Electric Avenue – Block 146

I’ve lived in the same old house on East 4th Ave (Electric Ave) since 1976. As time passed and I watched the neighbourhood change from a somewhat scruffy, mostly rental and treeless residential area to what it is today: a somewhat crowded, treed cul de sac with older houses cared for and lived in by their owners. I was a renter for 17 years before my husband and I bought the house. We raised our two children here, he ran a local business and we made many close friends in the neighbourhood.
Discovering the history of the electric rail line that cut through this area from 1911 to 1953 was a revelation, even though I thought I knew my neighbourhoood. I met some local history buffs and starting digging. Learning more about the people who lived here in the earlier decades has reminded me that although early residents may not have had much money, they have always wanted a better life and advocated for better services for their families. They advocated for sidewalks so children didn’t have to walk on the railway tracks, for a school annex so they didn’t have to cross busy Commercial Drive, for parks and playgrounds for their children to play, for the First Avenue Viaduct to bring more business to the shops on the Drive, for a library for Grandview Woodland, for a full service Britannia Community Centre to serve neighbours of all ages.
I began to meet with a small group of residents and talk about how the neighbourhood has changed over time. We also discussed how we could share this story with other residents. The Places that Matter plaque seemed like a perfect fit.