Banbury - Don Mills Information
The Don Mills Neighbourhood otherwise known as Banbury-Don Mills Neighbourhood.
Don Mills is a mixed use Neighbourhood and considered to be Canada’s First Planned Community. Its boundaries run south from York Mills Road, east from Leslie Street, although in some areas it runs almost to Bayview Avenue, and runs west from The Don Valley Parkway. It’s southern most boundary is Eglington Avenue. This Neighbourhood was developed to be a self-supporting “new town” and was at the time located outside of Toronto proper. The Neighbourhood consisted of residential, commercial and industrial sub-districts and it was planned and developed by private enterprise. In many ways it became the blueprint for post-war suburban development in Toronto and contemporary residential Neighbourhoods.
The Don Mills name makes reference to the historic Don River and the fact that several mills operated in the area. The Don Mills area was first settled by Europeans in 1817, and considered quite a distance from the town of York, but being next to the Don River, there was easy transportation and a source of power for the mills dotting the neighbourhood. The historic residences of pioneer miller, William Gray are still in their original location overlooking the Don River on the Donalda Golf Club grounds. The Gray property was purchased in 1914 by David Dunlap who had made his fortune in the mining business. The Dunlap family established a prize winning ‘model’ farm in Don Mills. They named it “Donalda”. This farm was visited by farming experts from around the world who were impressed with the Dunlap’s livestock and equipment.
In 1952 David Dunlap’s son, Moffat Dunlap sold the six hundred acre “Donalda” farm to the Don Mills Development Company which was owned by the industrialist, E.P. Taylor. There were about 20 farms in the area at that time. E.P. Taylor’s original plan was to erect a brewery on the site, along with a small community to house the workers. E.P. Taylor had limited previous experience in the property development business, but had successfully built a project named the Wrentham Estates in York Mills. York Mills Shopping Centre was developed on the Northeast corner of Wrentham Estates. This project was so profitable, that E.P. Taylor abandoned his brewery idea, and simply decided to build a new town on the 2000 acres he had acquired. In 1951, E.P. Taylor began planning the Yorktown community (as Don Mills was formerly known) and it was announced on March 11, 1953 that this community was to be built around Don Mills Road and Lawrence Avenue East intersection, with the expected cost of $200,000,000.
The design was based on five planning principles, which had not been implemented in Canada before:
- The neighbourhood principle – which broke down the community into four neighbourhood quadrants, all surrounding a regional shopping centre, Don Mills Centre, at the southwest corner of Don Mills and Lawrence. Each quadrant was to contain a school, a church, and a park.
- Separation of pedestrian and vehicle traffic – which was accomplished through the creation of a network of pedestrian paths providing easy access through parks to area schools and the town centre, while roads were designed to slow vehicular traffic through the use of winding roads, T-intersections, and cul-de-sacs.
- Promotion of modernist architecture and the modern aesthetic – Don Mills Development controlled the architectural design, colours, and materials of all buildings in Don Mills. As well, the corporation insisted that builders use company-approved architects who had been educated according to Bauhaus principles, to prevent the project from deteriorating into a typical post-war subdivision of builder's homes.
- Creation of a greenbelt – linked to a system of neighbourhood parks that would preserve the beauty of the surrounding ravines.
- Integration of industry into the community – which followed Ebenezer Howard's ideals for the Garden City. Planners felt that it was important for residents to live and work in the same satellite town so that Don Mills would not become a bedroom community. A sizable number of high residential densities—rental townhouses and low-rise apartments—was essential if the town were to attract a cross-section of residents working in local industries.
The development also affected two highways being built in the Neighbourhood…Highway 401 and The Don Valley Parkway. The Don Valley Parkway was originally to be built on Don Mills Road, but was moved east to Woodbine Avenue right of way north of Lawrence Avenue.
Don Mills is one of Toronto’s best treed Neighbourhoods. The spacious front lawns in Don Mills display a variety of trees indigenous to the Toronto climate. There are ravine lots that are situated in East Don Mills that back onto the Don River Valley and a virtual forest of trees.
The Don Mills homes were built between 1953 and 1967. The mix of housing includes detached, semi-detached, town houses, rental homes and apartments, executive ranch style bungalows, luxury condominium buildings, terraced row housing and seniors residences. Don Mills Contemporary style architectural designs earned many awards by the Canadian Housing Design Council. Typical of this style are shallow roof lines, multi-dimensional facades, expansive picture windows and the use of a carport instead of a garage. Susan Macarz, Broker, with Re/Max Ultimate Realty Inc., Brokerage, lived in the Banbury-Don Mills Neighbourhood in her university years, and still frequents the shopping and restaurants at The Shops at Don Mills.
Many of Don Mills’ smaller local parks are connected by a paved walkway that runs behind Don Mills houses. Another path inside Edwards Gardens is part of a nine kilometer paved trail that follows the valley of the West Don River all the way to Warden Woods Park in Scarborough.
Bond Park, located off Duncairn Road is Don Mills largest park. It includes extensive Baseball facilities and organized leagues, and is also home to the North York Winter Tennis Club. Three Valley’s Park is located next to Three Valleys School and has a large children’s playground and tennis courts.
The Don Mills Public Library is located at 881 Lawrence Avenue East has regular programming for children of all ages and adults. Don Mills is also close to the Ontario Science Centre located at 770 Don Mills Road.
The main shopping in the area is The Shops at Don Mills, where the former Don Mills Shopping Centre was situated. It is a large mall located at the southwest corner of Lawrence Avenue and Don Mills Road. There is also a strip mall southwest of Don Mills Road and Barber Greene Road which has various restaurants and the Tilley Factory, infamous for developing travelling clothing and the Tilley Hat, and a Loblaw Real Canadian Superstore located northeast of Don Mills Road and Eglington Avneue.
Some of the major corporations that are currently located in the Banbury-Don Mills neighbourhood are IBM Canada Ltd., Celestica, The National Post Newspaper, and the Toronto Real Estate Board.
New condominium projects are slated for The Shops of Don Mills area—The Residences of Don Mills and Liv Lofts are to be built in the surrounding area.
At Wynford Drive and the Don Valley Parkway, a new $300 million cultural project is being constructed on 6.8 hectares (17 acres). The Ismaili Centre, the Aga Khan Museum and a public park will provide an exhibition space for Islamic art and history and will provide a centre for the Ismaili community in Canada. The project, whose foundation was laid on May 28, 2010 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and His Highness the Aga Khan is designed by award-winning architects: India-based Charles Correa, Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki, Lebanese landscape architect Vladimir Djurovic and the Toronto-based Moriyama & Teshima Architects.
Tansportation is easy in the Banbury-Don Mills Neighbourhood. Bus routes along York Mills Road, Lawrence Ave. East and Leslie Street connect to the stations on the Yonge-University-Spadina subway line. The Don Mills Road bus connects with the Pape station on the Bloor-Danforth subway line. Easy access to the Don Valley Parkway provides a direct route to either Downtown Toronto or to Highway 401, or north to Newmarket. Don Mills Road also provides access to the Don Valley Parkway.
If you would like more information about the Banbury-Don Mills Neighbourhood and presently available properties for sale/lease, click here or call me at 416-219-7583 (client line) or 416-487-5131 (office) or send me an email to susan@susanmacarz.com. Please specify "Banbury-Don Mills Neighbourhood" in the subject heading and include specifically what you are looking for (Type & style, # of bedrooms,# of baths, parking, sale or lease, price range, time frame, etc.), this will allow me to provide you with the proper information that you are seeking.
**The Toronto neighbourhood text profiles, sketches and maps displayed on this website were published in "Your Guide to Toronto Neighbourhoods", are copyright Maple Tree Publishing and have been reproduced by the Toronto Real Estate Board under license.
**The Preceding piece of text is freely licensed, and the original text is found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Mills
