Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Bloorcourt Village
Bloorcourt Village is an area of Toronto in the city's west end, situated mainly along Bloor Street West. It takes its name from the intersection at the approximate centre of the district, Bloor Street and Dovercourt Road . The exact limits of the village, like most districts of Toronto, are a subjective issue. The local business association, posts its streetlamp banners on Bloor between between Crawford and Brock Streets. Lateral boundaries may extend as far north as Davenport Road and as far south as Harbord Street.
Bloorcourt Village contains a diverse mixture of land-uses. The main thoroughfare of Bloor Street consists almost exclusively of mixed-use residential and commercial buildings, beginning at Crawford. These structures are typically two or three stories tall, with retail commercial on the main floor, and offices or rental housing on the remainder. These converted residential structures are the oldest in the district and are often in poor repair. Pigeon infestation remains an issue for business owners and shoppers alike. At Dovercourt, a large, high-rise apartment complex houses lower-middle-income tenants on the southwest corner. The Bloor-Gladstone Library, dating from 1913, sits at Gladstone Avenue, and is admired for its charming design. Dufferin Street gives way to the Dufferin Mall , a fifty-store indoor shopping complex on the former site of a race track. Farther south on Dufferin lies Dufferin Grove Park , a successful exercise in urban rehabilitation.
Sizable medium-density residential areas flank the north and south of Bloor Street. Upper-middle income residents occupy and own single-family dwellings in this part of the neighbourhood. Many of these structures have been converted, housing up to eight separate units, though illegally. Side-streets tend to increase in zoned density as they approach Bloor. Low and medium-rise apartments occupy the majority of these zones. Closely-spaced TTC Subway stations serve the largely pedestrian population of this neighbourhood.
The northern part of Bloorcourt Village, between Dupont and Davenport, is mainly post-industrial development. Limited manufacturing remains, though some warehouse and light automotive industries still thrive. While the Canadian National Railway still operates a main line between the two thoroughfares, a great deal of former industrial space has been converted to loft condominiums. Some single-family row-houses and low-income rental space has also been created.
As with most areas of Toronto, Bloorcourt Village is ethnically diverse. A majority of residents are fluent in Portuguese, Italian and English. A large Ethiopian population is also present in the area. Shops along Bloor Street serving the Portugese and Ethiopian communities dominate. Many observers point to Bloorcourt Village as one of few areas in Downtown Toronto where regentrification has yet to occur.
Education remains an issue in the area. Almost half of all residents over the age of 24 are without a high school diploma. Census data reports a population with one of the lowest rates of university education in the city, at 18 percent.
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