Midtowners: Big Revolution in Little Jamaica!

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I talk to my next-door neighbour almost every day. An older man, he likes the conversation. Whenever we get to talking about big, expensive, developments in the neighbourhood, he grumbles about the rich and ends with, “What can you do?” It’s not really a question. It’s a statement: there’s nothing you can do. But not Romain Baker. He’s taking action.

Romain lives in the area. His kids go to a local school. He’s got an idea of what we can do, and he’s been acting on it. Romain works at Black Urbanism Toronto. His organization is working to hold back the impossible costs of the housing market to make life more affordable for people in Little Jamaica.

How? Through the Little Jamaica Community Land Trust.

“Our goals are community ownership of land, to mitigate displacement, and to ensure affordability in perpetuity for residents and small businesses,” Romain says. “Our target is the African diaspora which has been in the neighbourhood over the past 50 years. Jamaican and Caribbean migrants have a strong legacy here. A strong cultural tie. But they’ve been moving out. The land trust is to preserve that legacy. To ensure that people and businesses are anchored.”

Romain and Black Urbanism Toronto are planning to buy up commercial properties for mixed use along Eglinton and make them affordable. The goal isn’t profit. As Romain says, Black people were being left out when it came to changes in the area. The never-ending Eglinton LRT construction and gentrification were displacing too many people and small businesses. And the City wasn’t providing any meaningful engagement.

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StreetVoices: Empowering Black Communities

Little Jamaica Community Land Trust Initiative

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Among many of the multicultural neighbourhoods in Toronto lies a vibrant enclave known as Little Jamaica. It is a hub where many Jamaican and Caribbean immigrants laid their roots; and has become a place pulsating with history and community.

But over the years, the neighbourhood has been battered by endless construction of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT. It has been 13 years since the shovels hit the ground, and with the project still without a completion date, residents and local businesses continue to be affected.

Black Urbanism TO was founded in 2018 in response to the challenges posed by rapid construction and gentrification in Little Jamaica. They seek to promote more participation of Black people in the community.

“We really need to be the folks that are taking the time to organize with one another, really get on the same page, and start to own things so that we can start providing the services that we need for ourselves,” says Anyika Mark, a communications director at Black Urbanism TO.

Mark is one of several from the group leading the Little Jamaica Community Land Trust, an initiative to preserve the neighbourhood’s rich heritage while empowering its residents economically and culturally.

“We envision the Little Jamaica Community Land Trust to be an anchor for Black businesses, for residents, and for the cultural heritage of Little Jamaica,” Mark says.

Recognizing the need to preserve the neighbourhood’s identity and empower its Black residents, the program seeks to establish the first Black-led, Black-serving, and Black-focused land trust in the city.

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Toronto’s Little Jamaica is Starting a Land Trust

The construction has devastated businesses...

It was a rainy Saturday afternoon when members of the Little Jamaica community in Toronto, along with several housing organizations, met in North Etobicoke to discuss a new initiative by Black Urbanism TO (BUTO).

This local nonprofit strives to enhance Black community engagement around urban issues in the city. Established in 2018, BUTO was created in response to the negative impacts of the Eglinton LRT construction.

While the LRT will be helpful, the construction has devastated businesses, forcing many of them to close, including the iconic Randy’s Patty Shop.

Little Jamaica residents, while hopeful the LRT will bring new business and ease commuters, have complaints about how Metrolinx has approached its construction in the community. Pipes left on roads, barricades blocking businesses, and clouds of dust are just some of the issues residents were forced to face. For all this chaos, the community just hopes they can benefit from the increased accessibility, but there is a real chance that Little Jamaica could be torn apart by gentrification through density.

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