Who Decides What a Neighborhood Is? | The Story of Parkdale

Who decides what a neighborhood is? Over the past 140 years, Parkdale has been described as many things: a wealthy Victorian suburb, a declining slum, a “service ghetto,” and today, a rapidly changing urban neighborhood. But these labels didn’t just describe Parkdale, they shaped what happened to it. In this documentary, we explore the history of Parkdale in Toronto: from its origins as the “Flowery Suburb” in the late 1800s, through Depression-era housing changes, postwar urban renewal, the construction of high-rise apartments, and the debates over rooming houses and bachelorette apartments. We also examine how planning policies, media narratives, and real estate pressures helped transform the neighborhood over time. Using historical records, planning reports, newspaper archives, and academic research, this video traces how Parkdale became one of Toronto’s most complex and contested neighborhoods. Music Credits: CGI Snake by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/divider/ Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/