The Beaches of the City of Toronto - Case Study Example

Profile I: The Beaches The Beaches is a hill-shaped area in the southeastern part of the of Toronto, prominent for its proximity to the long sandy beaches of Lake Ontario. With the attraction of the long stretch of the sandy beaches and other prominent tourist spots like the Kew Garden, the Glenn Stewart Park, the Canada Day Woodbine Park and the landmark RC Harris Water Treatment facility in the farthest east of the neighborhood, The Beaches is needless to say, a veritable tourist attraction. Its unique location, which straddles between the natural beauty of Lake Ontario and the modern, bustling city of Toronto, has earned it a tourist destination reputation not only among nearby Canadian provinces but also to people outside the national boundaries. Through the years, the attractions offered by The Beaches has developed it into an urbanized neighborhood characterized by its highly diverse cultural structure, moderately dense population and its proximity to the rest of the city. II The Demographic Structure According to the 2006 statistics released by the Social Policy Analysis & Research Section in the Social Development, Finance and Administrative Division of the city of Toronto, the Beaches has a total population of 20, 420. Furthermore, the statistics show that a large component of its population belongs to the working age, viz., 25-64% (see Fig. 1). Thus, a visit to The Beaches, especially its more busy areas like the Queen Street East strip, during the daytime on weekends reveals this evident demographic constitution: couples in their mid-forties, and middle-aged individuals can be found packing its numerous restaurants, diners and cafes and skimming through shops and grocery stores. There is a comparatively lesser presence of teen-agers and the younger set except for the occasional little children and babies in strollers out on the side streets with adults hovering over and walking with them. As a matter of fact according to the same statistics, only 10% of the population belongs to the age group 15-24, while children from ages 0 to 14 constitute 17% of it. Compared to the rest of Toronto, The Beaches has lower number of individuals in the age group of 15-24, higher number of children from ages 0 to 4 and lower number of children in the 5-14 age group. On the other hand, individuals whose ages range from and up constitute just a mere 9% of The Beaches population lower by comparison to the rest of Toronto. Looking at the gender distribution in The Beaches neighborhood, no one sex group seems to dominate the neighborhood as there is an equal number, more or less, of men and women wandering about. Overall, there are more middle-aged people than the other age groups. This is proven by statistical records mentioned which shows that those aged 35 to 39 (1075) number the most in the female gender and likewise those aged from 40 to 44 (1000) dominate the male population. As expected the least number of individuals in both sexes are the octogenarians (see Fig 2). In all age groups however, except in ages 10 to 14, the female members of the population posted a lightly higher number than their male counterparts. As a conclusion, one can say that the neighborhood is predominantly populated by middle-aged people, with both sexes almost evenly numbering. Legend: Female Male Moreover, The Beaches neighborhood’s population is principally composed of individuals who are either legally married, legally married and separated, divorced or widowed and only 38 percent of its population 15 and above are single and never been married. III Economic Structure The area is predominantly a middle class neighborhood judging from the large number of well-maintained medium-sized single detached houses lining the residential parts of The Beaches along the backstreets of the Kensington Road and other underlying streets. The abundance of thriving businesses, mostly restaurants, cafes, diners, pubs and grocer stores and a scattering of banks here and there, especially along the Queen Street East strip are also indices of this particular economic structure. In the statistical survey of the city of Toronto in 2005, where three groups, including census family, private households and 1-person private households, for their comparative income, private households were shown to have the most number in the high-income category, followed closely by the census families. The 1-person private households constituted only 11.2% of the high-income group as shown in Figure 3. The Toronto website defines census family as one composing of a couple whether legally married or not living with children, if any, by either or both or of one lone parent (of whatever status) living with his/her child or children in the same dwelling. A family household on the other hand, is one where a group of persons reside (excluding foreigners) and who have no other places of dwellings in any other place in Canada and as the term implies, a one-person household refers to one with a lone occupant who has no other place of residence within the Canadian jurisdiction. The same statistics also showed that a majority of census families has only two persons and an average of three whereas in private households, the majority has only a single resident and with maximum 6 persons. IV Social/Cultural Structure There are a considerable number of foreigners in The Beaches, many of them employed in the many establishments proliferating in the area. This ethnic diversity gives the neighborhood an international ambiance that helps tourists, of any origin, feel comfortable and less alienated to their new surroundings. Comparatively speaking, the immigrants in The Beaches are a bit higher than in the other areas of Toronto although Canadian citizens are much higher, according to the 2006 statistics in the Toronto website. There are top five non-Canadian languages spoken in the area: Chinese, Spanish, Dutch, Greek and Korean. The same statistics show that 35% of these immigrants came into the country between the years 1991 to 2000; 18% came in between 1981 to 1990 and about the same number came in between 200 to 2006; 8% came in between 1961 to 1970 and about the same number came in between 1971 to 1980, and; 13% migrated into the country before 1961. V Services The Beaches, especially along Queen Street East, is a veritable hub of teeming shops, independent specialty stores and restaurants. Kingston Avenue has a scattering of these establishments along its long stretch but Queen just dominates the dining business in the neighborhood. As one enters it from the west going eastward, the ubiquitous Starbucks, a Gallic restaurant and fine café appear between the corners of Brookmount Road and Rainsford Road. From the corner of Keniworth Avenue, the proliferation of shops and establishments begin to grow in a crescendo. As one reaches the Dr. William Young Memorial, which fronts the Kew Gardens, the shops at the left side of Queen Street East, going eastward, stand side by side almost unidentifiable from one another. The next block is no different either. American, Italian, Chinese, Thai and Japanese restaurants proliferate in the Queen-Wheeler Avenue corner of the strip up to Hammersmith Avenue, along with Subway Sandwiches, several pubs, fruit and news stands, flower shops, animal hospitals, groceries and pharmacy stores. Several banks and financial institutions can be found like the TD Bank Financial Group, Royal Bank-Queen and Lee, and Bank of Nova Scotia and earlier on the HSBC Bank near the corner of Lark Street. The presence of so many banks and so many restaurants and diners in Queen Street reinforces the idea that the area primarily caters to the needs of tourists rather than the domestic market. VI Housing Structure Of the 6,115 dwellings in the neighborhood, 64% or 5805 are owned by their occupants and 36% or 3310 are merely rented. As to the conditions of these dwellings 58% needs regular repairs, 33% needs minor repairs and only 9% needs major repairs although this figure is higher than in the other parts of Toronto. Comparatively, there are lower renters in The Beaches neighborhood than in the rest of Toronto, and much lower multi-family dwellings. There are about six structural classifications of private dwellings in the neighborhood: single detached houses; semi-detached houses; row houses; apartment, detached duplexes; apartment, five or more storeys; apartment building, less than five storeys, and; others. Of these structure types, majority of them are the apartments with less than five storeys and the least number are the row houses (see Fig. 4). In addition, a majority of the buildings in The Beaches were constructed before 1946. Out of the 9110 buildings surveyed, 5760 were constructed before 1946, 1085 were built 1946 and 1960, 515 between 1961-1970, 385 between 1971 to 1980, 160 between 1981 to 1990, 675 between the years 1991-2000, and 630 from 2001 and above. The implication here is that a majority of the structures in the area are more 50 years old which explains the presence of many Victorian buildings. VII Conclusion The Beaches is a highly urbanized neighborhood because it meets all the qualifications of urbanization: it has proximity, because it is located within the city accessible for all forms transportation; it has density evidenced by its growing population, and; most of all, it has diversity considering that it has become a haven of immigrants from all over the world. Moreover, a perusal of the statistics from earlier years to the present would show that The Beaches is not showing signs of deurbanizing as can be seen from its growth of population. In 2001, the total population of the area was 19, 970 and in 2006, the figure increase to 20, 420. The neighborhood’s population is also bound to increase considering that 62% of its population is either legally married or are living as common law spouses, many of whom are still in their prime and able to bear children. As a matter of fact, the neighborhood’s second largest segment of the population is children between the ages of 0 and 14. In addition, the immigration patterns in the neighborhood of different foreign nationalities were growing over the number of years which have shore up population and diversity of The Beaches. Prior to 1961, immigrants came pouring in to the neighborhood making up 13% of the present immigrant population before 1961, and in just a span of 20 years from 1961 to 1980, 16% more came in. In the next ten year period a total of 18% more entered the area and peaked to a whooping 35% in the 1991-2000 decade. Its slight decline the following years, at 18% is not surprising as the 9/11 incident have made immigration more difficult than usual. Another proof of the area’s urbanization is its economic base which is largely service-oriented as evinced by the presence of many shops, restaurants, banks and bars along Queen Street East and other business enterprises geared to meet tourist demands. Moreover, the figures show that the majority of census families and private households earn more than $100,000 a year although only a small proportion of the 1-person private households earn as much. The dwelling structure of the neighborhood likewise points to the comfortable economic status of its residents. Although the majority structure types are apartment with less than 5 storeys, many of these dwelling houses as well are single detached and semi-detached houses. In addition, many of the residents of the area are dwelling owners as compared to others dwellers in the rest of Toronto. It is plain to see how urbanization developed in The Beaches. Being near the Ontario Lake, the place would have attracted a lot of tourists which would make the place attractive to entrepreneurs like those in the dining and restaurant business which has become its specialized-service. As these types of business sprouted in the area, immigrants new to the country flocked to this particular neighborhood to work in many of the tourist-catering businesses which explains it highly diverse cultural structure. This also explains the reason why the majority of the neighborhood’s dwellers are the so-called working age from 25 to 64. In addition, other kinds of dwellers were also attracted to the area because of its natural beauty and convenient location. Bibliography Social Profile #1 – Neighbourhoods Age & Gender, The Beaches. http://www.toronto.ca/demographics/cns_profiles/2006/pdf1/cpa63.pdf Social Profile #2 – Neighbourhoods’ Language & Ethnicity, The Beaches. http://www.toronto.ca/demographics/cns_profiles/2006/pdf2/cpa63.pdf. Social Profile #3 – Neighbourhoods’ Families & Dwellings, The Beaches. http://www.toronto.ca/demographics/cns_profiles/2006/pdf3/cpa63.pdf Social Profile #4 – Neighbourhoods’ Income & Poverty, The Beaches. http://www.toronto.ca/demographics/cns_profiles/2006/pdf4/cpa63.pdf Read More