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Got a great suggestion for a neighbourhood name? Post it here!
What do you call our neighbourhood? How do others in the city refer to it? What is your preference for an "official" neighbourhood name, and why? This is the spot to leave your answers to these and any other questions that come to mind about names for our community. Check back regularly to see if others have posted opinions about your suggestions, and feel free to post your thoughts about theirs. Whether you’re new to the neighbourhood, a seasoned resident, or somewhere in between, your ideas count.
- By admin at 2009/05/23 - 9:27pm
- Neighbourhood Name
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Most Original
You have proposed some very unique name suggestions CK. I like Trisoda. That has a New York sound to it!
I would been hesitant to select anything with an abbreviated version of Junction in it - "Junc" equates with "junk" and doesn't necessarily have a postive connotation.
I agree everything in this city is a "village", but I can only think of one "town" and that's "Korea town" at Bathurst.
Other town types in TO
Thistletown, Brideltown, Jamestown, J-Town,
We got Junc in da trunk.
We got Junc in da trunk. Sounds like a slogan to me!
towns and villages
And of course Chinatown. If not Railtown, what about Railside? Or the Rail Triangle, the Railway Triangle?
another one
TRIBEDA (Triangle Below Davenport)
What About?
What about the name Railtown? It speaks to our past (and future), it's short (two syllables), catchy, distinct and it's not a "village". And while it reflects our rail/train connection, it is not a name extension of the Junction.
re: Map of the Neighbourhood
What are the proposed fuzzy boundaries of the neighbourhood/community being discussed? The city's map of the area neighbourhood called Dovercourt-Wallace Emerson-Junction stretches very far East of the tracks all the way to Christie and only South to Bloor from the tracks. See http://www.toronto.ca/demographics/cns_profiles/cns93.htm Clearly these are not the boundaries of the "community" in question. Or are they?
I missed the meetings so far and wonder if there has been a discussion about the boundaries and about the fact that whatever boundaries we do plan to include, we will most likely be dissecting other neighbourhoods or areas where residents already identify with another neighbourhood?
Here is a really interesting article about the idea of neighbourhood mapping and the idea of fuzzy boundaries: http://www.directionsmag.com/article.php?article_id=2944
If there is interest, I'd love to make a map or maps using ideas people have for the fuzzy boundaries. I think it would be a great exercise to be able to visualize all the boundary ideas on one map. Please send me your view of the boundaries of the neighbourhood and I would gladly put them together in Geographic Information Systems software and publish on this web page or mine above the images of the maps.
Marcel Fortin
Geographic Information Systems, Map Librarian, & area resident
University of Toronto
marcel.fortin@utoronto.ca
Waldomer (Wallace Dovercourt
Waldomer (Wallace Dovercourt Emerson)
map of the neighbourhood
Hi Marcel,
Thanks for your comments and your enthusiasm. I think this is a great idea and would appreciate your expert input! To address some of your points, I can tell you there was some interesting discussion about how one defines one's neighbourhood, both at the meeting and recently on the SJTRA website, http://www.southjunctiontriangle.ca/node/285. Our personal neighbourhood boundaries are very much tied into our lifestyle/routines -- which stores we shop at, which parks we frequent, where our kids go to school, which direction we travel when we head out of our area, and so on. So of course in some ways they will never be a fixed thing for all -- and surely they even change for individuals over time. But there seems to be some general agreement to the idea of the neighbourhood being more or less bordered by the train tracks on all sides of us, which gives us that triangular shape, hence the name that arose some decades ago. (Maybe we should call ourselves A Slice of Pie? My husband would LOVE this idea.)
The Junction
It is correct that the name Junction Triangle emerged in the 70's as a group to fight the pollution created by the factories in our neighbouhood.In those days the rate of birth defects and diseases like leukemia were very high in our neighbourhood and as local residents our purpose was to clean our neighbourhood. Before the emergence of this group and the name Junction Triangle, this area was always known as the Junction.
In the 80's when west of the tracks started to become trendy there was a push to promote that part as the Junction.East of Junction(our neighbourhood),which was made up of non-english speaking immigrants was left out because no one understood enough to get involved.In fact,old Land Registry records described this neighbourhhod as the Junction. The boundaries of the Junction are Lansdowne to the east,Dundas to the south, St Clair to the north and Runnymede to the west. Our area, The Junction, Bloor West Village were all part of a bigger area known as West Toronto.Our neighbourhood has a lot of history for which the Junction is known for. For example it is known as the Junction because of the rail roads that are in our part of the neighbourhood.The Junction is known for being a dry area area but that is because of an incident that happened in our part of the neighbourhood.The trains that pass through our neighbourhood were once built at the GE plant on Lansdowne and Davenport. The historical West Toronto station stood in our neighbourhood at Old Weston Road and Junction Road.
So, historically we are the Junction but we gave away that heritage in the 80's.We need to pick a name that still reflects our history.We are still living in West Toronto and our new name should reflect that.Why not West Toronto Junction or West Toronto Annex.
Not so sure we were ever considered the Junction
I have most maps of the area and I cannot find any mention of the land south of Dupont east of Dundas being called the Junction. If you have something from a registry I would love to see it.
The 1890, 1894 and 1899 plate 41 Toronto map actually calls the land north of Bloor and East of Dundas as "Toronto Junction" and the land East of Dufferin as "St. Marks". In 1904 it is noted that "St. Marks" is now "Ward 6" but everything else stays the same except for the notable industrialization.
There are maps later that call the land above the east west rail line from Lansdowne going west as West Toronto.
The Junction
These are really interesting points, Joe. I hope this naming project will eventually lead to residents (me included) having a better understanding of the area's history. Though I do like the name Junction Triangle, I personally feel I've left the neighbourhood once I'm walking under the bridge on Dupont, heading for The Junction. So I can see why people want a name that makes us distinct from that area rather than defined by our proximity to it.
Railroad Bridges at certain "junctions"
I do agree that, despite the historical connection to the Junction, once I walk under the railroad bridges, I feel I have left our neighourhood too. When I first moved here, I aways felt our area was an island unto itself. There is no BIA connection to either side of the bridges, on Bloor; on top of the fact, our area of Bloor seems more of a residential strip than retail.
If Junction Triangle is the name that ultimately gets chosen that's fine with me, yet I would hope for a new name, that will best distinguish us from The Junction itself.
Why not Name it "East Junction"?
By naming it EAST JUCTION you are not losing the association with the Junction but identifying where you are located in proximity to the Junction.
down side of "Shedden Village"
There are two problems with Shedden Village; one that, being a historical allusion, it requires knowledge that is definitely not common in the area or beyond. Expecting an educational campaign to accompany a name is, at best, optimistic! While i understand the positive aspect of maintaining a link to the past, it is far too obscure.
And secondly, but most important; every Dick, Carol, and Elvis is calling their area a "Village" lately, mostly driven by real estate 'would be entrepreneurs' seeking to capitalize on the odd sentimental longing for things past (and inaccurately remembered as exceptional). I very strongly oppose this form of mimicry!
Name suggestion: Shedden Village
How about Shedden Village? or Shedden Park?
- It has a nice association with the farm which is part of the areas heritage.
- It separates us from the surrounding neighborhoods.
- I prefer "village" to triangle/ district/ south etc. because it sounds more like a community and destination.
Name - Junction T
Name suggestion - Junction T - my impression was that it has been called the Junction T for years.
Junction Triangle Moniker
The name Junction Triangle emerged in the mid-seventies when local residents formed a group to fight pollution from the area factories. Major Toronto media picked up on the name and it first appeared in the Globe and Mail in a November 23, 1976 column by Dick Beddoes. The Globe and Mail used the term periodically for the next decade and a half. It was last used by the Globe in a 1993 article about factory closings in the area.
Junction Triangle first appeared in the Toronto Star in a June 1979 ad placed by the City of Toronto about a local planning meeting. It was first used in an editorial context in August of the following year in a story about toxic smells in the neighbourhood. The Star did not use the term from 1992 to 2002 and last published it in a 2003 article.
While long-time residents of the neighbourhood will remember the name, most newcomers to the area have never heard the moniker. The City has applied a number of different names to the neighbourhood over the years and officiallly calls us (at the moment)the Dovercourt-Wallace-Emerson-Junction.
Suggested Name
Since the discussion of neighbourhood names started on the SJTRA web site, I thought it would be helpful to post some of those suggestions here because we want to carry on the naming discussion on the Fuzzy Boundaries site.
Dave Banerjee suggested a number of possible names on: How about Junctionville? Junctiondale? Junctioncourt? West Junction Village? Junctionton? The Junc? The Junction Annex? Junctionvalles? The Triangle? St. Junctionton? Junction Park? Actually, I like the last one.
Ranajit said: I like West Junction Village. Plus, Junction Village, Bloor Junction, South Junction, Bloor Dundas West Village, Dundas West Village.
Vic (the web master guru) added some levity with the suggestion The West Junctiondalecourt Village Triangle;-)
Michael Monastyrskyj, our local history buff, pointed out that the area at one time was known as the Perth-Royce District
Michael Armstrong called dibbs on the suggestion the Royce Junction.
And Whitney made the following observations about the name Junction Triangle:
My thoughts:
About "Junction Triangle"
1. Hey haven't I heard that somewhere before? Oh yeah, "The Junction" is where our neighbours to the northwest live. Adding the word "triangle"isn't the way to carve out our own identity. (And if I lived in the Junction, I'd be peeved about having my name ripped off -- they've done a lot of work to create their brand.)
About naming in general.
1. Whether a name has been used in the past isn't going to affect the success of its adoption. Any name that isn't long or confusing will be used and accepted if you simultaneously push its adoption by the people and organizations who talk about us (e.g. Media, City Council, geographers, real estate).
2. Our neighbourhood's reputation will depend on how we communicate what happens here, not on the name itself. Think about it: There is nothing inherently positive or negative about the words "Apple", "Boeing", "The South Junction Triangle Residents Association", "Adam Giambrone" or "The Beach". How we feel about them is based on what we know about them and not what they are called.
Canvassing
I'd be open to help canvass if that's the decided route.....
South or no south?
Janet, why do you like the name? What about Junction Triangle, without the South? Are you open to other suggestions? Would love to know your thoughts.......
Canvasing Ideas
From the discussions going on the SJTRA web site, I wanted to ask what everyone else thought of combining mailings with some door to door canvasing for our next community event in September?
We do have to keep in mind that some people are more suited to canvasing than others (e.g. not shy) AND that we need to coordinate efforts to create flyers and postcards that have the same message. We also would need to figure out the streets vs how many volunteers to do it and who can lead such an initiative. It is it's own project just coordinating a door to door campaign.
This can also be a team building exercise for those who want to pitch in but don't want to marred down with administrative tasks.
Thoughts?
South Junction Triangle
South Junction Triangle is the name I like!
You Are Not Alone
We received an e-mail from Craig Charnock and he likes the name South Junction Triangle as well. Maybe you can tell us what you like about it?