I talk to my next-door neighbour almost every day. An older man, he likes the conversation. Whenever we get to talking about big, expensive, developments in the neighbourhood, he grumbles about the rich and ends with, “What can you do?” It’s not really a question. It’s a statement: there’s nothing you can do. But not Romain Baker. He’s taking action.
Romain lives in the area. His kids go to a local school. He’s got an idea of what we can do, and he’s been acting on it. Romain works at Black Urbanism Toronto. His organization is working to hold back the impossible costs of the housing market to make life more affordable for people in Little Jamaica.
How? Through the Little Jamaica Community Land Trust.
“Our goals are community ownership of land, to mitigate displacement, and to ensure affordability in perpetuity for residents and small businesses,” Romain says. “Our target is the African diaspora which has been in the neighbourhood over the past 50 years. Jamaican and Caribbean migrants have a strong legacy here. A strong cultural tie. But they’ve been moving out. The land trust is to preserve that legacy. To ensure that people and businesses are anchored.”
Romain and Black Urbanism Toronto are planning to buy up commercial properties for mixed use along Eglinton and make them affordable. The goal isn’t profit. As Romain says, Black people were being left out when it came to changes in the area. The never-ending Eglinton LRT construction and gentrification were displacing too many people and small businesses. And the City wasn’t providing any meaningful engagement.
In the face of all these pressures, my neighbour would throw up his hands and say, “what can you do?” I don’t blame him. Enormous market costs and out-of-touch governments don’t leave much hope that ordinary people can get a fair shake.
But Romain and company are taking the bull housing market by the horns and taming it.
