[URBAN NOTE] "Moss Park Gentrification a Cause for Concern"

[rfmcdonald]

NOW Toronto's Helen Jefferson Lenskyj writes about gentrification in Moss Park, and how it may yet drive out locals.

Gentrification by any other name is still gentrification. The seemingly benign language of "revitalization," "vibrant public spaces," "exciting opportunities," "community resiliency," "inclusion model" and "diversity" only disguises the reality that poor and homeless people will be displaced and the policing of poverty will escalate where gentrification takes place.

In Toronto's Downtown East (DTE), the proposed LGBTQ-focused sport centre at Moss Park's John Innes Community Centre, a joint venture of the 519 Community Centre and the city, is a concern for anti-gentrification activists, as is the closely related nearby George Street revitalization project, which is promising to "deinstitutionalize" that neighbourhood by consolidating most homeless services and individuals under one roof.

In January, Queer Trans Community Defence (QTCD) - formed in the summer of 2015 to address the DTE development - attended two meetings with the 519's executive director, Maura Lawless, and senior director, Becky McFarlane. In March, QTCD met with local Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam.

[. . .]

While making passing references to "fairness in balancing interests" and "recognition of diversity," DTE condo owners' stated top priority - safety - means working "closely" with police "to advance law and order," according to one residents' association website.

To the same end, the city's George Street plan promises to discourage "illicit behaviour" by incorporating principles of "crime prevention through environmental design." User-unfriendly park benches and transit shelters that don't provide shelter, for example?