Малверн: История и современность торонтовского района

Malvern is a neighbourhood in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with a population of 44,315. It is located in the northeast corner of the city. There are over 60 different cultures represented in Malvern, with the most dominant ethnic groups being Caribbean Canadians (mostly Jamaican, Trinidadian, and Guyanese) and South Asian Canadians (mostly Sri Lankan Tamil, Indian, and Pakistani). The neighbourhood has the highest concentration of young people in Canada.

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 — formerly of Markham Village — 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. However, when the Grand Trunk Railway began service to this area in 1871, it bypassed Malvern in favour of the neighbouring village of Agincourt. The village centre and post office had by that time moved south to the corner of today's Sheppard Avenue and Markham Road, which was named Malcolm's Corners at the time. The Malvern Primitive Methodist Church on the east side of Markham Road north of Sheppard disappeared in the 1970s, but the graves remain today in the care of the Toronto United Church Council. 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 Malvern community has attempted to improve following Project Impact, in which hundreds of police officers from the Greater Toronto Area cracked 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. Further raids, and the implementation of Project Pathfinder would result in arrests of the Malvern Crew's rival gang, the "Galloway Boys", in West Hill. In the early 21st century, the area saw public investment in the community, including a major renovation of the Malvern Branch of the Toronto Public Library, the construction of new housing developments, the opening of a new park in 2004, and the opening of the Nike Malvern Sports Complex in 2006. The Toronto Zoo, Rouge River, and Rouge Valley Park are also located in the vicinity of Malvern, as was Mammoth Hall, a wooden structure that was once a municipal office, meeting hall and curling rink. The Malvern Community Coalition serves as an active incorporated, non profit, grassroots community organization which exists to promote and enhance the Malvern Community by engaging, empowering, and connecting community, organizations and institutions.

The Scarborough Malvern LRT line, part of the TTC's Transit City plan, would run for 15 km, estimated to account for 14 million trips in 2021. The southern terminus of the line would be built at Kennedy Station at Kennedy Road and Eglinton Avenue, with a connection to the Bloor Danforth subway, the Scarborough RT, and the Eglinton Crosstown LRT line. The whole line would be built within Scarborough. The line would run along Eglinton Avenue East until it reaches Kingston Road, then continues northeast until Morningside Avenue is reached, then continues north until Sheppard Avenue East, where it turns west, sharing the same tracks and stops as in the Sheppard East LRT line. Finally, the line turns north at Neilson Road, terminating at Malvern Town Centre. Newly elected Rob Ford cancelled the Malvern LRT shortly after he came to office in 2010.

Although Scarborough Town Centre is a short drive away, Malvern Town Centre provides some retail options and amenities to local residents. Built in the late 1980s, the mall's primary tenants are Freshland Supermarket, an Asian grocery store; Planet Fitness; and Labels, a discount clothing store. There are plans in the works to redevelop the mall and replace it with residential condo towers and green space. The proposed plan would include a new 16,616 square metre public park immediately abutting the existing forested area.

Climate data is from Buttonville Municipal Airport located west.