View source for Rexdale

{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name                   = Rexdale
| settlement_type        = Neighbourhood
| image_skyline          = Rexdale houses.JPG
| image_caption          = Residences in Rexdale
| image_map                       = {{Maplink|frame=yes|plain=y|frame-width=300|frame-height=200|frame-align=center|zoom=11|type=point|title=Rexdale|marker=city|type2=shape|stroke-width2=2|stroke-color2=#808080}}
| map_caption                     = Location of Rexdale within Toronto
| pushpin_map             =
| pushpin_label_position  = <!-- position of the pushpin label: left, right, top, bottom, none -->
| pushpin_label           = <!-- only necessary if "name" or "official_name" are too long -->
| pushpin_map_alt         =
| pushpin_mapsize         =
| pushpin_map_caption     = Location of Rexdale within Toronto
|coordinates            = {{coord|43|43|19|N|79|34|19|W|region:CA-ON_type:city_dim:5km_source:GeographicalNamesBoardofCanada|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes   = <ref>{{cite cgndb|id= FCDHE|title=Rexdale|access-date= 2017-05-29}}</ref>
<!-- Governments  ---------------->
| subdivision_type       = Country
| subdivision_name       = {{CAN}}
| subdivision_type1      = [[Provinces of Canada|Province]]
| subdivision_type2      = City
| subdivision_type3      = Community
| subdivision_name1      = {{ON}}
| subdivision_name2      = [[Toronto]]
| subdivision_name3      = [[Etobicoke]]-York
<!-- History  ---------------->
| established_title      =
| established_date       =
| established_title1     = Changed Municipality
| established_date1      = 1998 <br> ([[Toronto]] from <!--  Commented out: [[File:Ca-on-et.jpg|25px]] --> [[Etobicoke]])
<!-- Politicians  ---------------->
| leader_title           = [[Parliament of Canada|MP]]
| leader_name            = [[Kirsty Duncan]] ([[Etobicoke North (federal electoral district)|Etobicoke North]])
| leader_title1          = [[Legislative Assembly|MPP]]
| leader_name1           = [[Doug Ford]] ([[Etobicoke North (provincial electoral district)|Etobicoke North]])
|
<!-- Name  ---------------->
| leader_title2          = [[Toronto City Council|Councillor]]
| leader_name2           = [[Vincent Crisanti]] ([[Ward 1 Etobicoke North]])
}}
'''Rexdale''' is a neighbourhood of [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], Canada, located north-west of the central core, in the district of [[Etobicoke]]. Rexdale defines an area of several official neighbourhoods north of [[Highway 401 (Ontario)|Highway 401]] and east of [[Highway 427 (Ontario)|Highway 427]]. Rexdale was originally a post World War II residential development within Etobicoke, and today is applied to a general area from [[Malton, Ontario|Malton]] and [[Toronto Pearson International Airport]] in the City of [[Mississauga]] to the west, Highway 401 to the south, Steeles Avenue to the north, and the Humber River to the east. It is centred on Rexdale Boulevard and Islington Avenue.
==Character==
[[File:Woodbine Racetrack.jpg|thumb|right|[[Woodbine Racetrack]] in Rexdale]]
Neighbourhoods in Rexdale include:
* [[The Elms, Toronto|The Elms]]
* [[Humberwood]]
* [[Smithfield, Toronto|Smithfield]]
* [[Thistletown, Toronto | Thistletown]]
Institutions and attractions located in Rexdale include the [[Canadian Standards Association]], [[Toronto Congress Centre]], [[Woodbine Centre]], and [[Woodbine Racetrack]].
==History==
Rexdale was named after local real estate developer [[Rex Heslop]], who purchased farmland in the area in 1955 for a cost of $110,000, and installed water mains, streets and sewers, as well as houses that listed for sale at either $9,000 or $10,000. The homes sold well, and soon 330 families were living in the development.  In 1956, Heslop opened the Rexdale Plaza (once home to [[Eaton's]] and also [[Towers Department Stores]] and since demolished and replaced by a [[power center (retail)|power centre]]).  By then, 70 industries and 3,600 homes were located in Rexdale.<ref>{{cite book  | author-link = Mike Filey | last = Filey | first = Mike | title = Toronto Sketches 9: "The Way We Were" Columns from the Toronto Sunday Sun | publisher = Dundurn | year = 2006 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8PxmBXTDDFsC&pg=PP1 | pages = 103–105| isbn = 9781550029451 }}</ref>
Rexdale's first residents were mostly [[English people|English]] and [[Scotland|Scottish]], [[Italy|Italian]] but it evolved into a [[multiculturalism|multicultural]] neighbourhood in the following decades, led by those from the [[Caribbean]] and the [[Indian subcontinent]]. The population of Rexdale, according to the [[Canada 2006 Census|2006 Census]], is 94,469 living in 30,238 households. The population grows at a rate comparable to surrounding communities.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}}
In 2006, [[Christopher Hume]], a journalist with the ''[[Toronto Star]]'', wrote that Rexdale "has become shorthand for suburban [[urban decay|blight]], social breakdown and gang violence. In 2005 alone, five young men were shot dead in the area, a grey landscape of highways and highrises, shopping malls and churches."  Hume wrote that children who lived in Rexdale had nothing to do, and were "wandering around the anonymous streets of this place".  The vision of Rexdale's planners, Hume wrote, was a patchwork of separate precincts for working, living, shopping and playing, connected by expressways.  However, this single-use zoning, separation, industrial-scale development and reliance on cars contributed to Rexdale's problems.<ref>{{cite web | last = Hume | first = Christopher | author-link = Christopher Hume| title = At The Least, Build a Community Centre | publisher = Urbantoronto.ca| date = February 18, 2006 | url = http://www.pressreader.com/canada/toronto-star/20060218/282514358956990}}<!--original URL http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1140216611236&call_pageid=968350130169&col=969483202845 is dead - was reposted at http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/showthread.php/3791-At-the-least-build-a-community-centre-%28Hume-on-Rexdale%29 --></ref> Joyce Lau of the ''[[South China Morning Post]]'' stated in 2015 that in Rexdale "other immigrants live in poverty, surrounded by crime."<ref name=LauSCMP>{{cite news|author=Lau, Joyce|url=https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/2043688/murder-toronto-and-dark-side-asian-immigrant-dream|title=A murder in Toronto and the dark side of the Asian immigrant dream|newspaper=[[South China Morning Post]]|date=2016-11-09|access-date=2018-09-18}}</ref>
In 2006, [[Toronto Police Service|Toronto Police]] conducted a gang sweep, apprehending 106 alleged members of The Jamestown Crew, "a violent street gang that spreads violence, chaos and drugs in Rexdale".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-01-27 |title=CityNews: Police Display Weapons Seized In Gang Raids |url=http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_530.aspx |access-date=2023-09-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070127235048/http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_530.aspx |archive-date=2007-01-27 }}</ref>
==Education==
[[File:West Humber Collegiate Institute.JPG|thumb|[[West Humber Collegiate Institute]] is one of several [[state school|public]] [[secondary school]]s in the area.]]
[[File:Humbergrove Secondary School.jpg|thumb|[[Father Henry Carr Catholic Secondary School]] is one of several [[state school|public]] [[separate school|separate]] [[secondary school]]s in the area. This building was built in 1966 as [[Humbergrove Secondary School]].]]
Notable [[school]]s located in Rexdale include:
[[Toronto District School Board]]:
* [[North Albion Collegiate Institute]]
* [[Thistletown Collegiate Institute]]
* [[West Humber Collegiate Institute]]
* [[Humbergrove Secondary School]] (defunct, now occupied by the TCDSB - see below)
* Elmbank Junior Middle Academy
*Melody Village Junior Public School
[[Toronto Catholic District School Board]]:
* St. Andrew Catholic School
* [[Father Henry Carr Catholic Secondary School]]
* [[Monsignor Percy Johnson Catholic Secondary School]]
* [[Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School]], now closed
* [[Marian Academy (Toronto)|Marian Academy]], now closed, was located in Rexdale, within an area that, in 2001, was the poorest area of Rexdale.<ref name=Roysonclosing>Royson, James. "[https://www.proquest.com/docview/438380245 Closing school dagger to heart of Rexdale]." ''[[Toronto Star]]''. December 12, 2001. News p. B01. Retrieved on August 27, 2013.</ref>
The North Campus of [[Humber College]] is located within Rexdale. The same campus also hosts the [[University of Guelph-Humber]], a post-secondary institution operated by Humber College, and the [[University of Guelph]]. The Rexdale branch of the [[Toronto Public Library]] is located in the area.
==Notable people==
*[[Dalano Banton]], professional basketball player
*[[Carlo Colaiacovo]], professional hockey player
*[[Ghetto Concept]], hip hop group
*[[John Hallett (Australian politician)|John Hallett]], politician
*[[Dave Huntley]], former professional lacrosse player
*[[Infinite (rapper)|Infinite]], hip hop musician
*[[Jelleestone]], hip hop musician
*[[K'naan]], hip hop musician
*[[King Bach]], actor, comedian, and director
*[[Dean McDermott]], actor and producer
*[[Bruce McDonald (director)|Bruce McDonald]], film and television director
*[[Nav (rapper)|NAV]], hip hop recording artist and record producer
*[[Colin Patterson (ice hockey)|Colin Patterson]], professional hockey player
*[[Vera Peters]], oncologist and clinical investigator
*[[Pvrx]], hip hop musician
*[[Rheostatics]], rock band
*[[Spek Won]], hip hop musician
*[[Jordan Subban]], professional hockey player
*[[Malcolm Subban]], professional hockey player
*[[P. K. Subban]], professional hockey player
==In popular culture==
In 2006, Rexdale was the setting of the TV movie ''[[Doomstown]]''. The youth TV series ''[[How to Be Indie]]'' took place in Rexdale.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[http://www.torontoneighbourhoods.net/neighbourhoods/etobicoke/rexdale Toronto Neighbourhoods - Rexdale] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180414095533/http://www.torontoneighbourhoods.net/neighbourhoods/etobicoke/rexdale |date=2018-04-14 }}
{{Geographic location
| Northwest = [[Brampton]]
| North  = [[Woodbridge, Ontario|Woodbridge]] ([[Vaughan]])
| Northeast = [[Humber Summit]]
| East   = [[Humbermede]]
| Southeast = [[Pelmo Park – Humberlea]]
| South  = [[Richview, Toronto|Richview]], [[Kingsview Village]]
| Southwest = [[Eringate – Centennial – West Deane]]
| West   = [[Mississauga]]
| Center = Rexdale
}}
{{Toronto Neighbourhoods}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:Etobicoke]]
[[Category:Neighbourhoods in Toronto]]
[[Category:Business improvement districts in Canada]]