Runnymede-Bloor West Village

Runnymede-Bloor West Village
—  Neighbourhood  —
Looking east on Bloor Street
Location of Runnymede-Bloor West Village within Toronto
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
City	Toronto
Community	Toronto & East York
Changed Municipality	1998 Toronto from Toronto (former)
Government
- MP	Gerard Kennedy (Parkdale—High Park)
- MPP	Cheri DiNovo (Parkdale—High Park)
- Councillor	Bill Saundercook (Ward 13 Parkdale—High Park)

Runnymede-Bloor West Village is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada located north of Bloor Street West between Jane Street and Runnymede Road north to Dundas Street West. It is located directly north of the Swansea and west of the High Park North neighbourhoods. Located along Bloor Street is a shopping area known as Bloor West Village, and the part of the neighbourhood north of Annette St is sometimes referred to as the Runnymede neighbourhood.

A Bloor West Village street sign.

Main streets

The major streets are Bloor Street, Jane Street and Annette Street. Bloor Street, the main thoroughfare, is a four-lane arterial road, lined with mainly commercial and retail, predominately two-storey buildings with a retail first floor and residential on the upper floors. Most businesses are local stores and restaurants and there are some chains of fast-food restaurants. The businesses are organized into the Bloor-West Village Business Improvement Association. The Runnymede Library is also located on Bloor. Jane Street, which is a four-lane arterial road running north from Bloor, changes along its length within the neighbourhood, being predominantly commercial and retail around Bloor Street and Annette. Annette, in the northern part of the neighbourhood, is a four-lane arterial road, which runs east-west and is predominantly residential with some schools and the Annette Library located along the street.

Character

Homes in this neighbourhood are generally (often American craftsman style) two story brick houses, however renovations are becoming popular and many of the traditional homes are being torn down to create larger, more modern homes. The tree-lined streets in this area, which was annexed by the city of Toronto in 1909 make this a popular residential neighbourhood. Much of its development was originally due to the creation of a streetcar line along Bloor Street, which the TTC later replaced by the Bloor-Danforth subway line, built in the 1960s.

The neighourhood's first residents were largely Irish and Anglo-Saxon, followed eventually by immigrants of Eastern European origin.^[1] The ethnicity of the area, as recorded in the 2001 Census of Canada is still largely English, Irish and Scottish. The largest Eastern European groups are Ukrainian and Polish; the Ukrainian language was the most commonly spoken non-English language by residents of this community. ^[2] The 2006 Census of Canada estimated the number of residents within the neighbourhood as 9,565.^[3]

Bloor shopping district

Bloor West Village is a shopping district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located along Bloor Street, it encompasses all businesses along Bloor Street between Jane Street and Ellis Park Road, consisting of more than 400 shops, restaurants and services.

The BIA has promoted a healthy shopping district on Bloor Street. One will find retailers such as Arka Shoes, a high-quality fashion shoe store specializing in comfort and wider widths while maintaining a fashion focus. Trixie's, Max's Market, and New Balance, as well as world-class restaurants such as Villa, Bloom and Yumi Sushi. Additionally, the area is known for its coffee shops, as it is home to two Starbucks, two Timothy's, a Second Cup and a local coffee enterprise called the Coffee Tree.

Some of the services you will find in Bloor West Village are chiropractic care, massage therapy and Pilates excercise; the latter hosted by Retrofit Bodyworks Pilates ( Retrofit Bodyworks ) in Windermere court.

North of Bloor are two residential neighbourhoods: High Park North and Bloor West Village. To the south is the former village of Swansea. To the east is the large park of High Park. The area is served by Toronto's Bloor-Danforth subway line, with stops at Runnymede and Jane, which runs underneath Bloor Street.

Bloor West Village Business Improvement Association (BIA) is the world's first business improvement area (BIA), established in 1970, aided my Mr. Alex Ling. Ling founded the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA) in 1980, an organization that now represents 66 BIAs across Toronto. He was also an important player in the forming of the Bloor West Village BIA in 1970, which he chaired for 24 years. . The organization promotes business activity in the area by holding several annual events and festivals. It also puts efforts into the beautification of the area. The Bloor West Village BIA hosts a Ukrainian Festival; celebrated in 2007 at Toronto's downtown Harbourfront Centre, it returned to Bloor West Village the following year.

Schools

The village has a handful of public, semi-public, and catholic elementary and high-schools. Elementary students from this area attend Runnymede Collegiate Institute on Jane Street or Bishop Marroco/Merton, Western Technical Commercial School or Humberside Collegiate Institute high schools located to the east.

Public schools

• King George Junior Public School is a public elementary school located on Rexford Road. It first opened in 1911, the year of King George V's coronation, it replaced Elizabeth Street School, built in 1882. The present building opened in 1964. King George houses the co-operative Humbercrest Nursery School for children between the ages of 2.5 to 4 and a Learning Enrichment Before and After School Program for children 6 to 12 years of age.
• Runnymede Collegiate Institute is a public high school on Jane Street.
• Runnymede Public School is a public elementary school on Runnymede Road. It has grades JK-8 and has around 1100 students enrolled. The school was founded in 1913 as a one-room schoolhouse.

Catholic schools

St Pius X Catholic School

St. Pius is an elementary school located on Jane Street, just north of Bloor Street.

James Culnan Catholic School

Culnan is an elementary school located on Willard Avenue and offers Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8 education, with an extended French program starting in Grade 5. The current enrollment is 421 students and the principal is Lillian Ugrin.

The school, named for trustee James Culnan, was opened in 1970 with the official opening and blessing 6 June 1971. Although the main entrance is on Willard Avenue, houses on both it and Windermere Avenue were expropriated to allow for the building of the school. In 1995 the school celebrated its 25th anniversary with a special mass at St. James Church. James Culnan was a trustee for 37 years, until his death in 1964, and was knighted by Pope Pius XII in 1957 in honour of his work with the Metropolitan Separate School Board, today the Toronto Catholic District School Board.

The school has a mandatory blue and white dress code. The school's religion program teaches Catholic faith and is integrated closely to St James Parish.

Transportation

The area is served by the Bloor-Danforth subway line, with stations at Jane Street and Runnymede Road. Buses runs north from Jane Station and Runnymede Stations. Annette Street is served by a bus line from Jane Station. A night bus replaces the subway line during the early morning hours along Bloor Street.

Culture

The neighbourhood has two Toronto Public Library locations, Runnymede and Annette, and there is a nearby location in Swansea. The neighbourhood hosts:
Annual Ukrainian Festival in September (music, foods and crafts).
July Festival, which is a local fair of amusements and entertainment.
Halloween Festival on Armadale Avenue, Beresford Avenue and Glendonwynne Road (family-friendly activities).
Participates in the Toronto city-wide Cavalcade of Lights (December)

Neighbourhood issues

Runnymede Theatre

A great furor accompanied the arrival of a Chapters bookstore in the late 1990s. Aside from discontent about the effect of a large bookstore undermining older local businesses, many residents were upset that the local historic movie theatre was going to be gutted to make room for the new store. However, the arrival of Chapters allowed restoration of the historical Runnymede Theatre. At the time Chapters was the only company willing to make the $5 million investment necessary to restore the building.

References

		Rockcliffe-Smythe (York)
	Lambton, Baby Point, Old Mill		High Park North
		Runnymede-Bloor West Village
		Swansea