HISTORY
The Flemingdon Park neighbourhood is built on the former farm of R.J. Fleming
after whom this neighbourhood is named. "Don" makes reference to the Don River
which forms the eastern boundary of Flemingdon Park.
Flemingdon
Park was first proposed to North York (now Toronto) City Councillors
in 1958. It was touted as Canada's first completely planned
"apartment city", and was based on similar developments already
built in Europe and Scandinavia.
The
initial response to Flemingdon Park was one of apprehension
and concern. North York residents and politicians alike were
concerned about the high density of the development. There were
also questions about how city services would be provided and
who would pay for them. Five North York councillors went so
far as to fly to "apartment city" projects in England, Sweeden,
and Copenhagen in order to view first hand this novel approach
to neighbourhood building.
In 1959, after
much debate the Flemingdon Park development was approved by city council. There
were some obstacles along the way but Flemingdon Park was finally completed in
the early 1970's.
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