Thorncliffe Park is a highly populated,multicultural community in central east Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the old Borough of East York. East York joined with five other municipalities and a regional administration in 1998 to establish the new City of Toronto.
Thorncliffe is often believed to be surrounded on the east by the Don River, on the west by Millwood Road, on the north by Wicksteed Avenue and Research Road, and on the northwest by a railway track between Millwood and Wicksteed. However, the official community planning area called encompasses the neighbourhood to the north of the railway tracks, east of Laird Avenue, south of Eglinton Avenue, and west of the Don River.
Thorncliffe Park features both an industrial and a residential part. The residential sector is in the south, and comprises largely of 34 high-rise and low-rise apartment buildings. The buildings are clustered in and around a rough oval with Overlea Boulevard splitting Thorncliffe Park Drive. Some condominiums and townhouses have lately been added on Overlea.
Overlea Boulevard used to be the dividing line between the industrial and residential sectors, but the fall of the industrial sector in Toronto has led to the introduction of retail enterprises and service organizations in the former factories on the north side of Overlea Boulevard.
The residential component of Thorncliffe Park was initially conceived as a planned community for 12,500 residents, but currently houses 30,000. The neighbourhood is strongly served by 24-hour public transit provided by the Toronto Transit Commission.
Although the neighbourhood is noted for its low income and high unemployment, the Toronto-based The Globe and Mail newspaper claimed in 2004 that it had a low crime rate.
The neighborhood is also home to one of Toronto’s oldest community gardens. Thorncliffe Park Garden Club is located on hydro land north of Overlea Blvd. It provides garden plots to roughly 100 local citizens and their families on a non-profit basis. Gardeners often contribute fresh vegetables to local community organisations such as the Scott Mission.
Don Mills
Kitchen Renovation Toronto Co.
