High Park - Swansea Toronto Real Estate

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Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
City	Toronto
Community	Toronto
Established	1889 (Subdivision) 'Windermere'
Incorporated	1926 (Village)
Changed Municipality	1954 Metropolitan Toronto from York County 1998 Toronto from Toronto (former)
Annexed	1967 into Toronto (former)
Government
- MP	Peggy Nash (Parkdale—High Park)
- MPP	Cheri DiNovo (Parkdale—High Park)
- Councillor	Sarah Doucette (Ward 13 Parkdale—High Park)
Population (2006)
Total	11,133
	Source:Statistics Canada

High Park is a municipal park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It spans 161 hectares (400 acres), and is a mixed recreational and natural park, with sporting facilities, cultural facilities, educational facilities, gardens, playgrounds and a zoo. One third of the park remains in a natural state, with a rare oak savannah ecology. High Park was opened to the public in 1876 and is based on a bequest of land from John George Howard to the City of Toronto. It is the largest park entirely within the city. (Rouge Park is the city's largest park, but the park extends into Markham, Ontario).

High Park is located to the west of downtown, north of Humber Bay. It stretches south from Bloor Street West to The Queensway, just north of Lake Ontario. It is bounded on the west by Ellis Park Road and Grenadier Pond and on the east by Parkside Drive.

Swansea is a neighbourhood in the City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, bounded on the west by the Humber River, on the north by Bloor Street, on the east by High Park and on the south by Lake Ontario. The neighbourhood was originally a separate municipality, the Village of Swansea, which was annexed by the City of Toronto in 1967.

Description

The landscape in High Park is hilly, with two deep ravines extending the full north-south distance of the park.

Eastern ravine

The eastern ravine starts at the north-east corner at Bloor and Keele Streets as a forested area around a spring-fed pond. The ravine has a small stream winding south to small ponds just north of The Queensway. South of the forested area are the grassy, developed areas for picnicking, the adventure playground, and the zoo. The ponds, which also hold back storm water, drain into pipes and into Lake Ontario.

The eastern ravine lies over a buried river. In 2003, city workers found strong evidence of the pre-glacial Laurentian River System when capping two artesian wells at the pond at the north-east corner of the Park. The wells began spewing a plume of water, sand, shale and gravel 15 metres into the air. With this discovery, geologists finally pinpointed the southern terminus of this ancient river system whose southerly flow begins near Georgian Bay. The watercourse, flowing 50 metres (160 ft) below the surface in pure bedrock, has remained undisturbed for thousands of years.

Central plain and savannah

The central section is a large plain encompassing most of the northern boundary, slowly narrowing to a point overlooking the lake, which is the location of Colborne Lodge. While most of the plain is developed for picnicking, gardens and sports fields, it has a stretch of open habitat called oak savannah, of which there are few other examples in Ontario. The towering black oak trees found throughout High Park are a characteristic of this habitat. The savannah is under the special care of the City and volunteer conservationists. Forested areas of High Park are maintained to mimic natural conditions, with downed trees left to decay. Regular controlled burns are done to mimic forest fires and their beneficial effects for oaks. Non-native plants outside the ornamental gardens are weeded out by volunteers. There is, however, no shortage of non-native trees including Colorado Spruce, Scots Pine and Northern Catalpa.

Grenadier Pond

Grenadier Pond, is a large body of water; 14.2 hectares (35 acres);located on the western edge of the park. It is named after the local Town of York garrison of the 1800s and their use of the pond for fishing. There are two local myths circulating about the Pond. One is that British Grenadiers fell through its thin ice when crossing to defend the city in the War of 1812. Other myths include that the pond is 'bottomless', that is, its depth cannot be measured due to the amount of mud. Fishing remains a popular pastime. Fish caught in the pond are safe to eat, and fishing derbies and casting contests have been held there.

Initiatives have been made to improve the Pond's health and environment. Grenadier Pond receives some of its water from Wendigo Creek, Wendigo Pond and underground streams feeding it from the north. The northern end of the Pond was naturalized, building a wetland to filter the waters the Pond receives from the stream. The southern and south-western shore of the Pond was also naturalized, removing the manicured lawn and concrete bank to improve the Pond's health and discourage Canada geese. Signs now ask people not to feed the waterfowl. Grenadier Pond is home to multiple species of bird and marsh wildlife.

Wendigo Creek, Wendigo Pond and Wendigo Way are likely named after the wendigo, mythical cannibalistic creatures of Algonquian mythology. Algonquins did not have a settlement in the park, but are believed to have used it for hunting and fishing and cultivating corn on the sandy uplands of the park.

Gardens

On the hill to the east of Grenadier Pond, extending up to Colborne Lodge Road, is a landscaped ornamental garden area. There is a 'rock garden' extending from the top of the hill near Grenadier Cafe, extending south-west nearly to the Pond shore. Along Colborne Lodge Road, is a hanging garden and ornamental garden with fountains, the 'sunken gardens.' At the bottom of the hill, nearly at the shore line is a large maple leaf-shaped flower bed, visible from the top of the hill. A grove of Cherry trees exists along a roadway from near Grenadier Cafe to the Pond, with spectacular blooms in late April to early May. The area was a tobogganing area in the early 1900s. Toboggan runs were constructed from the top of the hill extending down to the Pond ice surface. Wedding photography is no longer permitted in the hillside gardens area.

North of Colborne Lodge is the High Park Children's Garden. It offers programs for schools in the fall & spring and day camps during the summer for children to learn about growing plants and Toronto Parks.The Children's Garden and Colborne Lodge hold an annual 'Harvest Festival' in the fall. It includes craft activities, pumpkin-decorating, gardening displays, traditional games, and rides on horse-drawn wagons.

North-east of the Grenadier Cafe is a large area for allotment gardens. To the east is the Park's greenhouse. Surrounding the High Park Forest School are several examples of outdoor sculpture. The sculptures were commissioned and placed around 1970. Many of the sculptures are placed within the forested area.

History

In 1836, John George Howard purchased a 160-acre (65 ha) property in the County of York, to the west of Toronto, for a sheep farm, at the cost of $1,000.00.It was here that Howard designed and built Colborne Lodge, a Regency-style cottage in 1837 to complement its natural surroundings as the residence for himself and his wife Jemima Frances Meikle. The Howards named their property 'High Park' as it was situated on the highest point of land along the Humber Bay shoreline. After a successful career as architect, engineer and land surveyor to the City of Toronto, Howard retired here in 1855.

In 1873, Howard and his wife agreed to convey their country property to the City of Toronto. There were several conditions to the conveyance, including that the Howards continue to live at their residence, no alcohol ever be served in the park, and that the City hold the park "for the free use, benefit and enjoyment of the Citizens of Toronto for ever and to be called and designated at all times thereafter High Park". The city council voted 13 to 2 to accept the Howard's conditions. The two dissenters felt the park was too far away from the city to be of any use to its citizens. At the time, direct access to the Howard property was only by boat, the Great Western Railway line to the south or a toll road. Soon afterwards the "Road to High Park" was built from the Lake Road to the park lands, today's Spring Road and Centre Road. Howard received a lifetime pension from the City in exchange for the property.

In 1876 a 120-acre (49 ha) portion of the Howard's property formed the original park, along with 176 acres (71 ha) bought from Percival Ridout east of the Howard farm. The remaining southern 40 acres (16 ha) of Howard's property, including Colborne Lodge, passed to the city after John Howard's death in 1890. The western addition of 71.8 acres (29.1 ha) added in 1930 was purchased from the Chapman estate. 18 acres (7.3 ha) of High Park was later given to Metro Transportation when The Queensway was built in the early 1950s. This was in contravention of stipulations by original High Park owner John Howard that the lands be used for parkland only. Metro officials searched for descendants of Howard to obtain their consent.

The Howards are buried in High Park, under a stone monument that is fronted by a portion of ornate fencing from St. Paul's Cathedral in London, England, across the street from Colborne Lodge. Today, Colborne Lodge is a museum containing many of the original Howard furnishings including John Howard's watercolours of early Toronto. The museum is open year-round.

In 1993, the High Park Citizens' Advisory Committee was founded as a volunteer group to aid the City of Toronto in the stewardship of the park. The group was renamed the High Park Community Advisory Council in 2003. The group and its offshoots have developed various programs and initiatives for the park, including the Volunteer Stewardship Program, which is involved in preserving and protecting the environment of the park. The group is active in promoting the natural plant species in the park, and volunteers regularly remove invasive non-native species.

According to the Taiaiako'n Historical Preservation Society, there are ancient indigenous peoples burial mounds in the park. In May 2011, one such location was occupied by the Society. The site, a small hill known as "Snake Mound" on the west bank of Lower Duck Pond, had been eroded by illegal BMX bike use. The Society in co-operation with the City of Toronto, cordoned off the location and worked to restore the site, fixing the erosion, and removing the bike ramps present.

Activities

The park includes several attractions, including a set of baseball diamonds, tennis courts, several playgrounds, hillside gardens, a zoo (not a petting zoo) and Colborne Lodge historical museum. The park is also home to the High Park Nature Centre, a non-profit organization run by High Park Initiatives (the park's charitable organization). The Nature Centre offers nature appreciation and park stewardship programs to local schools, community groups and families throughout the year. There are 18 designated group picnic sites that can be reserved through the City of Toronto.

Children's playgrounds

There are two main children's playgrounds in High Park. There is a playground in the northwest quadrant with a wading pool, picnic areas and snack bar. In the south-east corner of the park, an 'adventure playground' for children was assembled by volunteers in 1999. The playground is named after Jamie Bell, a volunteer who initially pioneered the idea. In the ravine just north of Grenadier Pond is a small play area.

Grenadier Cafe

A 300-seat restaurant and outdoor patio area is located in the centre of the park at the intersection of West Road and Colborne Lodge Road. The restaurant opened in May 1958 as a dining room and coffee shop, known as The Grenadier. The outdoor patio area was added later. Due to the condition in the Howards' conveyance forbidding the consumption of alcohol in the park, High Park is the last "dry" area of the City of Toronto, and the Cafe restaurant and banquet hall is not licensed to serve alcohol. The restaurant is owned by the City of Toronto, and privately operated under contract by The Grenadier Group.

An outdoor organic produce market operates during the weekends. Twice a year, plant sales are held at the Cafe of plants native to the park to raise money for conservation activities. The plants are native to High Park and Ontario and cultivation of the plants is encouraged to preserve the species. The Cafe is also used for community meetings.

High Park Nature Centre

The High Park Nature Centre, located on Parkside Drive, north of Howard Park Avenue, serves as an educational centre for visitors to the Park. It has programs for elementary and secondary schools and summer day camps. The Centre organizes nature walks in the park. It is operated by High Park Initiatives, a registered non-profit organization.

High Park Pool

A municipal swimming bath complex is open during the summertime, with a water slide, a splash pad and a shallow wading area. As of 2008, there is no admittance fee for its use. The pool is supervised by lifeguards.

High Park Zoo

The practice of keeping animals in the park originated in 1890, with the keeping of deer. Today, the zoo - in a ravine along Deer Pen Road - keeps American bison, emu, llamas, peacocks, fallow deer, wallaby, capybara, Highland cattle, yaks, Barbary sheep, and Mouflon sheep. The zoo is open year-round from 7:00 a.m. to dusk. The zoo animals are cared for by Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division staff.

Shakespeare in the park

During the summer, the Canadian Stage company puts on a selected Shakespearean play in the park's amphitheatre. This annual event, called "Dream in High Park", is popular with Torontonians. The amphitheatre is on the hill side directly to the east of the Grenadier Cafe.

Sports fields

In the central area of the park, there are two soccer fields and three baseball diamonds available for organized play. One of the baseball diamonds is home to the High Park Braves baseball organization, providing "Little League" organized baseball programs for children in several diamonds.

There are several tennis courts in two separate locations. There are concrete courts along Colborne Lodge Road, to the north of the Pool, operated by the High Park Tennis Club. Along Parkside Drive, between Howard Park Avenue and Bloor Street, is a set of tennis courts and a club house, operated by the Howard Park Tennis Club.

Trails

There are unpaved dirt trails throughout High Park that are for hikers and walkers only - cycling is permitted (by law) only on paved trails and roads in the park to prevent erosion and disturbance. Several of the former roadways within the park have been closed to automotive traffic, but are still accessible to pedestrians and cyclists.

Winter activities

In the winter, an artificial ice rink is operated to the north of the Pool for skating and ice hockey. In the past, skating on Grenadier Pond was an annual tradition. Today, the Pond rarely freezes enough to be safe for skating. The hiking paths are maintained for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.

Tobogganing, a formerly popular pastime in the park, is only done now at the hill at Howard Park Avenue and Parkside Drive. Several toboggan runs existed in the past in the hillside gardens area, and the "bowl" at the bottom of an old toboggan run still exists just east of Grenadier Pond, to the north-west of Grenadier Cafe, for a run that started at West Road, and ended at the bowl next to the Pond. The run is no longer used and trees block the run.

Friends of the Park

The Volunteer Stewardship Program is a volunteer group working with City of Toronto Urban Forestry and Horticulture staff, to protect and restore the remaining natural areas of High Park including large areas of Savannah with Black Oak trees and related flora and fauna. Spring, summer and fall activities include planting, collecting seeds, and removing invasive species from restoration sites. There are educational presentations and some greenhouse work in winter.

The High Park Natural Environment Committee maintains a website www.highparknature.org with a wide variety of information about the park's natural heritage. This volunteer committee advises the city on environmental issues in the park.

Surrounding neighbourhoods

High Park also lends its name to two neighbourhood names used by the City of Toronto, "High Park-Swansea" and "High Park North" adjoining the Park. High Park-Swansea encompasses the area west of Roncesvalles Avenue, to Bloor Street on the north, and the Humber River on the west, which includes High Park itself. High Park North encompasses the area to the east of Runnymede Road, north of Bloor Street, north to Annette Street and Humberside Avenue, and east to the CNR/CPR rail way lines east of Dundas Street.

Residents to the north and east of the Park normally self-identify their neighbourhood as High Park, while residents to the west self-identify their neighbourhood as Swansea, which was once a village. High Park North is within the boundaries of the former town of West Toronto Junction.

Access

High Park is accessible by TTC:

• The High Park and Keele subway stations on the Bloor-Danforth subway line are to the north of the park.
• The 506 streetcar line has a terminus at the east side of the park, at Parkside Drive and Howard Park Avenue.
• The 80 Queensway bus operates from the Keele station, south along Parkside Drive, along the east side of the park.
• To the south, the 501 streetcar stops at Colborne Lodge Road and The Queensway, just south of Colborne Lodge.
• The 30B Lambton bus operates from Kipling and High Park stations into the park from Victoria Day to Labour Day.

Available Homes

Swansea is a neighbourhood in the City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, bounded on the west by the Humber River, on the north by Bloor Street, on the east by High Park and on the south by Lake Ontario. The neighbourhood was originally a separate municipality, the Village of Swansea, which was annexed by the City of Toronto in 1967.

Character

Swansea is primarily residential in nature, consisting of a mix of various housing types. Swansea's luxury homes are located either at the western edge of High Park overlooking Grenadier Pond, or on Riverside Drive and the Brule Gardens enclave bordering the Humber river. Swansea also contains a large number of semi-detached houses and bungalows located mostly in the centre of the neighbourhood. The typical house of the area was built between 1905 and 1935.

The area of the former Swansea Works area is considerably newer, except for some of the original workers' homes. The Queensway was built in the 1950s through the Swansea Works lands. The area to the south was retained for industry and the area to the north was redeveloped with apartment buildings and townhome developments. The area of the actual factory site has been redeveloped since 2000 into townhomes and condominium apartments.

Swansea has several main streets. Along the northern boundary, Bloor Street is a four-lane arterial road with businesses lining both sides. Along the southern boundary, The Queensway is a four-lane arterial road with a streetcar right-of-way. The Queensway has primarily residences on both sides. North-south, Swansea has two major roads, South Kingsway and Windermere Avenue. Along the southern boundary is the Gardiner Expressway which has an interchange with South Kingsway and the CNR railway lines. Further to the south, Lakeshore Boulevard runs east-west along the lakeshore.

The area is extremely hilly in nature. The waters of Grenadier Pond, Rennie Pond and the Humber River all are at or near the level of Lake Ontario. The majority of the lands of 'upper' Swansea are 30 to 40 feet higher than this, with steep hillsides along Grenadier Pond, Humber River and Rennie Pond.

Culture

The former Swansea Town Hall is now the Swansea Town Hall Community Centre which includes a small gymnasium, and a selection of meeting rooms available for a variety of functions. It is also the home of the Swansea Memorial Public Library, the second smallest branch of the Toronto Public Library system. This branch specializes in material for children and seniors and provides complete inter-library loan services.

The annexation of Swansea into metropolitan Toronto was a contentious one, with many local residents opposed to the move. A common refrain before and during the annexation was that the area was (and still is) "not Toronto."

Demographics

Census tracts 0050.01 and 0050.02 of the 2006 Canadian census cover Swansea. According to that census, the neighborhood has 11,133 residents, up 0.5% since the 2001 census. Average income is $58,681, well above the Toronto average. Like much of West Toronto, the largest ethnic minorities are Eastern European. The ten most common languages in the neighbourhood, after English, are:

1. Polish - 3.0%
2. Ukrainian - 2.6%
3. Serbian - 2.3%
4. Russian - 2.2%
5. French - 0.9%
6. Portuguese - 0.9%
7. Spanish - 0.8%
8. Bengali - 0.7%
9. Croatian - 0.7%
10. Korean - 0.6%

Parks

Rennie Park, located on the east side of Rennie Terrace, south of Morningside Avenue, has four tennis courts, an artificial ice rink, and a wading pool. Swansea Recreational Centre, a part of Swansea Public School, has a gym and a swimming pool. High Park features a full day of recreational activities including fishing, theatre performances, train rides, an animal zoo, historical exhibits, a restaurant and a myriad of fitness opportunities.

History

Through the 19th century the area later known as Swansea was divided between two farm lots;

The western half of what is now Swansea was originally the home of Toronto's first European inhabitant, M Jean Baptiste Rousseau, who was permitted to occupy the site of a former French Fort at the foot of the Humber River after the fall of the French Regime. M. Rousseau was living at his 'Rousseau House' when John Graves Simcoe arrived with Toronto's first settlers and the French Fur Trader guided the new Governor's ship into Toronto Bay (now Toronto's Harbour). When Toronto was first surveyed, however, the entire area along the Humber River was designated as a Mill Reserve (forest to be left intact for the use of the King's Sawmill, now called 'Old Mill'). M Rousseau refused an offer to relocate across the river to Etobicoke and left the area. By the 1880s, the mill reserve in Swansea was still unused and the area was subdivded into 'wood lots' (sections of forest to be sold to families living further away for use as timber fuel). The site of 'Rousseau House' is today marked by a plaque.

The western half of Swansea became surveyed as lots 39 and 40. The lots were laid out south of Bloor Street, lot 1 starting to the east, and the numbers increasing in the western direction. Lot 40 was directly south-east of Jane Street extending east to where Windermere Avenue intersects Bloor Street. Lot 39, the next to the east saw the first development, on property owned by John Coe. By 1884, along Bloor Street, several blocks were subdivided as far south as today's Morningside Avenue, then known as Grenadier Road, and as far east as the today's Kennedy Avenue. These are the only streets in Swansea laid out on a grid pattern, possible because this section is relatively flat.

The eastern half of what is now Swansea was a forested lot purchased in 1838 by early Toronto artist, philanthropist and architect John Ellis whose home, 'Herne Hill', stood on Grenadier Heights overlooking Grenadier Pond. The north-south street that connects to Grenadier Heights was named 'Ellis' in honour of Swansea's first family. Despite the building of a railway along the south of his estate in the 1850s, Mr Ellis did not develop his lot. With the death of John Ellis' widow in 1884, the Ellis estate became the property of John Ellis Jr. who sold off the land to the north of Herne Hill. The house itself was demolished in 1925. 71 acres (29 ha) of former Ellis lands on the east side of Grenadier Pond were bought by Toronto and merged with High Park in 1930.

Windermere & Swansea

By the 1880s, the area south of Bloor was known as 'Windermere' after England's 'Lake District' which it is said to have resembled. To the south, industry developed on Coe's land along the railway line, including the Ontario Bolt Works, just east of the Humber, which replaced a factory on the site of today's streetcar yards at Roncesvalles. Built in 1882, its cornerstone laying attended by Sir John A. Macdonald, the factory lands extended north to today's Morningside Avenue. In 1889, the factory was bought by James Worthington and the name changed to Swansea Works, Worthington himself being from the Swansea, Wales area. The factory became the major employer in the area with subsidiary industrial lands to the north of today's The Queensway. A settlement of workers' cottages built by Worthington dating from the 1880s grew around the plant. Several of the cottages still exist on Windermere Place today. The factory, burnt down in 1906 and rebuilt, became part of Stelco in 1910, and it remained in operation until 1989.

In the centre of Swansea were several elongated ponds running north-south. The largest, Catfish Pond, is the only one that has survived. Some of the ponds were filled in for the railway line and industrial area. One of the ponds on the former Coe property, on the site of today's Swansea Mews public housing project, was turned into a dump and filled in with tailings.

By 1890, the area was known as Swansea, with a train stop on the Great Western at Windermere. The post office was in the Works building, and church services were also held there. Worthington promoted the community, giving land for Swansea Public School in 1890 and the mission church. Worthington's ownership of the Bolt Works ended not long afterward, and the Works was eventually absorbed into Stelco in 1910. Swansea, including Windermere, was incorporated as a village in 1926. The largely forested village saw the building of many upper middle class homes on the former Ellis estate as a quiet 'leafy' neighbourhood developed.

Urbanisation

In 1954, the Village of Swansea left York County and joined the new region of Metropolitan Toronto. With the extension of Toronto's Queen Street and Queen streetcar line as 'The Queensway' along the southern limits of the village, Swansea quickly urbanised with many apartment buildings being built in the western half of the area. In 1967, Swansea became on of the two last independent villages (along with Forest Hill) to be annexed by the City of Toronto. Amalgamation resumed towards the end of the 20th Century as the other municipalities of Metropolitan Toronto formed the new 'Mega' City of Toronto in 1998. With the deindustrialisation of Swansea, the small stip of land between The Queensway transportation corridor and Lakeshore Road (and the railway) is under development as a high density residential mix of towers and townhouses.

Village Seal

The Swansea Village corporate seal reveals a great deal about the colourful history of this neighbourhood. Included on the Swansea seal is explorer Étienne Brûlé, who in 1615 became the first European to set foot on what is now Swansea and also shown is a First Nations member. This is symbolic in that it recognizes that First Nations members were the first people to inhabit Swansea, thousands of years ago. The hills in the Swansea Village seal represent Swansea's rolling countryside. The water in the Swansea seal refers to Swansea's natural boundaries, which include Lake Ontario, the Humber River and Grenadier Pond.

Real Estate in High Park - Swansea Neighbourhood

Average sale price in June 2010: $553,960
Property crime:very low
Crime against people:very low

In some neighbourhoods, a single major civic asset overshadows all others, and adds incalculable value to houses and apartments for at least half a dozen blocks in every direction. The asset here is the city’s largest public green space, High Park. John Howard, an English-born architect, painter and city surveyor, became the greatest benefactor in Toronto history when he donated both his 400-acre park and his home, Colborne Lodge, in 1873. In the early 1890s, newly built roads to the park allowed bankers and other luminaries to construct their homes on nearby Indian Road and High Park Boulevard. The nabe offers some of the best lots in the city, both alongside the park and on Riverside Drive. Swansea, the region to the west of the park, is a cohesive community, with its own town hall and the city’s smallest public library.

HOUSING STOCK: Brick and stone mansions on High Park Boulevard and Indian Road give way to Swansea’s smaller but very smart brick and stone homes close to the park. The more modern two-storey abodes are in the extreme southwest, close to the scenic but loud QEW.

BARGAIN ZONES: In general, the best deals are on the stretches of Southport and Windermere that run along the Queensway.

THE VERDICT: Made for dogs and kids, the area attracts families wanting to mitigate big-city life with contained rustic charm. With shopping and entertainment in Bloor West Village to the north and Roncesvalles to the east, there’s no reason to leave (except to go to work to pay that big mortgage).

Available Homes

NEIGHBOURHOOD HOT SPOTS:

 
Bark & Fitz The high-end canine boutique has become a de facto hangout in this dog-friendly area. 1959 Bloor St. W., 416-916-6207.

The Cheese Boutique A neighbourhood stalwart for fromage fans. 45 Ripley Ave., 416-762-6292.

Schools - High Park - Swansea Neighbourhood