A Bit More Detail

• blogTO looks at what the Financial District was like in the 1970s and 1980s, recommends things to do in Little Italy, and has ten quirky facts about the Toronto Islands.


• Centauri Dreams notes simulations of how solitary stars like our own Sun are formed.


• The Dragon's Gaze links to a paper noting that evidence of a planetary system outside our own was first gathered in 1917, from a spectrum taken of Van Maanen's Star. It was only a matter of no one recognizing what the spectrum meant.


• Marginal Revolution notes a study of filesharing services suggesting that rich countries tend to see music downloads while poor ones download movies.


• The Planetary Science Blog takes a look at the discoveries of Dawn at proto-planet Vesta.


• pollotenchegg maps changes in industrial production in Ukraine, noting a collapse in rebel-held areas in the east.


• The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer compares the proposed Home Rule that would have been granted to Ireland in 1914 with current proposals for Scotland.


• Torontoist notes that despite population growth nearby, the Redpath Sugar Factory will be staying put.


• Towleroad notes that Estonia has become the first post-Soviet nation to recognize same-sex partnerships.


• Why I Love Toronto recommends Friday night events at the Royal Ontario Museum.


• Window on Eurasia suggests that the collapse of Russian civil society is a responsibility of Russian citizens as well as of their state.

Last month, a popular gay hangout called Zelda's packed up and moved to Yonge Street. Rents and housing prices are shooting up along Church Street. The young "post-gay" gays of today don't identify with the ghetto, as a place or as a concept. They're hanging out in non-explicitly-gay parts of town. The ghetto is now populated by aging pre-post-gay gays who shop at Cumbrae's and are on a first-name basis with the clerks at Vintages.

The result, predictably, is hand-wringing and lamentation. Deservedly so, perhaps. Church and Wellesley's greatest, gayest days may now be behind it. But there's a bigger question: How should all that hand-wringing be channelled?

At this point, it helps to take another look at Little Italy. For whatever reason, the College Street strip earned its official name during its Italian phase, even though the Italians were preceded by Jews and followed by the Portuguese, a smattering of Chinese and, eventually, Yuppies Of No Discernible Ethnicity or Sexual Orientation (YONDESOs).

That wasn't the mistake - neighbourhoods need names, after all. The mistake Little Italy made was trying to cling to its Italian-ness. That's what led to places like Tilt, Butt'r, Touché, and Veni Vidi Vici. Across town, the same thinking resulted in a neighbourhood called Greektown that specializes in below-average Greek food. And it could soon be true of Chinatown - the real Asian action, everyone knows, has long since moved to Markham.

What's the lesson for Church and Wellesley? By all means, lament. Curse and shake your fist at the heavens. But let your neighbourhood develop organically.

The various waves of residents in the neighbourhood, from a range of diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, have also left their traces on the neighbourhood. The presence of two synagogues, the Kiever (1926) and the Anshei Mink (1930), are reminders of the area’s early Jewish population. The bright and colourful building colours, however, have been attributed to the influence of the Portuguese community that arrived later in the early 1960s.

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During the first decade of the 20th century, Toronto became home to more than 15,000 displaced Jews from South and Central Europe. Between 1905 and 1910, many Jewish families moved out "the Ward" (an overcrowded immigrant reception area between Yonge and University) and settled in Kensington. Families purchased small row houses from the previous working-class British and Irish immigrant residents. Many opened small businesses in the area and the market was established.

Since Jews were restricted from many services and lacked social benefits, the Jewish community established their own societies, hospitals and other services through the synagogues in the area. The Jewish presence in Kensington Market declined in the 1950s and early 1960s when they moved up and out to other areas of the city.

Following the Second World War, between 1945 and the early 1960s, Canada became home to more than 2.7 million immigrants; of which one quarter settled in Toronto. Poles, Ukrainians, Italians and Hungarians moved into the Kensington Market area. The largest and most important ethnic group to establish itself here were the Portuguese.

Immigrants were attracted to the neighbourhood because of the availability of affordable housing for rent or sale, the proximity of the area to public transportation and work opportunities, and the presence of an ‘old world’ market.

In 1962, Canada amended its Immigration Act to allow a more egalitarian process based on economic and educational factors. As a result, many new groups of immigrants from poorer countries moved into Kensington and opened shops: Afro-Caribbeans (mostly Jamaican), Chinese and East Indian. Kensington Market became a true microcosm of Canada’s ethnic mosaic.

The Toronto Spiritualist Temple
Originally uploaded by rfmcdpei

The founder and first Moderator, Rev. Roy F.C. Stoddard, first established the TORONTO SPIRITUALIST TEMPLE, a predecessor organization, October 6, 1963, under the auspices of THE INTERNATIONAL SPIRITUALIST ALLIANCE.

Branch groups were formed in several cities. Those that have continued are in Aurora, Brantford, Burlington and Ottawa. Interest in other cities will be pursued as qualified ministers are available to accept pastorship.

March 1978, the TORONTO SPIRITUALIST TEMPLE INC. was established as an independent charitable corporation of Ontario, Canada. Branch churches are registered accordingly.

In July 1991, the daycare was established, under the registered name “COLLEGE STREET TOTS”, and is fully licensed and subsidized, provincially and municipally. Located at 706 College Street.

The INSTITUTE FOR SPIRITUAL STUDIES, the education division of the organization, was established in November 2000 in order to develop and coordinate study programs, to evaluate achievement and to certify candidates for the ministry.

In November 2002, the new corporate name was decided upon: CHRISTIAN SPIRITUAL MINISTRIES INCORPORATED (Inc.), of which there is the following interpretation:

* Christian reveals our link to the Infinite through the Christ Consciousness
* Spiritual denotes the eternal and is limitless
* Ministries portrays our commitment to service
* Incorporated indicates that we are a collective of individuals, functioning in unity, under a common mission

This, coupled with the dictionary definitions of Christian, spiritual, ministry and incorporated, most correctly epitomizes Christian Spiritual Ministries Inc.

On May 1st, 2003, this website, I AM Spirit.org, was launched, as we also commenced the celebration of 40 years of service - 40 years since we opened our first set of doors on October 6th, 1963.