September 1, 2003
By Michael Paré, Toronto ON
Toronto is the gay capital of Canada. Clubs, bars, shops, restaurants, theatres, art and culture and one of the largest gay populations in the world, Toronto has it all. The thing about Toronto is that it is ever-changing - just as you thought you were getting to know it, something new, something different comes along to entice you.
Can the success of the gay community in reviving lesser know city areas become a template for urban renewal - or will efforts to create gay villages simply produce new ghettoes?
On the face of it, Gay Toronto's new Queer West Village has been a phenomenal success. Taking over the once seedy area around Parkdale and trendy areas of Bloor West Village, The Annex, Davenport and Trinity-Bellwoods, it has spearheaded the regeneration and re-population of the city's west end, bringing in a flood of tourists and trendy local punters.
A growing belief in the power of the ‘pink dollar’ - the higher than average disposable income of childless gay couples - has turned a once shunned minority areas into the darlings of property developers and retail chains.
Academics, too, have woken up to the phenomenon. Researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University, who studied their city’s cultural quarters, concluded that gay villages could breathe new life into urban centres.
The Gay Toronto's new West Village is being build with a balanced approach. There is no gay ghetto unlike the references to Toronto’s gay village, there is no row of gay bars. The Gay West Village is spread across several westend neighbours. It accommodates people without money, such as the old or students as well as middle class. Nor is it being built on purely commercial grounds, with companies latching onto whatever goose appears to be laying the golden egg. Trendy, young gay people in the westend don’t care if a bar is gay or not.
The Gay Toronto's West Village is a wonderful example of how space is shared. There are older families, people in public housing, poor and gentrified gay men and lesbians. It's interesting to see how these groups have tried to make this space not just peaceful, but more importantly, equitable. The queer west village is culturally different than Toronto's gay village there are whole neighbourhoods made up families of choice with friends from Poland, Italy, Germany, Ukraine, Serbia, Latin American, Korean, China, Portugal, Vietnam, and the west Indians building networks of mainly blood relations.
Not only is this one of the newest and fastest emerging gay villages in the country it also has it’s own community centre, entertainment areas, community events, newspaper and social clubs. Several other major gay cities in North America have two gay community centres and villages, including Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, New York and San Francisco.
Can Toronto Tourism live with that fact that there are now two gay villages or will it cling to the past and advertise "The Village" and it's located "in the heart of gay Toronto," in the media and travel brochures?
Let's hope they change there tune!
Comments
Post a Comment