MY NEIGHBORHOOD

Introduction of the area

My hood is L’Amoreaux, located in Scarborough, Birchmount and Finch. L'Amoreaux is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, east of Victoria Park Avenue, south of McNicoll Avenue, west of Kennedy Road and north of Huntingwood Drive. The area is named after Josue L'Amoreaux (1738–1834), a French Huguenot loyalist who settled in the area. Before the amalgamation of Toronto in 1998, L'Amoreaux was a neighbourhood of the former city of Scarborough, Ontario, and prior to the amalgamation of municipalities, it formed part of the town of Agincourt.

Today, the neighbourhood has little French flavour, but it is quite diverse. There is a mix of ethnicity, with Chinese being the most predominant. South Asian and Chinese are the two biggest ethnic groups in the area and just under 20% of residents speak a Chinese language at home. The neighbourhood's residents are mostly middle class citizens.

Description of local attractions

There are many local attractions in the L’Amoreaux area that comes to mind, there is L’Amoreaux Park which has 3 outdoor soccer fields, 3 outdoor baseball fields and an indoor and outdoor tennis field. Attached to that park is kid’s town water park located at Birchmount and McNicoll which is a water park for kids and picnic area for families, beside that is an outdoor basketball court that has 6 basketball nets. There is a Hospital named “Scarborough Grace Hospital” by Birchmount and Finch. Pacific Mall which is an Asian mall and another mall called Bridlewood mall located at Finch and Warden. A community centre attached to a high school. There is also a sports facility where you can play indoor basketball, soccer, football, volleyball, lacrosse, ball hockey and cricket called Ultra Sports Centre located at 1510 Birchmount Road, Unit 150 Scarborough ON. There are also many schools in the area: Mary Ward Catholic Secondary School is a self-directed Catholic high school located on the north-west corner of Kennedy Road and McNicoll Avenue. Attached to the school is the L'Amoreaux Community Recreation Centre, L'Amoreaux Collegiate Institute is a public high school on Warden Avenue, Silver Springs Public School is a public elementary school east of L'Amoreaux Park and St. Sylvester Catholic school.

Description of local problems/issues

L’Amoreaux is a great area with different cultures in the area; however a problem within the area is the gangs in the area. Most of the gang problems are from the Glendower boys and Chester Le Crew. Most of the shootings, fights and vandalism's come from one of these two gangs or with both if they have an issue with each other. With these gangs causing problems another issue is the small amount of police presence in the area. Whenever there is a police presence they mostly just drive by and not really get out their cars and talk with members of the community, this is why most people in the area see the police as people of the law and not there for the members of the neighborhood, a lot needs to be done in my area for the neighborhood to have some trust in the police.

Current news stories about your neighborhood

Teen boy wounded in Danzig attack shot again

A 17-year-old boy who was injured in the fatal community barbecue shooting on Scarborough's Danzig Street was wounded a second time in a weekend shooting in north Scarborough.

A source confirmed to 680News that the youth shot in the L'Amoreaux area on Sunday was shot at the July 16 mass shooting that wounded 23 and killed two.

The 17-year-old victim was shot in the thigh near a townhouse complex on Chester Le Boulevard near Finch and Victoria Park avenues on Sunday, sustaining serious but non life-threatening injuries. The firearm failed, allowing the victim to flee.

The youth wounded in Sunday's incident was charged with drug-related offences when Toronto police conducted a search warrant at his home.

A 16-year-old Toronto boy was arrested and charged with nine firearm-related offences and several other charges, including attempted murder in connection with Sunday's shooting.

The name of the boy or the alleged victim cannot be released under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

A search warrant was executed at an east-end townhouse complex near Morningside and Lawrence avenues on Sept. 4. Police seized a loaded 9mm handgun and an undisclosed amount of cocaine at a home on Danzig Street.

In a related search, Avian Gooden, 18, of Toronto was charged with firearm and drug-related offences.

Both appeared in a Scarborough courthouse on Wednesday.

Profile of a local person

A famous local person in my area is “Boi-1da.” Boi-1da whose real name is Matthew Jehu Samuels professionally known as Boi-1da is a Canadian hip-hop producer. Born in Jamaica, Samuels moved to Canada when he was five, and grew up in the Silver Springs area of Scarborough, Toronto. At the age of eight, his mother bought him a Casio keyboard, and at the age of 15, a friend had introduced him to FL Studio (formerly Fruity Loops). Without any formal musical training, he started using the FL Studio beat-making program. He has produced music for artists and groups such as Clipse, The Diplomats, Drake, Eminem, G-Unit, Kardinal Offishall, k-os, Lecrae, Nas, Talib Kweli and Saukrates, and others. He won three consecutive Battle of the Beatmakers championships; because of this accomplishment, he was given a spot in the Battle of the Beatmakers judging panel.

Links to local resources