The exterior of the Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence-York University. It is a contemporary building with geometric glass windows stretching from one side of the building to the other. Some windows are frosted and others aren't, forming more geometric patterns within the design. The building is a low rise that takes up most of the image in the foreground. In the background are 2 brown brick apartment buildings and several fall coloured trees.
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Black Creek

Jessica Volpe, 'Strong Women, Strong Community' Mural
10 San Romanoway
Featuring six women of different ethnicities and ages, 'Strong Women, Strong Community' is an acrylic mural by local artist Jessica Volpe that showcases the diversity in the community and the vital roles that women play in it. The 2009 mural was part of a campaign to end gender-based violence and was organized by the BeLovEd Movement, a community-based response to concerns about sexual assault and harassment in local high schools. The mural is painted along the back of 10 San Romanoway, facing Finch Avenue West (directly across from Jane-Finch Mall).

San Romanoway Community Allotment Garden
15 San Romanoway
The San Romanoway Community Allotment Garden is a 72-plot garden that was installed in 2015 as part of a community and environmental revitalization initiative with Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), the City, and FoodShare. With an average of 66 households participating each year, the garden is supported by rainwater harvesting and provides a space for residents to grow cultural foods and practice food preservation techniques. The garden also has a fruit tree orchard where residents learn how to tend to them and use it as a stepping stone to pursue further education or employment in green jobs. In 2018, residents established their own garden club, headed by an elected committee that organizes events and provides leadership.

Shalak Attack and Fiya Bruxa, 'Be Inspired, Love Yourself, Educate Others' Mural
25 San Romanoway
'Be Inspired, Love Yourself, Educate Others' is a 2011 mural by Shalak Attack and Fiya Bruxa (also known as Gilda and Elisa Monreal), with help from local students. This is the second mural by the BeLovEd Movement, one with a clear message of support for the powerful women of colour in the community. Read from left to right in a series of images, the 12-by-30 foot mural depicts an oppressed woman in pain. As the viewer moves to right, the tone of the images shift to indicate the woman's journey toward health and self-empowerment. The mural also depicts the importance of community support and that of intergenerational relationships.

Driftwood Park
44 Tobermory Drive
With 8.7 hectares of land, Driftwood Park features a ball diamond, a children's playground, open green space, and over a dozen bike trails. The Finch Hydro Corridor Recreational Trail, Black Creek and one of its tributaries flows through the park. Walking along Black Creek, there are multiple plaques, such as Toronto's Huron-Wendat Heritage, How The Earth Was Formed, and Transforming Village Life, that refer to the ancestral Huron-Wendat people who used to live in the area.

Driftwood Parkette
359 Driftwood Avenue
This small and unassuming parkette features a playground, installed in 2016, whose design was based on drawings by children in the community. Long-time resident Celia Smith was a leading voice in this project, leading community events that engaged seniors, families, and children of Caribbean, West & East African, and Indian heritage.

Edgely Park and Driftwood Community Recreation Centre
4401 Jane Street
Edgely Park is a 4-hectare park with a basketball court, bike trail, and a children's playground. It is also home to the Driftwood Community Recreation Centre, a 75,000-square-foot centre with six multipurpose rooms, two dedicated computer labs, a full-sized gymnasium, a kitchen, and an outdoor pool. The free centre also has youth-specific programming, like the daily Youth Space for ages 13 to 17 and Youth Council for ages 13 to 24. There are also several colourful murals on the building walls, such as 'Unique', a vibrant heart painted by the Girls Club, and 'Rooted' by Lil Bruxas, as well as part of the 'United Freedom' mural by Essencia Art Collective on the back wall.

Jane/Finch Community and Family Centre
4400 Jane Street
The Jane/Finch Community and Family Centre is a community-based organization that focuses on poverty reduction through resident engagement, capacity building, and an anti-oppression framework. The organization was incorporated in 1976 and has since served newcomers, women, youth, and seniors. The centre is also home to The Spot, a well-known youth hub in the neighbourhood. Youth ages 13 to 29 are free to drop by The Spot to make new friends, gain leadership skills, develop a healthy lifestyle, and contribute to the community. A mural sits on the south side of the building and has become an identifiable fixture in the community. Created in 2005, the mural was completed by youth attending the centre's various programs and were supervised by a professional artist.

Hullmar Park
97 Hullmar Drive
This 3.6-hectare park features a ball diamond, three lit outdoor tennis courts, and a children's playground.

Elm Park - North York and John Booth Memorial Arena
230 Gosford Boulevard
Elm Park - North York is a 4.7-hectare park with a multipurpose sports field, a basketball court, a playground, splash pad, and many paths that connect it to the surrounding neighbourhood. The park is also home to the John Booth Memorial Arena, home of an indoor hockey and a pleasure skating arena.

Black Creek Community Farm (BCCF)
4929 Jane Street
Established in 2013 by the Afri-Can Food Basket, FoodShare, and Everdale Environmental Learning Centre, Black Creek Community Farm (BCCF) is Toronto's largest urban farm. BCCF uses its community green spaces and all-ages programming to address food security, food justice, food literacy, and social isolation. The eight-acre property includes organic vegetable fields, a heritage farmhouse, barn, year-long greenhouses, an outdoor wood-fired bake oven, a mushroom garden, chickens, bee hives, a forest trail and a surrounding forest that extends down into the Black Creek ravine. On the fence of the entrance lies a vibrant mural, painted in 2013 by Essencia Collective and Misha Hunter, that celebrates the natural and environmental diversity of the neighbourhood and highlights themes of food security and access to urban land and healthy food. The mural showcases BCCF and nature, with images of bees, soil, roots, fruits, vegetables, and people cultivating the land against an urban backdrop of the Toronto skyline, contrasting the city with the farm.

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Explore Black Creek

Now is the time for residents to experience all that tourists have been raving about for years. Discover shops, stops, places and spaces on city main streets. Stay curious, Toronto.

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Painting Icon ArtworxTO:

Explore FREE Public Art Across the City. Toronto's Year of Public Art 2021-2022 is a year-long celebration of Toronto's exceptional public art collection and the creative community behind it.

We hope that you enjoyed exploring this Toronto neighbourhood and found many other points of interest along the way. While StrollTO highlights some of the 'hidden gems' in the neighbourhood, there may be others that could be included in a future edition. Would you like to share a point of interest that you discovered in the neighbourhood? Email us at [email protected].

Neighbourhood Stroll

Black Creek is a neighbourhood in northwest Toronto and is named after a small river. The creek meanders through a series of connected parks in the center of this community, providing an ideal recreational green space for residents to enjoy. Black Creek is now home to a multicultural newcomer community. This stroll takes you through the neighbourhood's numerous community murals, green spaces, and community centres and spaces with long histories of being run by and for local residents. Fantastic local businesses await on Jane Street, Finch Avenue West, and Steeles Avenue West.

Main Streets: Jane Street, Finch Avenue West and Steeles Avenue West
  1. Jessica Volpe, 'Strong Women, Strong Community' Mural
    10 San Romanoway
    Featuring six women of different ethnicities and ages, 'Strong Women, Strong Community' is an acrylic mural by local artist Jessica Volpe that showcases the diversity in the community and the vital roles that women play in it. The 2009 mural was part of a campaign to end gender-based violence and was organized by the BeLovEd Movement, a community-based response to concerns about sexual assault and harassment in local high schools. The mural is painted along the back of 10 San Romanoway, facing Finch Avenue West (directly across from Jane-Finch Mall).
  2. San Romanoway Community Allotment Garden
    15 San Romanoway
    The San Romanoway Community Allotment Garden is a 72-plot garden that was installed in 2015 as part of a community and environmental revitalization initiative with Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), the City, and FoodShare. With an average of 66 households participating each year, the garden is supported by rainwater harvesting and provides a space for residents to grow cultural foods and practice food preservation techniques. The garden also has a fruit tree orchard where residents learn how to tend to them and use it as a stepping stone to pursue further education or employment in green jobs. In 2018, residents established their own garden club, headed by an elected committee that organizes events and provides leadership.
  3. Shalak Attack and Fiya Bruxa, 'Be Inspired, Love Yourself, Educate Others' Mural
    25 San Romanoway
    'Be Inspired, Love Yourself, Educate Others' is a 2011 mural by Shalak Attack and Fiya Bruxa (also known as Gilda and Elisa Monreal), with help from local students. This is the second mural by the BeLovEd Movement, one with a clear message of support for the powerful women of colour in the community. Read from left to right in a series of images, the 12-by-30 foot mural depicts an oppressed woman in pain. As the viewer moves to right, the tone of the images shift to indicate the woman's journey toward health and self-empowerment. The mural also depicts the importance of community support and that of intergenerational relationships.
  4. Driftwood Park
    44 Tobermory Drive
    With 8.7 hectares of land, Driftwood Park features a ball diamond, a children's playground, open green space, and over a dozen bike trails. The Finch Hydro Corridor Recreational Trail, Black Creek and one of its tributaries flows through the park. Walking along Black Creek, there are multiple plaques, such as Toronto's Huron-Wendat Heritage, How The Earth Was Formed, and Transforming Village Life, that refer to the ancestral Huron-Wendat people who used to live in the area.
  5. Driftwood Parkette
    359 Driftwood Avenue
    This small and unassuming parkette features a playground, installed in 2016, whose design was based on drawings by children in the community. Long-time resident Celia Smith was a leading voice in this project, leading community events that engaged seniors, families, and children of Caribbean, West & East African, and Indian heritage.
  6. Edgely Park and Driftwood Community Recreation Centre
    4401 Jane Street
    Edgely Park is a 4-hectare park with a basketball court, bike trail, and a children's playground. It is also home to the Driftwood Community Recreation Centre, a 75,000-square-foot centre with six multipurpose rooms, two dedicated computer labs, a full-sized gymnasium, a kitchen, and an outdoor pool. The free centre also has youth-specific programming, like the daily Youth Space for ages 13 to 17 and Youth Council for ages 13 to 24. There are also several colourful murals on the building walls, such as 'Unique', a vibrant heart painted by the Girls Club, and 'Rooted' by Lil Bruxas, as well as part of the 'United Freedom' mural by Essencia Art Collective on the back wall.
  7. Jane/Finch Community and Family Centre
    4400 Jane Street
    The Jane/Finch Community and Family Centre is a community-based organization that focuses on poverty reduction through resident engagement, capacity building, and an anti-oppression framework. The organization was incorporated in 1976 and has since served newcomers, women, youth, and seniors. The centre is also home to The Spot, a well-known youth hub in the neighbourhood. Youth ages 13 to 29 are free to drop by The Spot to make new friends, gain leadership skills, develop a healthy lifestyle, and contribute to the community. A mural sits on the south side of the building and has become an identifiable fixture in the community. Created in 2005, the mural was completed by youth attending the centre's various programs and were supervised by a professional artist.
  8. Hullmar Park
    97 Hullmar Drive
    This 3.6-hectare park features a ball diamond, three lit outdoor tennis courts, and a children's playground.
  9. Elm Park - North York and John Booth Memorial Arena
    230 Gosford Boulevard
    Elm Park - North York is a 4.7-hectare park with a multipurpose sports field, a basketball court, a playground, splash pad, and many paths that connect it to the surrounding neighbourhood. The park is also home to the John Booth Memorial Arena, home of an indoor hockey and a pleasure skating arena.
  10. Black Creek Community Farm (BCCF)
    4929 Jane Street
    Established in 2013 by the Afri-Can Food Basket, FoodShare, and Everdale Environmental Learning Centre, Black Creek Community Farm (BCCF) is Toronto's largest urban farm. BCCF uses its community green spaces and all-ages programming to address food security, food justice, food literacy, and social isolation. The eight-acre property includes organic vegetable fields, a heritage farmhouse, barn, year-long greenhouses, an outdoor wood-fired bake oven, a mushroom garden, chickens, bee hives, a forest trail and a surrounding forest that extends down into the Black Creek ravine. On the fence of the entrance lies a vibrant mural, painted in 2013 by Essencia Collective and Misha Hunter, that celebrates the natural and environmental diversity of the neighbourhood and highlights themes of food security and access to urban land and healthy food. The mural showcases BCCF and nature, with images of bees, soil, roots, fruits, vegetables, and people cultivating the land against an urban backdrop of the Toronto skyline, contrasting the city with the farm.

Accessibility information: Most of this walk takes place on streets and paved paths, however, there may be some unpaved paths and uneven surfaces along Driftwood Park, Driftwood Parkette, Edgely Park, Hullmar Park, and Elm Park.

The StrollTO itineraries may follow routes that do not receive winter maintenance. Please review winter safety tips and for more information contact 311.

Soundtracks of the City

From global superstars to local favourites and ones to watch, the Soundtracks of the City playlists all feature artists who have called Toronto home. Whether it’s a lyric about the neighborhood, an artist representing a cultural community, or a tie-in to the StrollTO itinerary itself, all the music reflects connections to an individual ward or the City as a whole.

Music was chosen based on an artist’s Spotify presence and each song’s broad appeal, as well as its associations with the cultures, languages and ethnicities that reflect Toronto’s neighborhoods and diverse music scene. Soundtracks of the City combines 425 songs that feature more than 500 different local artists or acts, showcasing songs in 23 different languages.