Creating a Nightmare on Oak Street

When I went to see the exhibit, "A walk down Oak Street" at Mackenzie House, the tour guide at the front desk seemed surprised when I told her that I was there to learn about Regent Park and not about the history of the printing press. I assured her that if I had time to tour the museum after I got the information I needed I would do so.

One of the first things that caught my eyes were the photographs of Regent Park pre-urban renewal - and pre-urban decay. There were black and white pictures of people sitting on the front porches of Victorian-style houses; similar to those I have seen of my grandparents who lived in downtown Hamilton until the mid '50s. The houses in the pictures were also similar to the one that one of my friends lives in Cabbagetown.

The exhibit told how Cabbagetown was categorized one of several low-income areas in Toronto as early as 1918. At this time, the area was populated with many immigrants who grew cabbages and other vegetables in their front yards, and that is how the area got its name. While one former resident is quoted in the display saying that there were parties in the street every Saturday night, the area was known by politicians and social reformers as a slum, a rundown area with unhealthy conditions and that is why it was decided that the old homes would be torn down to create what would become Regent Park.

In 1934, there was a municipal committee appointed to investigate the housing conditions of "The Park" which is what Regent was known as back then. The investigation resulted in the "Bruce Report" which labeled the area as "bad". As a result of this, city officials recommended that it be the city's first official "clearance site". The Depression set things back, and it wasn't until 1947, when community members urged city council to act on their plans to create publicly financed low rental housing, that the transformation of Cabbagetown to Regent Park began.

The exhibit says that Regent North, the area between Parliament St, Dundas St, River St, and Gerrard St promised residents a family-centered open space filled with modern housing, pleasant landscapes and limited vehicle access where the rent was to be 20% of the family's monthly income. In theory this sounded good, but soon after the first residents started to move in March 1949, problems started to emerge immediately. One of the largest problems was that the rent rates were far above the proposed amount, and there is a lot of open space that no one feels the need to protect.

For me, the most moving part of the exhibit was the artifacts found after the demolition of phase one of Regent Park in 2006. There were a set of teacups, a doll with a glass face and a child's Flounder toy along with a few other articles.

At the end of the exhibit was a slide show of photos from old Cabbagetown, through the years to the demolition of phase one. There were pictures of Mayor Miller with his arms around the construction workers, obviously very excited about what was going on. As the construction of phase one continues, there is more and more skepticism about how the new development will compare to the old, rundown Regent Park.

Unfortunately, by the time I was done reading the poster boards and watching the slideshows on Regent Park the guide had changed out of her period costume and the museum was closing for the night. Maybe I'll return someday to check out the rest of Mackenzie House.