It is the colour of a neighbourhood that gives it its sense of purpose and its ethos. Colour is a feature that lends an interesting quality to something. In neighbourhoods, it can come from its people, institutions, commerce, architecture, nature and so much more.

Does it not strike you a tad ironic that the Cedarvale neighbourhood — once home to literary heavyweight Ernest Hemingway – does not possess one single public library? Certainly, Ernie would have seen it that way. But back in the 1920s, before he gained fame as a great American novelist, he was simply a newspaperman for the Toronto Daily Star. During his time here, Hemingway lived in an apartment in Cedarvale in what was then called the Cedarvale Mansions. Located at 1597-1599 Bathurst Street, the building is known today as The Hemingway and it is now a condominium.

Book worms need not fear, though. Cedarvale residents can access libraries nearby at the Oakwood Village, the Maria A. Shchuka, the Wychwood, the St. Clair-Dufferin or the Forest Hill public libraries.

The neighbourhood’s defining feature is the Cedarvale Ravine, which cuts a wide diagonal swath through the middle of Cedarvale. The 35-acre Cedarvale Park is nestled within the ravine and offers numerous recreational opportunities. Hemingway, by the way, is said to have frequented the park’s path, which back then was used as a cattle path.

A creek once ran through the park but now is completely buried. The ravine in this tony neighbourhood was slated for the development of mansions in the 1920s and ‘30s, but the Great Depression dashed that plan. Interestingly a few decades later, in the ‘60s and ‘70s, there was support for the Spadina Expressway, a highway that would be built right through the park. But strong opposition, led by former Cedarvale resident Jane Jacobs, halted the project.

The neighbourhood is known for some of its very good schools, the Reform Jewish day school, Leo Baeck,  St. Michael’s College School, a private, all-boys’ school and Forest Hill Collegiate, whose elite reputation among Toronto high schools has led parents to get caught cheating in an effort to get their children enrolled.

Cedarvale has a vibrant Jewish population, with Jews comprising two-thirds of the neighbourhood, and is home to the Holy Blossom Temple, founded in 1856, which is the oldest synagogue in Canada. There is also Holy Blossom Temple, Beth Tzedec Synagogue, The Village Shul and Beth Sholom Congregation.

While we can’t be 100 per cent certain, it’s said Cedarvale is home to some of the country’s notables such as Loblaw grocery king Galen Weston, singer Nelly Furtado and musician Drake.

An active community that cherishes the environment, Cedarvale residents established the innovative Families in Nature program which focuses on a grassy wetland habitat found in the centre of Cedarvale Park. Aided by over 300 volunteers, the program has helped plant trees, shrubs, wildflowers, and grasses and provided education for young and old.