Pramesh Attwala

I’ve been an Eastender all my life. While I currently live in Riverside, I grew up in Highland Creek, which is about as East as you can get in Scarborough. It was only fitting that my tour of Scarborough was a walk down memory lane, in reverse, and in particular along Kingston Rd.

First stop was R. H. King Academy, where I went to high school beginning in ‘91. Ours was the 3rd cohort under the new academy rebrand, where uniforms were mandatory at the time. King was designated a “special status” alternative school, so kids from all over Toronto could attend, which also made it the most diverse school in the city. I had friends from Danforth Village, Guildwood, Bendale, Port Union, Malvern, Woodbine, Cliffside, Cederbrae (... I could go on), and from varying socioeconomic backgrounds as well. My best friends to this day are from King.

Continuing along Kingston Rd., we passed several memorable landmarks: Cliffcrest plaza, where we “linked up” in the car loads because a brawl was about to go down; a pool hall where we’d hang out on weekends; all the sleazy motels along the strip; and the Kingston & Lawrence McDonald’s where I got my first job. A detour through Guildwood was a reminder of the “nice (predominantly white) part” of Scarborough, where my childhood crush went to high school, and the school where I learned “shop” and “home ec.” since my primary school was too small to offer those classes.

Meadowvale Public School was where I went to primary school from grade 5 to 8. The school was built in 1953 and as you can see from the photos is undergoing some much needed repairs. We moved to the area in ‘87 into a brand new subdivision along with hundreds of other families. In hindsight, we were living in the “nice (predominantly not white) part” of Scarborough. Whatever bad rep Scarborough had, this wasn’t it. It was safe. We played outside. We climbed on top of the school to search for lost tennis balls. We rode our bikes everywhere!

Driving across Kingston Rd., what struck me was how much has actually changed and how much has remained the same. The strip malls are still there, but many of the shops have changed. There are bike lanes, street parking and dedicated transit only lanes. New condos and townhouse developments. The McDonald’s where I worked was replaced with a newer structure (still McD’s). Guildwood is still nice (but less white), and even parts of Galloway look new too. 

For many years Scarborough felt stagnant, even forgotten, for development in other possibly more affluent areas of the city. But I see a lot of growth and improvement happening in Scarborough which makes me happy, because Scarborough was and always will be home.