Moss Park development sparks gentrification concerns
About 30 per cent of people who live in the neighbourhood of Moss Park make less than $20,000 a year.

thestar.com
By Geoffrey Vendeville
Aug. 31, 2016

Ray LoVerde spent his Saturday glued to his smartphone, photographing the many faces of Moss Park.

The 37-year-old, who lives in a homeless men’s shelter across the street, was one of eight artists hired by the city and The 519, a community organization that advocates on behalf of LGBTQ people, to portray locals and listen to their thoughts on a proposed transformation of the park and John Innes community centre.

The portrait series is one of the ways the backers of the redevelopment have sought the public’s input, along with standard community meetings and a survey of nearby businesses.

Although in its early stages, the plan - which comes at an estimated $80-100 million cost - has critics saying it will speed up the gentrification of the area.

But LoVerde welcomes the proposed changes and has ideas of his own - more arts programming at John Innes, for example.

On the weekend, he went out in search of subjects around 7:30 a.m. and didn’t discriminate, taking pictures of a couple walking their dogs, a gardener tending to a community plot and down-and-out people like himself, lounging at the corners of Queen St. E. and Sherbourne St.

The Chicago native ended up on the street for the first time in 2013. He struggled with drug addiction and was diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, a condition that hampered his ability to work and cost him his job at a cafe, he said.

He says the homeless people he photographed on Saturday seemed comfortable with him because he’s a familiar face.

“I got a couple of photos I like of someone sleeping, someone else using the tennis court,” he said. “I like the idea that we can use these spaces equally for different things and it can be done peacefully.” He was paid a $300 honorarium, but would have happily done it for free, he said.

One common complaint was that the concrete staircase leading up to the doors of the John Innes Centre were intimidating, even “unwelcoming.”

In an update on the plan this month, the city and The 519 listed some other ideas for the new park and community centre, reflecting a diversity of wants and needs: a zipline, pet pool, bocce ball court, addiction counseling and mental health services.

About 30 per cent of people who live in the neighbourhood of Moss Park make less than $20,000 a year, far above the citywide average of 19 per cent, the update says.

The needs of the vulnerable people who frequent the area are “very central” to the design of the new facility and park, said Maura Lawless, executive director of The 519. Many want the redevelopment to curb crime in a park known for drugs, sex work and fighting.

The violence has touched the lives of some in the community, including that of its city councillor, Kristyn Wong-Tam, a few years before she entered politics in 2010.

The planned facelift for the neighbourhood has been compared to the ongoing renewal of Regent Park, another low-income neighbourhood a 20-minute walk east. The city and The 519 have retained MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects, the same firm that designed the acclaimed Regent Park Aquatic Centre. The project would be paid for with equal contributions from the three levels of government, an anonymous donor and fundraising, Lawless said.

The public consultation ends on Sept. 30 and the issue is expected to find its way before city council by the end of the year.

Sprucing up the nearly 60-year-old community centre, in a ward with about 90,000 residents, is a priority, said Wong-Tam, the city councillor.

“This is a community that hasn’t received a lot of good news. We finally have a good news story, a $100 million investment. It would be great to celebrate it.”

But some worry that the plan will cater to the whims of the middle and upper classes while pushing out those who are struggling.

“The image of a building where all rich and poor, all ethnicities, all sexual orientations, people using drugs and condo owners will rub shoulders and live happily ever after is unrealistic,” said Helen Lenskyj, a member of Queer Trans Community Defence, an anti-gentrification group.

The city and The 519 haven’t done enough to see how the community feels about the changes, she said, panning the community portrait series as a “novelty.”

“That’s not research - that’s window dressing,” said Lenskyj, a retired University of Toronto sociologist.

John Dowell, who lives in the Maxwell Meighen men’s shelter on Sherbourne, said he was concerned poorer people would feel forced out of the neighbourhood.

But LoVerde, the homeless artist recruited to take snapshots of his neighbours, has higher hopes for the city and The 519’s vision for the area. “It’s not like everyone can or will mix well, but that doesn’t mean we can’t provide things for everyone.”