Leaside. Jane Pitfield
should meet the streets from Toronto. A glance at a map will show that he missed on a few!
Most residential streets were to be 66 feet wide. Twenty foot lanes were included on the blocks that had deep lots. Three streets were to provide direct and efficient access through Leaside. With a width of 80 feet, Soudan Avenue (now Parkhurst) and not Eglinton Avenue was intended to be the major east/west street.
Two grand boulevards or diagonals were included: Edith Avenue (now Bessborough) 110 feet wide and McRae Drive (120 feet wide). Streets having widths of more than 80 feet were intended to accommodate heavier traffic flows.11
The pleasing curved streets resulted, to some degree, from the south to north-east curvature of the Canadian Pacific Railway line and the location of the industrial area. As in our modern suburbs, the curving streets of Leaside continue to confuse many drivers who happen into South Leaside.
Other than a sprinkling of houses built close to the industrial area for the workers (68 houses by 1929), most of Leaside’s residential lots lay vacant for about 25 years. The late 1930s saw Leaside’s housing growth begin (328 houses by 1938). The surge of building began in 1939 and by 1941 the population had jumped to 6,183.
Leaside’s housing design was somewhat repetitive with about four plans being most prominent – the two-storey side hall, the single storey bungalow, the attached home pair and the centre hall plan.
In its urban history the homes of Leaside have experienced three distinct demographic transitions, each one re-newing Leaside in its unique way. Those transitions have been:
—the original owners—purchased a new home in Leaside in the 1930s, 1940s.
—the second wave—purchased a home in Leaside in the 1960s. This group usually re-decorated their home, added a deck or patio and made only minor changes to the house and landscaping.
—the third wave—purchased in the 1980s and 1990s. This group has authored a construction boom which rivals the original building of Leaside. With their renovations, knock-downs, add-ons, infills and garage conversions, this group has changed the nature and appearance of housing in Leaside. Hundreds of sub-contractors and many architects have been kept busy for a decade on these projects.
Two Leaside classica taske shape. Date: 1949. Looking north at a pair of two-storey side entrance homes being built at 458 and 462 Broadway Avenue. Attached garges will be added to complete the construction. Metro Toronto Reference Library, Salmon Collection.
These expensive projects have been completed with full confidence that the real estate values in Leaside will continue to climb. House prices in Leaside may have plateaued once or twice, but otherwise values have climbed steadily for 60 years. More importantly, these demographic transitions have regularly infused Leaside with new ideas, new energy and a new generation of young families. The schools of Leaside have remained full and vital with strong parental involvement, the key to a thriving community.
The young parents have provided the new volunteers to ensure that the recreational programs of figure skating, hockey, ballet, baseball, swimming and soccer continue to thrive. The changing population has also provided a new market which has resulted in the revitalization of Leaside’s various retail areas.
The new 90s residents of Leaside do face one challenge. There are three Leaside icons—curving streets, stop signs and its trees. To a person, the visitor or the resident is impressed by the mature canopy of trees. Its trees are a key factor to the community’s character. The large trees soften the effect of the repetitive housing design and small lots; they hide the tangle of overhead wires and they give Leaside its pleasing human scale. The early town fathers are to be admired for their foresight in systematically planting Leaside’s trees in the 1940s. At the rate at which trees are being taken down, Leaside’s green canopy will have massive gaps within two or three years. To prevent those large gaps, the new 90s residents will have to work to replace their lost trees, soon.
Leaside, circa 1950. Photographer unknown. And you thought Leaside was always leafy and green! Can you identify the location?12 The Toronto Star Archives.
Returning to yesteryear briefly, a few words about the original Leaside home buyers and their houses. Those new residents had grown up in the Great Depression, an event which deeply imprinted all who had experienced it. Some of the older males had served in the First World War; many of the younger men and women had seen service in World War II. Generally they were conservative; they had gained some financial security as they joined the growing middle class. They sought the peace and simplicity which Leaside seemed to offer.
Their children would become the first mass teen culture with sufficient numbers, time and money to dominate the airwaves with its music and to create its own self-imposed dress code. In the basement of the house, the coal bin and laundry room were complemented by a “rec room” for the use of the teens. The “finished basement” entered housing lexicon.
The bathroom shower made its appearance as did the living room fireplace which was used not for heating but for its ambiance on special occasions.
Modest housing of the day featured the verandah as can still be seen in many areas of Toronto. Upscale housing such as Rosedale, did not have verandahs. Thus, Leaside would not have verandahs, the simple small entrance stoop would replace it.
Many Leaside houses had a private drive and a garage, small by today’s standards, to accommodate only one car. At the time the Leaside house designs were coming off the drawing board, many people did not own cars and, because of the 1939–45 war effort, the automobile was not available in quantity until the mid 1950s. But when the car did become available in numbers, it grew wider, longer, lower and sprouted massive fins. It no longer fitted in its Leaside garage! The small, junk-filled-garage-as-storage-space has become another Leaside icon.
So, once completely built and populated in the 1950s, what did Leaside become in people’s minds?
Leaside was seen to be affluent, to have a strong sense of community as the Town of Leaside. People recognized the excellent recreational facilities and programs for the young people of the town, although North Leasiders had to travel south of Eglinton Avenue where the rink, pool, parks, tennis courts, library, ball diamonds and the high school were located. Leaside became known for its strong baseball teams and hockey teams. In retrospect, however, there were few recreational programs for girls.
There was good shopping, some of it walk-to. Leaside was close to downtown and good bus service to the subway made the trip to jobs in the city core convenient. The town had a solid industrial base, excellent schools and a full range of churches. The trees were a Leaside hallmark because most new housing in the expanding suburbs through the 1950s and 1960s remained without trees for many years.
Leaside’s population was homogeneous and upwardly mobile. It was assumed that the offspring would attend university. There was a certain smugness or cachet in being a Leasider. It wasn’t Rosedale or Moore Park or Lawrence Park, but it was very good. For some, the Leaside house served as a “starter home” for those who aspired to Rosedale style.
Since much of the Leaside residential lands lay empty for some 25 years, the final stages of North Leaside’s construction would be carried into the 1950s. The land development company fell on hard times. Long before the 50s, the Canadian Northern Railway, in bankruptcy, had been absorbed by the Canadian National Railway. The York Land Company, the development arm of the Canadian Northern and owner of most of Leaside’s available land, had defaulted on its tax obligations to the Town. Movers and shakers, Sir Donald Mann and Sir William Mackenzie had long since disappeared from the scene. However, Frederick Todd’s basic town plan of 1913 persisted and came to define what Leaside would look like today. It had all worked out fairly well.