Forest Hill, Toronto

Forest Hill
Neighbourhood
Bishop Strachan School
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
City	Toronto
Incorporated	1923 (Village)
Changed Region	1954 Metropolitan Toronto from York Township
Annexed	1967 into Toronto

Forest Hill is an affluent neighbourhood in central Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Along with Rosedale, and The Bridle Path, it is one of Toronto’s three wealthiest neighbourhoods.

History

Forest Hill was originally incorporated as a village in 1923, and later annexed by the City of Toronto in 1967, along with the Village of Swansea. The village was named after the summer home of John Wickson; previously it had been known as Spadina Heights (a name that continued to be applied to the neighborhood into the twentieth century). Rather than electing a mayor as in a city, the leading municipal official was the reeve of the village.

Prior to World War II, Forest Hill's population was predominantly made up of wealthy Anglo-Protestants. During the 1940s and 1950s, many upwardly mobile Jews moved from the Spadina area of Toronto into Forest Hill. Forest Hill has many businesses catering to the Jewish community along Eglinton Avenue West. Today, Jews make up about half of the population of Forest Hill, according to the 2001 census.

Its original boundaries were Bathurst Street to the west, Upper Canada College to the east, Eglinton Avenue to the north, and Lonsdale Road and a portion of Montclair Avenue to the south (the original boundaries of School Section 30). Neighbourhoods north of Eglinton are sometimes though not unanimously regarded as Forest Hill. In 1999 Robert Fulford compared Forest Hill to Rosedale, the other traditional home of Toronto's elite: "While Rosedale has remained stable for half a century, Forest Hill's prestige has been growing steadily. There's a key tonal difference in the architecture of the two places: where big Rosedale houses shout 'history,' big Forest Hill houses shout 'grandeur.' More than any other district in the central city, Forest Hill has become the site of spectacular new 'neo-traditional' homes built on a grand scale, usually with lawns to match."

North and South

Currently, for the purposes of social policy analysis & research, the city of Toronto’s Social Development & Administration division divides Forest Hill into two neighbourhoods: Forest Hill North and Forest Hill South.

Village of Forest Hill Council, 1929. Back row, from left to right: L.W. Archer, Clerk and Treasurer; Melville Grant, Solicitor; R.E. Grass, Councillor; James H. Lowry, Commissioner of Works. Front row, from left to right: Hugh E. Ferguson, M.D.; A.H. Keith Russell, Reeve; Charles McKay, Councillor; Andrew Hazlett, Councillor; and Brig.-Gen. G.S. Cartwright, Deputy Reeve.

Forest Hill North extends from Briar Hill Avenue in the north to Eglinton Avenue West in the south, and from Latimer Avenue in the east to Allen Road and Marlee Avenue in the north-west and south-west, respectively. For administrative purposes, Forest Hill North is Toronto neighbourhood #102. Politically, the residents of Forest Hill North are represented either in the Eglinton-Lawrence ward or in the St. Paul’s (west) ward.

As the name would imply, Forest Hill South is directly south of Forest Hill North. It extends from Eglinton Ave West in the north to Tichester Road in the south, and from Bathurst Street in the west to Elmsthorpe Road in the northeast and Avenue Road and the Oriole Parkway in the east. There is an additional stretch of Forest Hill South between Bathurst Street and Spadina Road, north of Lonsdale Road. The city of Toronto counts Forest Hill South as neighbourhood #101. The residents of Forest Hill South are represented in either the St. Paul’s (west) ward or the St. Paul’s (east) ward.

Forest Hill Village is a part of Forest Hill occupying most of the original area of the village. The Village extends roughly from Briar Hill Avenue in the north (the Upper Village, officially part of Forest Hill North) to Heath Street in the south (the Lower Village, officially the major part of Forest Hill South along Spadina Road between Bathurst Street/Cedarvale Ravine (whichever is further east) and Avenue Road. The designations Upper and Lower are based on height of land and not on positions on a map or along a watercourse.

The Lower Village is known for its upscale shopping and dining, although the actual mix of stores includes several modest enterprises. The Lower Village has attracted extensive residential development (especially of apartments), both within the original boundaries of Forest Hill and in adjacent neighbourhoods to which developers have now extended the Village and Forest Hill names.

Demographics

Forest Hill North top ethnic and cultural groups (by ancestry) in 2006:

• 32% - Jewish
• 14% - Russian
• 14% - Polish
• 11% - Canadian
• 8% - English
• 7% - Irish
• 6% - Scottish
• 6% - Romanian
• 5% - Italian
• 5% - Filipino

Forest Hill South top ethnic and cultural groups (by ancestry) in 2006:

• 29% - Jewish
• 20% - English
• 18% - Polish
• 16% - Canadian
• 14% - Scottish
• 14% - Russian
• 12% - Irish
• 6% - French
• 5% - German
• 4% - Italian

The numbers add up to more than 100% due to people of mixed ancestry.

Reeves of the Village of Forest Hill

• Lawrence H. Baldwin (1924–28)
• A.H. Keith Russell (1929–30)
• Andrew Hazlett (1931–32)
• Dr. Hugh M. Cook (1933–35)
• Arthur S. Leitch (1936–37)
• Frederick Goldwin Gardiner (1938–49)
• Bruce Pettit Davis (1950–51)
• Stewart Robertson (1852)
• Charles O. Bick (1953–55)
• Laurie T. Simonsky (1956–62)
• Edwin J. Pivnick (1963–67)

Landmarks

• Upper Canada College
• Bishop Strachan School
• Forest Hill Collegiate Institute
• Timothy Eaton Memorial Church
• St. Michael's College School
• Grace Church on-the-Hill

Notable residents

• Kurt Browning, figure skater
• George Cohon, founder of McDonald's in Moscow, owner of McDonald's Restaurants of Canada
• Nelly Furtado, singer-songwriter
• Aubrey Graham ("Drake"), actor, rapper, singer, and musician
• Ted Rogers, late president and CEO of Rogers Communications
• J. R. Rotem, record producer and founder of record label Beluga Heights
• Tara Strong, actress, voice-over actress, singer, comedienne
• Larry Tanenbaum, chairman of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment
• Galen Weston Sr., owner of Loblaw Companies
• Claire Gillin (MIN), sister of Sarah Gillin.

External links

• City of Toronto - Forest Hill North Neighbourhood Profile
• City of Toronto - Forest Hill South Neighbourhood Profile
• Historic photos from Forest Hill - 1905 to 1974