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In the two decades following the Second World War, the population of Etobicoke grew from less than 40,000 to over 200,000. Thousands of houses, hundreds of offices and shops, dozens of schools and miles of new roads were built to support this explosion of population.
Etobicoke was designed as a modern, post-war suburb. Its growth coincided with the growth in automobile ownership, and this was reflected in its planning. Broad roads and streets, with separate residential, industrial and commercial zoning, became a key feature of the new suburb.
Shopping malls and office buildings allowed considerable space for parking lots. Gas stations were plentiful and positioned on major trunk roads and intersections. Many houses were built with large driveways and garages. The car was king.
These images are a sample of six hundred photographs taken on behalf of the Etobicoke Clerk’s Department, illustrating this development within the township and borough. They document the evolution of Etobicoke’s built environment at a time of great transition from a rural to an urban landscape.
They depict a number of commercial developments that were constructed in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In particular shopping centres, gas stations, and a view of Etobicoke’s famous ‘motel strip’ on Lake Shore Boulevard. They provide some insight into the minds of town planners, and the lifestyles they believed Etobicoke residents would lead in the latter half of the twentieth century.
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