My neighbourhood is getting quite ghetto.

Although I've discovered my street's ghetto-ness for quite some time now (and I'm sure many of you who know where I live can concur), an interesting incident last night has affirmed this conclusion.

Last night, like every Monday, my sister and I wheel over to the Milliken pool for our weekly swimming adventure. Anyways, as we drove past through our ghetto street, you will begin to realize the difficulty of manoeuvering past my street.

For years now, our little quite crescent street in my suburban Markham neighbourhood has become a local street-basketball court. However, it didn't totally dawn on me until last night when a little boy, which seemed to be accidental, bounced his basketball onto the trunk of my car. Thank God that my poor baby didn't see any dents. I saw the terror in the little boy's eyes, so I let it pass-- though knowing me, I wasn't really going to really do anything about it.

Planners, remember when suburban streets were engineered only for cars? Well, miraculously my street is the quite exception. If people didn't know better, they would've mistaken my street as a rec centre.

Basketball program on the street is so extensive that through my casual obsevation, I could spot about three leagues:

• Elite - Consist of young teenagers, with their GANGSTA clothing


• Wannabes - Consist of junior elementary school students who so want to play on the Elite, but are too young or inexperienced


• Pee-Wee - Little Primary school children who play with those short Fisher Price plastic nets

Yes, so if the basketball games are in session, despite which league, you're looking at having to stall a few moments and have the players clear out a small narrow path for my little Sentra sedan to pass. You can tell that I'm a little annoyed.

Although basketball dominates as the sport of choice on this street, the occasional street hockey, bicycle drag racing, skipping and waterfightting could also be witnessed.

I just find it strange that as other suburban kids hide inside their homes and play XBOX, the children on my ghetto street enjoy to do what they do on the street.

This doesn't apply to just children. In the evening, you will see young and old adults bringing out their comfortable patio furniture and plot it on the driveway and just chill, laugh and shout.

Do you know my street is starting to resemble? My crazy street is becoming Harlem in the suburban sphere. Maybe it's a bit cliche, but I picture Harlem as a place where people chill on the street, sit on the doorsteps, play baseball, and where fire hydrants become the source of a waterpark for children.

As a man of Planning, I must say that despite a few annoyances when driving and dodging these kids playing on the street, I really support and encourage it. It's good to know at least that the kids aren't sitting in front of their computer all day (like me), but doing something healthy and active that they enjoy. Also, it just brings a bit of street liveliness and comradery, not to mention more eyes on the street means less opportunity for people to commit crimes.

So all in all, we have a good thing going about on our street, and despite that it is a little ghetto, I do enjoy and am proud of living here.

A revolution is unravelling in our suburban neighbourhoods and maybe this will quickly spread, but just let it be known that its origins was a little crescent at McCowan and Denison.

Update (May 23, 2007):
Apparently, I have become e-famous from a certain Redflagdeals.com thread. I'm very flattered that one of my musings has brought upon so much discussion! This is awesome.

But I have to say that a specific user, UrbanPoet, adequately summed up the gist of my article:

I think you guys are missing the point of the article. They dont mean its literally ghetto.

I think they trying to make the point that stereotypically ghetto things like hanging out on street blocks, shooting hoops in the hood, and adults sitting on front steps talking loud is actually a positive thing for a neighborhood.

I think you guys are missing the main point of the article.

[...]

This type of thinking is common. It's been reinforced by the writer Jane Jacobs (see Dark Age Ahead, the life and death of great American cities).

You can also check out articles by australian David Engwicht. "the nature of eco-city" in reclaiming our cities and towns.

I love my Markham, and the word "ghetto" is not to be taken in the literal sense. I in fact appreciate the fact that kids roam around the streets, because afterall, the streets should be for the people.

I officially declare the following people need to be shot.

• The person who invented suits


• The person or persons who established suits as the understood business attire for men

Let me get grab some bullets at Wal-Mart and off we go.

Maybe it was wrong of me to shoot the former, because I agree that suits are sexy, and as an extension of that, suits often make men look sexy / sexier (...give me a moment to ponder), but I hate to wonder, why isn't there a more accommodating business fashion protocol for the Summer?

We've been recently holding several multi-stakeholder roundtables at work and the boss-man wants me to represent the Ministry as he puts it, "professional business chic." Ever since I was a little boy, my mom has told me to check up on the weather so that you can dress accordingly. Needless to say, wearing a suit in extreme heat alerts is not what you call dressing for the weather. To make me even more glistening in perspiration, the Ontario Government has issued energy conservation efforts across all buildings in the city, which leaves office temperatures at about 24 to 25 degrees. Don't get me wrong, I commend the Government's initiative to set a good example for the rest of the province, but I swear there was a layer of dripping sweat concealed under the layers of suffocating cotton, and I'm sure many men at the meeting can concur.

My question is, who the fuck decided that suits be the understood fashion for business? Why hasn't there been some public upheaval of men to stand up and refuse to wear something that is absurdly inappropriate for the summer climate?

I refuse to believe that men out their enjoying sweating in their suits in scorchingly humid conditions. I refuse to believe that men out there want to make little personal saunas for themselves. And I utterly refuse to believe men enjoy showing off their wet marks on the back of their dress shirts... as purely evident in the office.

For that reason, I would like to start a grassroots coalition for wearing weather-appropriate attire in the workplace, with particular emphasis on stigmatizing suits as being overdressed in the Summertime.

Who's with me? Probably no one, but that's okay.

On a side note, what I find most irritating is that there is definitely a fashion gender injustice in the workplace and it is most evident in the summer months. While men are expected to at least sport a dress shirt, tie, dress pants and dress shoes, females can pretty much get away with wearing almost anything; anything from fitted tees, low-rise dark-coloured denim, sandals, shorts-that-appear-to-be-skirts, capris, spaghetti straps- the list goes on. In the office, sporting a polo on "Uncasual Mondays to Thursdays" would be considered being underdressed and be given this unspoken word that I've violated the eternal sins of the office environment.

Where's the equality? If ladies can wear spaghetti straps to work, so can I. Hmm, maybe only its equivalent. If ladies could wear shorts-that-appear-to-be-skirts, then men could at least wear khaki dress shorts- not that you would catch me ever sporting that, but that is besides the point. Men everywhere need to stand up and fight for fashion equality.

Sadly sometimes, it seems to be true what they say: girls definitely have more fun.

I think I have pussy-envy... sometimes. (Take that, Freud)

Don't worry, I'm in no rush to get a sex change.

Whoa. It's hard to believe that it's my Sweet 16. I'm definitely quasi-stoked.

Let me correct myself-- it's not just my big day, but also my family's. So put away your smooshy ballad CD's and spin-the-bottle bottles-- and also send all the cute teenage boys home (I should be barred for saying that) because it's not time for a Sweet 16 party-- though crazyily enough, it sounds fun.

It was 16 years ago today, that a little young Chinese tot (me) immigrated to Canada with his beloved family. To get away from all the Hong Kong sovereignity issues, and the poor environmental conditions-- but most of all, to experience a better life and a better education-- my parents decided to fill in some papers and move to Canada.

I was only 5 at the time and just graduated from St. Stephen's Catholic Kindergarten. I seriously didn't know what was going on. All I knew was that I was going to leave all my little friends and move to a place called "Canada." Which really doesn't help, since I didn't really know where or what that is. All I know was it was north of Hong Kong, meaning it will be colder.

"So where's north?," I asked
"Where the compass points to," Dad replied
I must say how helpful his answer was at the time.

I remember making fun of the name "Canada"-- you know how children are-- because "Canada" in Chinese is "???"; which is the name's Chinese phonetic interpretation-- it sounds quite similar in Mandarin (ja-na-da), but not so much in Cantonese (ka-la-dai). Anyways, in Chinese, it means "plus take big" if taken character-for-character.

So yeah, being kids, I'd make fun of that. :P

According to my parents, when they applied for a visa, their initial choice of settlement was Calgary because apparently there was proportionately more support for immigrants there at the time (no evidence if that was true), but ultimately we decided to settle in Toronto, specfically in North York.

Anyways, after a long plane ride on the now defunct Canadian Airlines. I clearly remember:

• vomitting on my flap-down table because there was so much turbulence-- at least to me. The flight attendant was so grossed out that she totally just steered clear from me and just offered tissues for my dad to clean up my mess


• seeing the Hong Kong skyline and how dangerously close we were to the structures nearby. As some of you might recall, the now non-operational Kai Tak Airport was surrounded by dangerously tall densely populated areas


• eating the bad airline food. yuck!
  
• sitting in the aisle seat, since my sister always got her way-- mind you I was the younger brother.

When we finally arrived to Canada, I didn't really notice all that much, probably because I just wasn't observant. However, one thing I vividly remember was how much better the air was. I didn't exactly realize it at the time, but I just found myself enjoying taking really big breaths -- as if the air was scarce and that I must intake it all in.

Our parents and I were shocked to be coming to a place that had sunshine until 9:00. It was amazing.

Now, 16 years later, we don't really celebrate it much, but we do definitely observe this momentious day in our family's history. I remember how it was a really big deal for the first five or six years and we'd go out for a nice dinner-- as it was a big milestone for us at the time considering the difficulties of settling here from a foreign country.

I will take this opportunity to praise Canada. We live in a great country and we demonstrate a grand social showcase that is strikingly unique to the world. Our general acceptance for diversity and our collective-leaning society (i.e. strive for societal needs) is something we should truly be proud of. Never shall anyone try to take that away from us. (Ahem, Ralph Klein)

In 1995, Carole Bell, then-Deputy Mayor of Markham, made comments about the Chinese community that cause a disturbing turbulence in the Town which rippled across Greater Toronto and the international Chinese community.

With the increase in immigration from South and Southeast Asia, retail concepts that reflect the needs and wants of the Asian community became increasingly popular. She stated that many of the new retail developments in Markham catered only to the Chinese community, and many of the stores which only carried Chinese store signage.

In the meeting in York Regional Council in Newmarket, Bell made the following remarks:

The growing concentration of Chinese in Markham was causing long time residents, the "backbone" of the community to feel unwelcome.

Everything is going Chinese. This is a racial monopoly [...]. We have citizens demanding we pass by-laws prohibiting signage in a language we can't read [...] at Chinese malls whose developers are focusing on one group, giving the impression [...] that non-Chinese basically weren't welcome [...]. The growing concentration of ethnic groups is causing social conflict.

The statements that were made at the Regional Council meeting was just a tip of the iceberg that was to follow. As the public outcry began to take place in the Town, Bell refused to take back her words and further had this to say in an open letter to the editor in the Markham Economist & Sun:

When dozens of individuals who are the backbone of Markham say they are moving away, as dozens of other neighbors and friends have, then we have a problem that must be addressed [...]. We once had one of the finest communities in North America with enviable business parks and the top corporations in the land. Now all we get are theme malls to serve people way beyond our borders [...]. We need to strive for harmony not monopoly.

This is my feeble attempt to collect the quotes that Bell spoke of. I have a lot to say, but I'm having trouble to find out how to best communicate them.

Bell: The Good Things (or "Dings"):
Let's start with the good. I give her credit for being forthright about the her and her constituent's concerns, it's never better to just shy away from our problems due to, what it seems to be these days, an excess of political correctness. I'm sure she's not the only resident who felt concerned-- apprehensive even-- about the rapid migration of Chinese migrants to the area. I think that it's great that we're at least talking about it, rather than having these issues built up.

The Sign[s]- Ace of Base:
I'm going to start by talking about the issue of exclusively Chinese signs on store frontages. First, I agree with her that having signs in Chinese does damper and indirectly exclude other ethnicities from feeling welcome into the area. If I to enter my community to suddenly to only find, say, Italian writing for example, I too may feel partly snubbed and alienated.

However, at the same time, I have the mentality where "why should I care?" If these businesses are dumb enough to only cater to Chinese people, well then that's their fucking loss. They clearly are neglecting a much larger market of customers and it is these businesses that will eventually suffer. So yeah, power to the bilingual signs and power to the people (...all people).

Politicians don't "ring" well without accountability:
There are a lot of contradictions on what she's stated. She denies that her remarks were racially motivated and that all she was doing was voicing the opinions of her constituents. Shea adds that we shouldn't, as she calls it, "shoot the messenger." I must say she has squeezed out the last drop of integrity that's left in her. It is one thing to make remarks about a particular community, and it is another to not accept responsibility for her words-- claiming that it was from her constituents.

Fine, politicians may act as a voice for constituents and sometimes may not reflect the politician's views, however, in the "Multicultural Markham, 10 years on" article in the Star on Canada Day, she says:

I don't live in Markham anymore. I am not going to comment on the diversity in Markham.

Obviously, she feels the same way as her irate constituents. So we should not "shoot the messenger", but "shoot the guilty."

Cheers to the lack of accountability. Here here. Her latest comment really leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, like sip of warm beer.

"Monopoly": Don't speak English, don't collect $200.
It was a different time ten years ago, I will admit that there was at the time an ever-increasing Chinese population in the community-- almost seeming like it wasn't going to end. However, I want to be clear that not now and not ever will Markham be "monopolised" to a Chinese town. Her "everything's going Chinese" remark clearly displays her xenophobic views about the Chinese community. It almost sounds as she thinks that we're an army of Chinese immigrants that are ready to penetrate and conquer Markham. It's like it should be plastered on headline news "Beware, the Chinese people are coming! They're going to get their tanks and crush this place! Ahhh!"

I want to affirm that Markham has never been catered only to Chinese people. In 2005, ten years after the controversy, the Chinese still only account for just under 30% of Markham's population according to Statistics Canada. Sure, the Chinese may be the largest ethnic group in the town, but where I live, in the heart of the "ethnic enclave," is home to people of all ethnic groups: Indians, Sri Lankans, Jamaicans, Latin Americans, Eastern Europeans, and people from the Caribbean-- or better known today as Canada's largest immigrant groups. So to say that we as Chinese people huddle exclusively together is ignorant and offends our community. Markham is town of immigrants--that in fact is true. The Chinese demographic is simply one of those immigrant group components.

Economic Development Depression:
Let's switch gears to economic development. In 1995, we apparently have "enviable business parks." Now in 2005, we talk about how unsustainable they've become, so definitely, they're not something to be bragging about.

I'm digressing again. Bell seems to suggest that business parks have greatly contributed to the Markham economy (and rightly so), but ethnic malls do not. However, believe it or not, Chinese people are also generators of economic development. Several notes to observe:

1. Chinese people are tax-paying citizens (30% to be exact), you know, the people who paid for whiners like Bell.
2. Customers at Asian-themed malls earn money, and then spend money at these malls- money that that then benefits the local community. More money means more jobs, more jobs means more taxes, more taxes mean more money again for whiners like Bell.

So what seems to be the problem? I don't see how these developments deter economic growth.

More on the economic development forefront-- no, better yet, economic discouragement. She thinks that Markham has Asian-themed Malls that "serve way beyond our borders." Since when did we only want to create development that only serves our "borders"? Come to think of it, wouldn't it be better than store owners reach a broader range of customers from across the region, so maybe be able to capture more money in the town? Remember my spiel about "more money for whiners like Bell"? That applies here too.

Sure people might point the gun at the increased traffic that may occur-- which is true-- Pacific Mall for example is a traffic nightmare. But we need to realize that traffic is caused by the lack of transport alternatives, not because of Asian-themed malls.

Good Bye "High-Tech Capital"?
Tying into the previous topic, what Bell seems to be suggesting is that we should scale down all our developments to serve the only local community or the "borders," as you will. Perhaps this due to the "small-town syndrome" that plagues many of the peripheral towns of large urban centres (I completely loathe this). In our car-oriented environment, it is certainly common for someone to be living in one community and work and shop in another. So what's the problem of interregional developments? From what I understand, she feels that we should scale down operations at IBM, Motorola, HP and ATI because obviously we should only limit jobs to those only who live in the "borders." Right.

Thank the lord that she's not our mayor, because if she was, not only will there be no Chinese people living here, there will be, well, no one.

Ethnic Enclaves and "Social Conflict":
Bell suggested that the concentration of ethnic groups cause social conflict. However, in Canada, the concentration of ethnic groups is nothing new as evident in many communities in the GTA. A large population of Italians live in Woodbridge, Jewish in Forest Hill and Thornhill, South Asians in Brampton, the Greeks on the Danforth. So to target the Chinese community and to denounce them as perpetrators of "social conflict" is unwarranted and unfair. All these neighbourhoods are vibrant, functional, and contribute to society and the economy. She seems to lack the understanding that immigrants often have the feeling of "homesickness" and may want to possess something or be in a place that strikes familiarity to them. Canada is undeniably a diverse and generally accepting country, but settling here from a foreign country still does not come easy (I will touch on this topic later).

Now in 2005, there are definitely more peaceful times in the Town of Markham, and definitely not the "redneck capital of Canada" as what articles suggested. People, to what I feel, seem to get along with one another and I feel that the town has achieved that "cultural mosaic" here we should be truly proud of.

In my next installment, I want to touch on the issue of my life as Asian here in Markham and my views on the larger community and the future.

Related Reading:
If you happen to be at the Markham Village library (Main Street Markham & Highway 7), take a look at the media clippings section. There were among almost a hundred articles in the Toronto Star, Economist & Sun and local papers across the GTA that covered this story. All interested should check it out.

• Knowing the neighbours [thestar.com]
• Subtle flavour in Vaughan [thestar.com]
• An economy unto itself [thestar.com]
• A little piece of the Punjab [thestar.com]
• Where the plaza is just like 'home' [thestar.com]
• Faith, family, gefilte fish and Friday nights [thestar.com]

Comment me your thoughts; I may be biased, as I am Chinese. I'd love to hear from you.

---

I've received many of your gracious emails and discussion in the past weeks regarding thestar.com's coverage of the rise of ethnic neighbourhoods in the Greater Toronto Area (Thanks Tiff, Leo, Mike, and Jason). I thought it's only fair to express some of my thoughts on this issue. I've decided to focus my upcoming blog entries on my thoughts on ethnic relations in Canada, namely in Greater Toronto and my dear Markham.

---

My discussion begins with a bit of background to provide you a little flavour of the changes in change cultural landscape in Markham. I may go a little off-topic from time to time (as you may realize), so please forgive me.

First off, Carole Bell. How could I mention Markham's ethnic relations without referring to Bell? The infamous Carole Bell was the Deputy Mayor of Markham back the late-1980s, early 1990s. She caused major uproar in the Chinese community when criticized that "everything's going Chinese" in the town.

If only I get a dollar every time the quote is mentioned. I have simply lost count of the times the comment was quoted over the years particularly in newspapers and planning literature. She denounced that the influx of migrants from Hong Kong was creating a "racial monopoly" that might drive away the "backbone of Markham" better known as the established white population.

Specifically, Bell was very much concerned about the proliferation of Asian-themed malls during that time, namely the huge redevelopment of the Kennedy and Steeles better known today as Pacific Mall / Market Village. This is the when the nitty-gritty backgrounder material begins.

Cullen Country Barns: Before the Redevelopment
Before the construction of Pacific Mall once stood a large barn which was later converted into a large cultural antique shop and upscale garden nursery called Cullen Country Barns-- which is the same owner has Cullen Gardens Miniature Village in Pickering. This place sold probably the most train sets, stain glass crafts, antique Christmas decorations, dream catchers, beaded art and other nostalgic paraphernalia anywhere in the GTA. This area, which is complementary to the neighbouring Market Village, had the feel of a small German cultural small town comparable to the St. Jacob's Farmers Market.

Market Village: Where are the people?
The area around Market Village, which was then a little more than six years old, was intended to mock the traditional Anglo-Saxon "Main Street" concept but adapted for the suburban car-oriented landscape.

Since its construction in the late 1980's, Market Village has gone through many phases of redevelopment. This is quite evident now as you might feel the mall lacks a sense of cohesion-- parts of the complex hold the different retail atmospheres. The original indoor market area (aptly known as "The Market") only stretched along the corridor from where Green Grove Bubble Tea to the Korean restaurant (facing Steeles Avenue) now stands.

The remaining areas such as the food court, and the retail strip from the LCBO to Food Fair Supermarket was exposed to the elements. This is where the small town mock "Main Street" once stood- with fake traditional gas lit lights, and brick facade storefronts.

You might recall the Bandshell around the area of the food court. I remember during Canada Day, people would congregate around there and listen to the instrumental tunes that the local Markham band played on stage. However, despite some success during holiday special events, the outdoor portion of the Market Village development never took off; while the indoor portion of the mall became progresively more busy as we begin to see the rise of Chinese fish markets, vegetable stands and butcher shops.

Despite some success in the indoor portion of the development, many stores remain empty, mainly because Markhamites continued to perfer "real" traditional environment at Main Street Unionville and Main Street Markham.

Market Village: Restructure and Rebuild
In the early 1990s, Market Village was redeveloped by Cedarland Properties to "meet the changing demographics of the surrounding markets in Scarborough, Markham and Richmond Hill" (from marketvillage.net)- namely the rising Chinese population (which includes yours truly). Since the change in controllership, "The Market" portion of Market Village became an instant success and retail space was quickly occupied.

Cedarland thought that they may be on to something and decided to enclose the space around the Bandshell performance area (now the Food Court) and the LCBO-Food Fair Supermarket corridor into an expanded indoor shopping complex (know as the Phase Two development project). This is the reason why the corridor looks so awfully weird, as the roof was superimposed on the existing outdoor environment.

"Golden Food Market" (Chinese people and their shitty business names) once stood a "Home Hardware" home improvement concept called Cashway. At the time, Cashway was not yet connected to the indoor mall until redevelopment in Phase Three. Nothing much has changed since 1995s Phase Three development. The arguably the most exciting development at Market Village was the Club Monaco Outletstore, which then moved to the cheap rent location at the Woodside Centre (across from First Markham Place)

In 1994, when the community started to realize how unreasonably expensive Cullen Country Barns became to be, people became to treat it as an interesting museum, rather than a store. As a result, business slowed and the store folded. Observing the success of the newly Asian-themed Market Village which flanked Cullen, Living Properties acquired the space occupied by Cullen, demolished it, and built what we all know today as Pacific Mall.

Pacific Mall: The Beginning of Controversy
The development of Pacific Mall was without a doubt the spark that led to the Carole Bell controversy. The destruction of the of the European-influenced Farmer's Market and Cullen Country Barns into these Asian retail centres accurately portrayed and instilled fear that there is this (which I hate to call it) "Asian Invasion."

This concludes my first entry on the contextual background of the Markham cultural evolution. In the following entry, I will further discuss the Carole Bell controversy and the personal viewpoints about it.

FYI: Recently, Pacific Mall / Market Village have put forth plans to further exapand its retail space for an additional 400,000 square feet of retail space, a new luxury hotel tower and a multi-level parking structure. Say hello to more traffic headaches-- that is another entry in itself.

Related Articles:

• Multicultural Markham, 10 years on [thestar.com]


• Pacific Mall Growing Up [yorkregion.com: Economist and Sun]