Malvern, Toronto
Malvern is a neighbourhood in
Toronto,
Ontario,
Canada, with a population of 50,000. It is located in the northeast corner of the city, in the former City of
Scarborough. Scarborough was merged with five other municipalities and a regional government to form the new "City of Toronto" in
1998. It has the highest concentration of young people in
Canada [
1].).
Malvern was home to Mammoth Hall, a wooden structure that was once a municipal office, meeting hall and
curling rink. The
Toronto Zoo, the
Rouge River, and the Rouge Valley Park are also located in Malvern. Although Malvern is known as a community plagued with violence, conditions in the community have been improving following Project Impact where hundreds of officers from the GTA swooped down on known associates of the Malvern Crew street gang in early morning raids across the city on May 12, 2004. During the raids, 71 warrants were executed resulting in the arrest of 65 people. Later raids and the implementation of Project Pathfinder would result in further arrests.
Other important factors that have contributed to the improvement of living conditions in the community include the major renovation of the Malvern
public library, the construction of new housing developments in the neighbourhood, and the opening of a new park in
2004.
Malvern is served by
Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) buses (131 Nugget, 132 Milner, 133 Neilson, 134 Progress, 39 Finch East, 116 Morningside, 85 Sheppard East, & the 102 Markham). In the
1980s, there was a plan to bring rapid transit to Malvern by extending the TTC's
Scarborough Rapid Transit line, but that plan was never implemented.
The history of Malvern began in
1856, when the Malvern Post Office was opened in David Brown's general store, which stood at the south-east corner of Finch Avenue and Markham Road. This post office was named after a resort town in England. A year after the post office was opened, Senator David Reesor â€" formerly of Markham Village â€" began selling "Village Lots" in Malvern. Reesor trumpeted Malvern as the future "Capital of Scarborough," anticipating that the Grand Trunk Railway would extend a branch line through here. Unfortunately, when the Grand Trunk Railway began service to this area in
1871, it bypassed Malvern in favour of the neighbouring village of
Agincourt.
While Malvern never did become a prosperous railway centre, it flourished as a farming community for over one hundred years. In the late
1950s, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation expropriated Malvern's farms to build a "model community" of affordable homes. The first residents of this modern day Malvern community moved into their homes in
1972.
The former Malvern Schoolhouse, built in
1872, is still standing today at 5810 Finch Avenue, and is now a private school. Other important community hubs include: the local public high school -
Lester B. Pearson C.I., the local Catholic high school - Mother Theresa C.H.S., and the Malvern Town Centre shopping mall. (
Source of historical information: torontoneighbourhoods.net.)
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List of neighbourhoods in Toronto
