I was born and raised in Scarborough, Ontario. I currently live in Scarborough. In between I spent most of my adult life in various other parts of North America, so as an adult I’ve lived in Scarborough for probably not much more than two, or possibly three years. I moved back for personal and family reasons. Honestly, I don’t plan to stay in Scarborough for too long, and I know my future is to live in a (or various) different community.
When I was in high-school I had no love for Scarborough. Now that I’m in my 30’s I still don’t ‘love’ the place, but I do see it with different eyes. I see potential and promise. I also see the problems and the issues that this area has to deal with.
Scarborough is considered the bad area of the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). Those who don’t live here believe Scarborough is where the majority of crime in the GTA is committed or derived from. It’s supposed to be gang-infested and dangerous, in other words people don’t just visit Scarborough for something to do. Unless you have a reason to visit Scarborough, most people outside of the region don’t spend much time there.
On the contrary, a report came out over a year ago stating that Scarborough actually has a lower per capita crime rate than many other areas of the GTA. And yet the media and people who don’t live here continue to portray it as a place worse than hell, or something thereabouts.
The problem that I had with Scarborough, as a teenager, and if I’m going to be honest today as well, is that it has no heart and soul. Scarborough Town Centre, which is a huge, ugly mall, is considered to be the city center. Other than that there isn’t any central commercial region. When we used to go shopping, or just wanted to hang out somewhere, as a teen we would automatically head downtown, into the heart of Toronto. Other than malls there is no real attractive commercial district in the borough.
Since I’ve moved back, though, I have a better opinion of the area. Scarborough is, as it was when I was younger, densely multicultural. Most areas of Scarborough are a mish-mash of skin tone and verbal accent. Of course most of the GTA is like this, but I believe that Scarborough takes the situation one step further.
In my immediate neighbourhood I actually feel safer today than I did when in high-school. In the mornings when I used to set off for school there would be crack dealers asking me if I wanted to buy some drugs and hookers plying their trade…at 8 a.m. O.K, a drug addiction I can understand; you need your fix. But hookers? At that time of the morning? Seriously!
What I think Scarborough needs is an event. Something to make the locals proud and to interest people from other parts of the GTA, and even from further afield, to come to Scarborough to participate. Some kind of one-of-a-kind festival, or celebration. SOMETHING.
If anyone has any ideas, I’d love to hear them.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: Canada, city, city life, community, community improvement, crime, drugs, gangs, gta, help scarborough, make my community better, Ontario, opinion, prostitution, scarborough, toronto
