by the Chinese and viewed as ethnic businesses, but they are not only targeting Chinese clients,” said Wang.

“Sometimes because of city planning and zoning, not all areas can get permits for development. People cannot start their own enclave and have to add to the existing,” added Wang, explaining the emergence of mixed ethnic hubs in the 905.

Many ethnic retailers now reach out to a multicultural clientele, he said. Sunny Foodmart, a Chinese-owned grocery chain, for example, sells Halal meat at its Flemingdon Park store to cater to the area’s Muslim residents.