ACORN holds anti-gentrification rally in Weston
Residents in Toronto's Weston neighbourhood came together in solidarity on Saturday to express concern over two recent condo proposals they say risks gentrifying their neighbourhood.
"We're hungry, we're tired, we're not going away. Stop the war on the poor, make the rich pay," ralliers chanted while marching down Weston Road between the site of two proposed condos.
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), a national association for low and moderate-income families, fears that gentrification is creeping into the neighbourhood, making it less affordable to some.
'Very real and important issue'
Ken Theboald, a local social worker, says what's happening in Weston is another example of Toronto's hot housing market putting low-income people at risk.
"As more and more neighbourhoods get gentrified, they get pushed further and further into the margins of the city," he said. "This is a very real and important issue for people."
ACORN helped organize Saturday's rally to give members of the community a space where they can fight to preserve the neighbourhood as well as attempt to stop the displacement that low-income residents say they are facing.
Carla Scott, chair of the local chapter of ACORN, says modern condos are priced too high for Weston residents.
According to Scott, Weston is made up of residents with 70 per cent low-to-moderate income, with half of the residents being immigrants to Canada.
Scott says she's not against improvements in the area but wants to ensure new developments are built in a way that existing residents can afford.
"We want the place to become developed. We want to live in a nice area as well. We just don't want to be displaced."
