The HUB
Neighbourhood
Thorncliffe Park is considered an “arrival city” as it has welcomed many waves of immigration to Toronto. It is a diverse neighbourhood growing faster than the rest of the City, and investment into this vibrant community has not kept pace with its growth. In 2014, Thorncliffe Park has been identified as one of the city’s 13 Neighbourhood Improvement Areas (NIA).
History
Developed in the 1950s, Thorncliffe Park was one of Toronto’s first multi-residential, high-rise rental apartment communities developed as a response to the post-war housing boom and influx of immigrants moving to Toronto. The master plan was designed to maximize density and leave ample open space for recreation and parking.
The neighbourhood grew out of the Thorncliffe Park Raceway site as a modern, mixed-use development. It had one of the earliest enclosed and anchored shopping centres (now East York Town Centre) and was a significant regional employer in the retail, commercial, and industrial sectors. From 1965 to 2012, Thorncliffe Park was the home of Coca-Cola’s Canadian head office which has been redeveloped into a Costco.
Today, Thorncliffe Park continues to be largely a community of renters, and is home to three schools, a library, a community centre, and a plethora of retail establishments.
