Park-Extension
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Park Extension (Parc-Extension in French) is a neighbourhood in the city of Montreal, Quebec. It is located in the borough of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension and has a population of 29,000 (2001) and an area of 1,6 km². The name derives from the fact that it is situated at the end of one of the city's biggest and most important streets: Avenue du Parc [English: Park Avenue]. The area is affectionately known by its residents as Park Ex.
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[edit] Statistics
| Average income | $12,306 |
| Percentage unemployed | 30% |
| Percentage of immigrants | 61% |
| Population Density | 18,229/sq. km. (Montreal average: 5,739) |
Most of the buildings were built between 1950 and 1970. Over 29,000 people are packed in only 1.6 square kilometres, more than triple the average population density in Montreal. Most of the population is made up of recent immigrants.
[edit] Geography
The area is bounded by Acadie, to the West; Canadian Pacific Railway, to the South and East; and the Metropolitan Quebec Autoroute 40, to the North. The surrounding neighborhoods are Villeray and Little Italy to the east, Mile End and Outremont to the south, the Town of Mont-Royal to the west and Ahuntsic-Cartierville to the north.
[edit] Government
[edit] Municipal
The current district counicilor is Mary Deros. Mary Deros, Équipe Bourque/Vision Montréal candidate for City Council in Parc-Extension has been a very active resident of Park Extension since 1970. She was elected city councillor for Park Extension in 1998 and re-elected in November 2001.
Former city councilors
Konstantinos Georgoulis
Stavros Zagakos
Sofoklis Rasoulis
Demetrios Manolakos
The district is part of the borough of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension.
[edit] Federal and provincial
The district is part of the following federal riding:
It is part of the following provincial electoral district:
[edit] History
The area was a working class anglophone suburb until the 1950's. From the early 1950's there was rapid housing development in the northwestern reaches of Park-Ex. A significant Jewish population migrated there, mostly from the Plateau Mont-Royal area, and established a thriving community. Several hundred families built and maintained a synagogue, Congregation Beth Aaron. By the mid-70's, the Jewish community was diminishing. Congregation Beth Aaron merged with the Beth Israel Congregation in 1986 [1], and the building was sold.
In the 1960's and 1970's many immigrants from Greece settled in the neighborhood, and at one time was almost 70% Greek. Many Greeks have since moved to suburbs such as Chomedey, Laval. Now the neighborhood is a mixture of Indian, Pakistani, South Asian, Latin American and Caribbean immigrants.
In the late 80's, the area had problems with the shooting-pad/crackhouse blight that scarred the area. However, a concerted police effort in the early 90's has solved that problem.
[edit] Points of Interest
- The Park-Extension library in the William Hingston community centre
- Loblaw's supermarket
- The old Park Avenue train station
[edit] Fence with Mont-Royal (TMR) along L'Acadie
A fence is erected on the western border of Park Extension along l'Acadie Boulevard. The stated purpose of the fence is to prevent children and house pets from running into the busy thoroughfare, but many contend that it was built to keep residents of the working-class Park Extension neighbourhood out of TMR. This fence originally had several gates built into it, which the became a subject of controversy when they were locked one year at Halloween, preventing children from Park Extension from trick-or-treating in TMR. The Mount Royal town council responded by removing the gates so that the fence could be crossed at any time at any of the six crosswalks along the 1.2 km boulevard.
[edit] Park Avenue name change controversy
- On November 28, 2006 the Montreal city council voted in favour (40-22) of renaming Parc Avenue after Robert Bourassa, as announced on October 18 by Montreal mayor Gerald Tremblay. [2]
- If Quebec's Toponymy Commission approves the name change, all of Parc Avenue and its continuation, Bleury down to Viger will be renamed Avenue Robert Bourassa. This will cause the newly named street to cross René Lévesque Boulevard, named after a long time political rival to Bourassa.
- This decision by the City of Montreal without any consultation with the people of the city has caused an uproar and a lot of controversy, especially as Parc is itself an historical street name, associated with the city's beloved Mount Royal park.[3]
- There was an online petition against this renaming. The petition is now closed
- The STM's Parc metro station (and AMT commuter rail station) will remain "Parc" due to a moratorium on renaming metro stations. [1]
- After Robert Bourassa's family publicly expressed reservations about the controversy stirred up by the proposed change, mayor Tremblay announced on February 6, 2007 that he would not pursue the issue further and that the council would be presented with a motion to withdraw the resolution of November 28. The urban planning department will work to find an alternative commemoration for the late premier. [4]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Borough website (in French)
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