York Mills | |
---|---|
Neighbourhood | |
Coordinates: 43°44′35″N79°24′24″W / 43.74306°N 79.40667°W | |
Country | Canada |
Province | Ontario |
City | Toronto |
Municipality established | 1850 York Township |
Changed municipality | 1922 North York from York Township |
Changed municipality | 1998 Toronto from North York |
Government | |
• MP | Rob Oliphant (Don Valley West) |
• MPP | Stephanie Bowman (Don Valley West) |
• Councillor | Rachel Chernos Lin (Ward 15 Don Valley West) |
York Mills is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is centred around Yonge Street and York Mills Road located in the district of North York. In 2010, it encompassed the fourth and seventh most affluent postal codes in Canada. [1] It is recognized as a millionaires' mile, alongside the other Toronto neighbourhoods of The Bridlepath, Forest Hill, and Rosedale.
Part of the area is also known as Hoggs Hollow, named for James Hogg, a Scottish settler who settled in the area in 1824 and operated the mill on Yonge Street at the Don River north of the Town of York (now Toronto), by his sons John and William in 1856. Another portion is named St. Andrew-Windfields. St. Andrew-Windfields most famous resident was the popular Canadian Philanthropist E. P. Taylor who left Canada towards the latter years of his life and donated Parkland (now Windfields Park) and his mansion (now the Canadian Film Centre).
The area name is linked to saw and grist mills that dotted the Don River, which flows through York Mills. The Town of York Mills became part of the Township of North York.
The area once linked by radial railways (Metropolitan line and the successor North Yonge Railways) and Highway 11, now can be reached via Highway 401, GO Transit, and Toronto Transit Commission buses and York Mills station on the Yonge-University Spadina subway line.
In 1953, York Mills, along with North York, was severed from York County, joining other municipalities to form the regional government of Metropolitan Toronto. The area was the site of a tragic accident on March 17, 1960, when five Italian construction workers on a water main project were killed in a tunnel fire. North York later became a borough, and then a city, and was merged with five other municipalities and a regional government to form the new "City of Toronto" in 1998.
Today, the area is home to luxury condos and high-end homes. Houses in York Mills are highly distinguishable and contribute greatly to the proclaimed affluence of the neighbourhood. 50% of occupied dwellings are single detached houses. Many have been rebuilt and customized to taste, with heavily renovated front yards. In between 2001 and 2006, property values have increased by 47.6%. [2] The second type of most occupied dwelling is apartments reaching five or more storeys, inhabited by 28% of the population. [3] The average price for condominiums in the area ranges from C$800,000 to C$3,000,000, while the average price of a detached home is just above C$4,000,000. [4] [5]
From 1927 to 1950s the area south of Highway 401 and east of Yonge Street was home to St. Andrew's Golf Course. Designed by Stanley Thompson as an 18-hole course and later as 27 hole course, [6] it was sold to developers and now a residential area centred at Old Yonge Street and the Links Road. [7] The course hosted the Canadian Open in 1935 and 1936. [8]
From Yonge Street eastward, the roads slope upward but plateau as they reach Bayview Avenue. The natural environment is also highly integrated into the neighbourhood, with development seeming to build around it. The presence of greenery is a protected and distinguishable feature of York Mills.
South of York Mills Road and Yonge Street sits the sub-neighbourhood of Hoggs Hollow. Houses in this residential area are embedded into the natural landscape, which ascends southward. The directional slope and other natural features serve as identifiable landmarks, edges, and paths, making this area highly legible in terms of a Lynchian analysis. The area has more community-oriented characteristics that make it distinct from the rest of York Mills. Most notably, residents manage a community board located in the centre of this sub-neighbourhood.
As York Mills is a mainly residential neighbourhood, commercial activity occurs strictly at intersections of major arterials. At Yonge Street and York Mills Road, the tallest commercial building in the neighbourhood, York Mills Centre, holds large office and retail spaces.
Along York Mills Road in between major intersections, there are only single detached houses. The pedestrian paths are very close to roads. Residential area here leaves no space for any commercial opportunities, thus commercial nodes are only available at the intersection of major arterial roads.
There is very little public space. Properly maintained parks are often playgrounds for children. Actual parks do not properly serve the public as well with its lack of seating and walkways, which discourages overall usage. Free parking compared to the high hourly rates of the rest of Toronto points to space in York Mills as being an inexpensive commodity, yet there is very little space actually available for development. The current Official Plan does not provide for the anticipation of future development. [9]
Points of interest in York Mills:
Two public school boards operate schools in York Mills, the English-first language Toronto District School Board (TDSB), and the French-first language Conseil scolaire Viamonde (CSV).
TDSB also operates one secondary school in the neighbourhood, York Mills Collegiate Institute.
TDSB also operate six schools that provide primary education. They include:
CSV operates one secondary school in the neighbourhood, École secondaire Étienne-Brûlé. They do not operate an elementary school in the neighbourhood, with CSV elementary students residing in York Mills, attending schools in other neighbourhood.
The separate school boards for the City of Toronto, the English-based Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB), and the French-based Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir (CSCM) also offer schooling to residents of York Mills, although they do not operate a school in the neighbourhood, with CSCM/TCDSB students attending schools situated in other neighbourhoods in Toronto.
As a result of the man-made environment, large lots, and sprawled out nodes of commercial activity, the neighbourhood is highly reliant on the automobile for everyday activities, with approximately two thirds of the York Mills population using it as a primary mode of transportation . Having Highway 401 in such close proximity adds to the benefits of owning a car, as the degree of mobility to the rest of Toronto greatly increases. Public transit is reported to be less than a quarter of the population's primary method of commute. [10]
Deeper in the residential areas, pedestrian walkways are often only found on one side of the road. As much of the land surrounding the major arterials are claimed by private residences, there is no room to develop along pedestrian paths and make walking a more appealing option. The combined effect of this lack of appeal, poor infrastructural maintenance, and extended distance in between points of interests justify the populations' avoidance of walking, with a mere three percent of the population claim walking as their primary mode of commute. [11] York Mills is an example of a neighbourhood stuck within the cycle of auto-dependency.[ citation needed ]
Public transportation is provided by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). Services provided TTC include Line 1 Yonge–University of the Toronto subway, and several bus routes. The TTC operates one subway station in the neighbourhood, York Mills station. Oriole GO Station is also situated in the northeast of the neighbourhood, providing access to GO Transit's regional commuter railway.
The Bridle Path is a residential neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is characterized by large multimillion-dollar mansions and two to four acre lot sizes. It makes up part of Bridle Path–Sunnybrook–York Mills. Often referred to as "Millionaires' Row", as of 2014 it is the most affluent neighbourhood in Canada, with an average household income of $936,137, as well as by property values with an average dwelling value of $2.24M.
Newtonbrook is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the area around Yonge Street and Finch Avenue in the district of North York between the east and west branches of the Don River. Officially, the area is divided into two neighbourhoods; Newtonbrook West and Newtonbrook East.
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.
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Richview, formally known as Willowridge-Martingrove-Richview, is a neighbourhood in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is bounded on the west by Highway 401 and on the north by the highway and by Dixon Road, Royal York Road on the east, and Eglinton Avenue West along the south. Richview was originally established as a postal village within the then-agricultural Etobicoke Township.
Humbermede, often called Emery, is a neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Humbermede, like many of the "Humber" neighbourhoods in the city, gets its name from the Humber River. It is bounded on the west by the Humber River, on the north by Finch Avenue West, on the east by the Highway 400 and on the south by Sheppard Avenue West.
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Yorkdale–Glen Park is a neighbourhood in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located in the former suburb of North York. It is bounded by Highway 401 to the north, Allen Road to the east, a line south of Stayner Avenue to the south, and the CNR tracks to the west.
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Westminster-Branson is a neighbourhood in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is in the northernmost part of the city within the area of North York.
Lansing is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It originated as a minor settlement of a store, other services, and a post office at the corner of Yonge Street and Sheppard Avenue, was later designated a postal village, and was finally consolidated with its fellow postal villages, Newtonbrook and Willowdale, into a new postal village named Willowdale within the Township of North York. For neighbourhood planning purposes, the City of Toronto, which North York was amalgamated into in 1998, labels Lansing as Lansing-Westgate. Its boundaries are Yonge Street to the east, Highway 401 to the south, Bathurst Street to the west, and Burnett Avenue to the north.
For the settlement established by former slaves in Guyana known as Victoria Village see Victoria, Guyana
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Don Valley Village is a neighbourhood in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the former suburb of North York. Located north of Highway 401 and bisected by Don Mills Road, it is bounded by Sheppard Avenue to the south, Leslie Street to the west, Finch Avenue to the north and Highway 404 to the east. Like the nearby Don River Valley, the neighbourhood has hill and dale topography.
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The Upper Beaches is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is directly north of the Beaches area. It stretches from Coxwell Avenue in the west to Victoria Park in the east. The southern border is Kingston Road, while the northern boundary is generally considered to be the Canadian National Railway tracks between Gerrard Street and Danforth Avenue. The western part of the area was originally called Norway, and the larger area was once part of the Town of East Toronto. The name "Upper Beaches" was first used by developers and real estate agents around the period of 2001 to 2003 for the selling of houses on redeveloped land in the area, and was used as a marketing tag to attract buyers. The area was never considered part of the Beaches neighbourhood but was close to it. The city's current name for this area is East End Danforth, though that is rarely used. The city also includes the buildings along and just north of Danforth Avenue in the neighbourhood. The western portion between Woodbine Avenue and Coxwell is referred to by the city as Woodbine Corridor.
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Media related to York Mills at Wikimedia Commons