The Beaches
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Beaches is an upper-middle class neighbourhood and popular tourist destination located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The trendy shops of Queen Street East lie at the heart of The Beaches community, with the boardwalk by the lake and several large parks being just a few steps south. Its side streets are mostly lined with picturesque semis and large-scale Victorian, Edwardian and new-style houses. It also includes low-rise apartment buildings, and a few row-houses. The beach itself is a single uninterrupted stretch of sandy shoreline bounded by the R.C. Harris Filtration Plant (locally known as the water works) to the east and Woodbine park (a small peninsula in Lake Ontario) to the west. Although it is continuous, there are four names which correspond each to approximately one quarter of the length of the beach (from east to west): Balmy Beach, Scarboro Beach, Kew Beach and Woodbine Beach.
It is one of the few desirable neighborhoods in the city to have held-off the construction of high-rise condominiums, giving it a unique small-town feel in a massive city.
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[edit] "The Beach" or "The Beaches"
The name of the community is the subject of a long-standing dispute. Some long-time local residents believe that The Beach is the proper historical name for the area, whereas others are of the view that "The Beaches" is the more universally recognized neighbourhood name, particularly by non-residents. All government levels refer to the riding, or the ward in the case of the municipal government, as Beaches-East York.
The dispute over the area's name reached a fever pitch in 1985, when the City of Toronto installed 14 street signs designating the neighbourhood as "The Beaches". The resulting controversy resulted in the eventual removal of the signs, although the municipal government continues to officially designate the area as "The Beaches". In early 2006 the local Beaches Business Improvement Area voted to place "The Beach" on signs slated to appear on new lampposts over the summer, but local outcry caused them to rescind that decision. The Beaches Business Improvement Area board subsequently held a poll (online, in person and by ballot) in April 2006 to determine whether the new street signs would be designated "The Beach" or "The Beaches", and 58% of participants selected "The Beach" as the name to appear on the signs.
Ironically, the two names have been used to refer to the area since the first homes were built in the 19th century. In his book, Accidental City: The Transformation of Toronto, Robert Fulford, himself a former resident, wrote: "the historical argument for 'the Beaches' as a name turns out to be at least as strong as the historical argument for 'the Beach'". "Pluralists" hold that since the area had four distinct beach areas, using the singular term is illogical. Those preferring the singular term "Beach" hold that the term has historically referred to the area as the four distinct beach areas merged.
Historically, there are or were a number of institutions that used the term "Beach" in the singular, including the original Beach telephone exchange (1903 - 1920s), the Beach Hebrew Institute (1920), the Beach Theatre (1919 to the 1960s), and the Beach Streetcar (1923 - 1948). The singular form has also been adopted by the local historical society, which is called The Beach and East York Historical Society (from 1974). There are also numerous examples of early local institutions that use the plural form "Beaches", such as the Beaches Library (1915), the Beaches Presbyterian Church (1926), the Beaches Branch of the Canadian Legion and a local war monument in Kew Beach erected post WWII by the "Beaches Business Men's Association".
Despite the naming controversy, most Torontonians recognise either name as referring to this particular neighbourhood, despite the fact that there are numerous beaches located elsewhere in the city.
[edit] Location
Originally, the Beaches area was considered to be bounded by Woodbine Avenue to the west, Victoria Park Avenue to the east, Kingston Road to the north, and Lake Ontario to the south. The lakefront is divided into three sections; Woodbine Beach to the west, Kew Beach in the centre, and Balmy Beach to the east. It is these beaches which give the neighbourhood its name and defining principal characteristic. Until Lakeshore Boulevard was extended to Woodbine Avenue in the 1950s, Woodbine Beach was not a bathing beach, but rather a desolate wooded area known as The Cut.
Today, some Torontonians generally tend to view the The Beaches neighbourhood as extending to Coxwell, with the area north of Queen Street East and west of Woodbine nicknamed the Beaches Triangle. In addition, the area north of Kingston Road up to the CNR tracks has become known as the Upper Beaches. However, some locals still use the original definition.
Still, whatever the definition of its borders, before amalgamation in 1998 the Beaches neighbourhood was at Toronto's extreme eastern limit and formed part of the city's border with the suburb of Scarborough. Even now, residents refer to The Beaches as being in the east end of the city, though since the amalgamation of city services in 1998, it is strictly speaking part of the east-central district of Toronto.
[edit] Origin of the beach sand
The beach is diminishing as the sand continuously migrates from east to west. Although sand is replaced by new sand generated by the erosion of the Scarborough Bluffs to the east, this source of sand is itself diminished due to municipal efforts to reduce erosion of the bluffs in an effort to preserve homes at the crest of the bluffs.
[edit] Local News Media, Community Websites
The Beaches community is served by several locally distributed newspapers including Beach Metro Community News and the Beach-Riverdale Mirror.
There are several websites dedicated to the Beaches community, incliding Beaches Toronto.com and Beaches Living Magazine.
[edit] Public Transportation
Streetcars heading to and from downtown Toronto run east-west along Queen Street East (route 501) as well as along Kingston Road (route 502 and 503) and Gerrard Street East (route 506), and a bus line runs north-south along Woodbine Avenue to Woodbine subway station (route 92). Another north-south bus line snakes its way along several side streets before making its way to the Main Street subway station (route 64). A third bus line runs north-south down Coxwell Avenue from Coxwell subway station and then turns east travelling the entire length of Kingston Road as far as Victoria Park Avenue (only from 7PM-5AM on weekday evenings, and 24hrs on weekends) (route 22A).
[edit] Politics
The area is in the political riding of Beaches—East York, and is currently represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by Michael Prue of the provincial New Democratic Party. Historically, the riding has sent only NDP representatives to Queen's Park since 1962 (the year after the NDP was founded) and is considered one of the safest NDP seats in the province. Federally, the riding has voted for the Liberal party for the last few years and is currently represented by MP Maria Minna.
The area's city councillor is Sandra Bussin who is currently also a Deputy Mayor of Toronto.
[edit] Attractions
A notable site in the area is the R.C. Harris Filtration Plant, which has been featured in several television programs, as well as in the films "Half Baked", "In the Mouth of Madness" and "Undercover Brother", and in Michael Ondaatje's novel In the Skin of a Lion. In the 1920s, the neighbourhood was the site of an amusement park, located at the end of today's Scarboro Beach Boulevard. Kew Gardens is a medium-sized park in the neighbourhood running from Queen Street to Lake Ontario, and includes a bandstand for concerts. Every July, the neighbourhood celebrates the Beaches International Jazz Festival, drawing thousands of tourists to the area.
[edit] Historic Buildings in the Beaches
The Beaches contains a number of historic buildings that are either designated under the Ontario Heritage Act, or listed in the City of Toronto's inventory of heritage buildings, including:
- 18–36 Wineva Avenue, built in 1929;
- the Bank of Toronto building, 1958 Queen Street East, now the "Lion on the Beach" bar, built in 1950;
- the Beach Hebrew Institute, 109 Kenilworth Avenue, built in 1920;
- Beaches Branch of the Toronto Public Library, a Carnegie library, 2161 Queen Street East, originally built in 1916, revamped in 1980 and 2005;
- the Dominion Bank building, at Queen and Lee streets, built in 1911;
- the Dr. William D. Young Memorial, located in Kew Gardens, erected in 1919 and partly designed by Ivor Lewis;
- the Fox Theatre[7], built in 1914, which is Toronto's oldest operating movie theater;
- Glenn Gould's family home, 32 Southwood Drive;
- the Kew Beach Firehall No. 17, still in use today as a working firehall, built in 1905;
- the Kew Williams House, 30 Lee Avenue, built in 1901-1902;
- the Leuty Lifeguard Station, foot of Leuty Avenue, built in 1920;
- Inglenook, at 81 Waverley Road; and
- Whitelock's Grocery Store, now Whitlock's Restaurant, built between 1906-1908.
[edit] Notable people
Academy-award winning director Norman Jewison, former L.A. Lakers and L.A. Kings owner Jack Kent Cooke, and world-renowned concert pianist Glenn Gould all grew up in the neighbourhood and attended Malvern Collegiate Institute, the local non-denominational high school. Singer/songwriters Dan Hill and Alannah Myles both lived in the neighbourhood while maintaining active international recording careers. Canadian comedian John Candy, though never a Beaches resident, attended the local Catholic boys' high school, Neil McNeil High School. A few members of the band Barenaked Ladies live in the Beaches area, as does international bestselling author Peter Robinson, creator of the Inspector Banks series. Jamie Johnston, an actor in Degrassi: The Next Generation also resides in the neighbourhood. Alex Trebek, host of the television show Jeopardy attended Malvern Collegiate Institute.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ "Is it Beaches or The Beach? Passions run deep in neighbourhood Vote will decide how signs will read" by Curtis Rush, The Toronto Star, April 5, 2006. B4 (online: [8])
- ^ City of Toronto, Beaches Neighbourhood Profile ([9])
- ^ "Once and for all, is it Beach or Beaches?" by Stephen Wickens, The Globe and Mail, February 4, 2006. M1.
- ^ "Once and for all, is it Beach or Beaches?" by Stephen Wickens, The Globe and Mail, February 4, 2006. M5.
- ^ "Are you a Beacher or a Beacheser?" by Mary Campbell. Beach Metro News, April 4th 2006. p4.
- ^ "Carved in Stone: The Beaches", by Steven Spenser. Beach Metro News, April 4th 2006. p5.
[edit] References
- The Beach in Pictures: 1793–1932. Mary Campbell and Barbara Myrvold. 1988. Toronto Public Library Board.
- The Boardwalk Album. Barbaranne Boyer. 2000. Boston Mills Press.
- Historical Walking Tour of Kew Beach. Mary Campbell and Barbara Myrvold. 1995. Toronto Public Library Board.
