Every day for the last 19 years, Salim “Sam” Hadad, his daughter Mary and his son-in-law Emel were up at 7 a.m. to open Milk Mart Convenience at Pape and Cosburn avenues in Toronto’s Pape Village. Milk Mart…
Tanisha Pessoa is anxious and frustrated. For a year, she’s wondered if she will soon be forced to move out of her social housing unit in Allenbury Gardens.
“What will I do when I can’t afford the cost of living in my new home?” she asked. “The thought of being displaced because they’re building condos that cost more than my rent, worries me.”
His shop is packed to the ceiling with antique mirrors, old microphones, Star Trek lunch boxes and tired-looking mannequins once used in Toronto department stores.
Abraham Shalechi stands behind the cluttered counter greeting the occasional customer, wandering in from the cold. He greets his patrons with a warm smile and allows them time to peruse his many treasures freely. Seldom does anyone purchase one of Shalechi’s unique wares.
Gentrification. Most people agree it’s a loaded word. Depending on where you sit on the property ladder, it could mean enjoying the boon of higher property values, or the fear of being displaced by them. The latest neighbourhood in Toronto’s east end to see this kind of change is the strip of the Danforth from Greenwood Avenue to Main Street, sometimes referred to as Danforth East.