The first threat came in the 1950s, but local opposition prevented several grand Victorian Carlton Street mansions from being sacrificed to a Don Valley Parkway exit. Developers also lurked.
In the 1960s, developers began to buy up properties, hoping to raze the area and build high rise apartments (as actually happened in the neighbouring St. James Town area). However, when a reform Council under Mayor David Crombie was elected and imposed a height by-law, the developers began to sell off these properties. This large stock of decayed, but largely untouched, Victorian housing was discovered by realtors and renovators who, attracted by low prices and the area’s history, began to move in and restore these historic houses. Thus began a process that today makes Cabbagetown one of the most beautiful and sought-after residential areas of Toronto.
In 1987, to prevent any future threat of destruction, a group of concerned citizens created the Cabbagetown Preservation Association (CPA) to fight to preserve the area’s architectural integrity and historic character, giving us the beautiful community we see today.
In the early 2000s, following the CPA’s efforts, the City of Toronto designated Cabbagetown as a heritage conservation district (HCD). Today, much of the area has been designated as an HCD with the benefits and responsibilities that it carries. As described on the Cabbagetown HCD Committee website: “HCD designation allows a municipality to protect and enhance the special characteristics of a designated area, as defined by local property owners themselves. The special characteristics generally include the overall look and quality of buildings, landscapes and open spaces, as seen together from the street. (HCD designation does not in any way affect the interior or the back or sides (except where a corner lot) of buildings in the HCD.)”
If it were not for the dedication of local residents, Cabbagetown might have become a forest of high-rises, similar to St. Jamestown. The passion behind the activism to protect the architectural integrity and overall “specialness” of Cabbagetown would eventually lead to the creation of the CPA. Intense local efforts culminated in the designation of most of Cabbagetown as a “heritage conservation district” (HCD).