Faith-based Ethnic Residential Communities and Neighbourliness in Canada

Introduction

Faith-based ethnic neighbourhoods are growing rapidly across the Greater Toronto Area and other metropolitan areas of Canada. These residential communities are a type of enclave that develops around places of worship, and are inhabited predominantly by congregants of one faith who may or may not be of a single ethnic origin. Although still in existence across North America, such religious residential communities were more common around Catholic and Protestant churches up until the first half of the last century. In the past 50 years or so, improved transportation and greater freedom of choice in religious matters led to the decline in faith-based communities. Recently, however, we have seen their resurgence, mainly among ethnic groups and the followers of non-Christian religions such as Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism. The implication of religion as an idiom of the formation of new neighbourhoods and the social connectedness within these neighbourhoods has never been studied in planning and geography.

Many of these religious communities grow organically while some are planned. Planned faith communities are those that are planned and built near a religious institution, usually by the religious institution by itself or in concert with a builder with the intention to house its congregants. Concentrations that grow organically include a few new or existing homes or even as large as a subdivision around places of worship, where people of corresponding faith may incrementally move in and build up to form the majority.

The rise of faith-based communities has raised issues of integration and isolation. Haroon Siddiqui (1998) describes the increase in places of worship in Canada as ‘religious pluralism’ and argues that it does not create conflict but it promotes inter-faith understanding among citizens of a civil society. However, some argue that ‘communities [growing up around these places of worship] would be too homogeneous within Canada's heterogeneous culture, and that they would open themselves up to negative branding’ (Avery, 2003, p. G1). Avery and some municipal urban planners also raise the spectre that these communities will become ‘gated communities’. They fear these communities will become a source of tension within the broader community, exert undue influence in political matters, and pressure local governments to deliver services in ways that may conflict with the needs of the wider community.

Literature on how faith-based (sometimes ethnic) neighbourhoods evolve, how they integrate or segregate their members and the neighbourly ties within such neighbourhoods is sparse. In the absence of any systematic studies, this paper embarks on an investigation of a number of questions. What are the internal structures and characteristics of faith-based ethnic communities? What social, religious and personal considerations draw people together to faith-based neighbourhoods in this modern age? What is the role of place of worship in the immediate community? Does faith contribute to the neighbourliness, as an essential element of social capital, in such communities?

Method

This study focuses on four organically evolved ethnic communities (South Asian, Italian and Jewish) based on four major religions (Islam, Sikhism, Catholicism and Judaism) in the Greater Toronto Area, of which three are non-Christian religions. The communities chosen for the study provide an even geographic spread across metropolitan Toronto and at the same time cover the two basic types of neighbourhood—urban and suburban (see Figure 1). Two out of four are in the northwest quadrant of the metropolitan area, outside the city of Toronto in the suburban municipalities. Two are inside the city of Toronto boundary, with one in the inner city and the other located in the east side of the suburban Toronto. The communities outside the city boundaries are no more than 5 years old and much younger than those within the Toronto limits.

Figure 1. Figure 1. Location of case studies vis-à-vis main ethnicities in the Greater Toronto Area.

A sample survey of the residents of the subdivisions near places of worship and known to have concentrations of one or more ethnicities and faiths was carried out. Four neighbourhoods within walking distance (400 m, approximately 5–10 minutes) of the respective place of worship are included in the study. In all, 30 randomly selected households were interviewed in each community by three research assistants who were trained as interviewers. The survey asked questions about their social background, family characteristics, neighbourliness, participation in the activities of the place of worship (mosque or church, etc), and reasons for choosing to live in the neighbourhood. Along with the community surveys, the visitors to the places of worship (only one out of four agreed to participate, however) were surveyed as well.

Surveys were complemented with face-to-face, in-depth interviews with the ethno-religious leaders. The leaders provided information about the history, structure, ethnic make-up and theological orientation of the congregation, a chronology of changes to the neighbourhoods and the social services provided by religious institutions. Interviews with municipal and elected officials of the study areas added further insight into the history and issues of physical and social integration.

Context

The topic of this study falls at the intersection of a number of interrelated yet seemingly distinct areas of study, such as neighbourliness, the role of religion and places of worship in the lives of immigrants and the impact of religion on space. The following subsections will touch upon the above areas as they relate to faith-based neighbourhoods.

Neighbourliness

Neighbourliness is an expression of societal strength and an essential ingredient of a well-functioning democracy. Stable neighbourhoods exist within any large metropolis, but a defining characteristic of large cities is that individuals live side by side and neighbourliness amounts to only cursory politeness, limited to impersonal nods. Ethnic neighbourhoods are, however, thought to be an exception, where neighbourhood ties are intense and intimate (Whyte, 1943; Gans, 1962). But an opposite picture comes out of a recent study by Kumar and Leung (2005) that suggests neighbourliness in ethnic neighbourhoods in Toronto is no different than in any other type of suburban neighbourhood. According to Putnam (2000), the neighbourliness in America (and for that matter in North America) has steadily declined over the years, while socializing with ‘friends who do not live in the neighbourhood’ has been on the increase. There have been studies of neighbourhoods based on class, ethnicity, and stages of life but none about faith as a binding force.

Religion and immigrants

Religion is the key to ‘cultural reproduction’ and ethnic identity of immigrants. In Williams’ (1988) words, ‘immigrants are religious—by all counts more religious than they were before they left home—because religion is one of the important identity markers that helps them preserve individual self-awareness and cohesion in a group’. Yet, religion as one of the fundamental tenets of the multiculturalism policy in Canada has been largely neglected in immigration and settlement studies (Kymlicka, 2003; Bramadat & Seljak, 2005). The classical hypothesis of the secularization of immigrants (Bramadat & Seljak, 2005) and the portrayal of religion as an ‘opiate of the masses and as ephemeral in nature’ (Warner, 1998) seem to have played a role.

We are well aware of the significant social role religious institutions play in settling immigrants. To Warner (1998) and Bramadat and Seljak (2005), religious institutions provide immigrants with an entry point to the mainstream host society. Many scholars like Putnam (2000), Smidt (2003) and Ammerman (1997) point to religious organizations as repositories of huge social, moral and spiritual capital. These organizations have also been important institutional providers of social services, especially when government services are inadequate or ineffective.

Putnam (2000) and Smidt (2003) hypothesize that religious organizations increase social capital in the community. In the words of Putnam, ‘faith communities in which people worship together are arguably the single most important repository of social capital in America’. He goes on to say that religious institutions are an important incubator for civic skills, norms, community interests and civic recruitment and civic engagement. This study attempts to empirically test the role of religious institutions and explore whether they contribute in any way to neighbourly ties.

Impact of Religion on Space

The two disciplines, urban planning and geography, could provide a better understanding of religion and space, but offer very little. While there is little theoretical debate, social and cultural geography provides a few works of empirical research on a religion's impact on landscape. Those that exist tend to look at large-scale regional and national religious patterns around the world or examine small-scale physical forms of the urban landscape, cemeteries in particular (Kong, 1990; Holloway & Valins, 2002).

Planning literature rarely considers religious relations in planning in modern plural societies. Yiftachel's (1992) study is one of the few comprehensive works to introduce an ethnic and religious perspective into planning. Another one is Thomas's (1999) attempt to make a direct connection between reason and spirit in the field.

Winkler's (2006) work in Johannesburg, South Africa informs us that the secular values of planning theory and practice are often indifferent to or at times in conflict with the religious beliefs of the majority of citizens for whom we plan. Anhorn (2006) explores the role of spirituality on planners' work. He suggests that planners' ethics, values and self-examination are informed by their spirituality and religion.

Other studies on the nexus of religion, immigrants and planning policies are limited to where places of worship are built and the land use and design problems associated with their construction. The challenges posed by places of worship to contemporary urban planning first received attention in Great Britain (Thomas & Krishnarayan, 1994). In Canada, the studies have mostly focused on mosques and the difficulties encountered during the approval process, although most were approved eventually. Only Germain and Gagnon's (2003) and Beattie and Ley's (2001) studies include places of worship other than mosques.

Case Studies: Communities around the Places of Worship

The following case studies attempt to examine some of these issues from the literature. The four places of worship and a few blocks around them chosen for this study are: the Islamic Foundation of Toronto at Nugget Avenue and Markham Road in the Scarborough area of Toronto; Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara, a Sikh temple in Malton, Mississauga; Holy Blossom Temple, a Jewish synagogue near Bathurst Street and Eglinton Avenue in Toronto; and the St Clare Catholic Parish in Woodbridge, Vaughan. In the following sections, each description of neighbourhood illustrates and analyses the social characteristics, the reason for their formation, the influence of the place of worship, and the level of neighbourliness.

Nugget Avenue Neighbourhood

The residential area across from the Islamic Foundation mosque, on the intersection of Nugget Avenue and Markham Road, Scarborough, is an example of a faith-based neighbourhood in Toronto. It has evolved into such a neighbourhood as Muslims have come to be a majority. In the census tract surrounding the mosque, Muslims are 18% of the population, indicating some concentration of Muslims, but the claim of being a faith-based neighbourhood applies to a small geographic area of a few streets and half-a-kilometre radius from the mosque. Right away, one fact stands out in this case—that this neighbourhood is ‘micro’ in scale and limited to a few blocks of the city.

The neighbourhood contains modest single family homes located across from the three-storey-high mosque with a 125-ft minaret dominating the skyline. The large mosque, built in 1991 after long public planning debates, contains a prayer hall, library, gymnasium, mortuary, Islamic school classes and meeting rooms, cafeteria, and 200 parking spaces. All in all, an Islamic identity is imprinted on the landscape of this neighbourhood.

Social profile of the neighbourhood

People living in this working-class neighbourhood describe it as a ‘friendly, quiet and convenient’ area. About 55% of the employed are engaged in ‘sales and service’ occupations, usually in retail sales. Another 15% is in ‘social service, education and administration’, mostly in teaching and home-making (Table 1).

Table 1. Social characteristics of the respondents of the Nugget Avenue Neighbourhood

Mean age of the respondents	41.9 years
Respondents' college/university/professional education	54%
Dominant ethnicity—South Asian	52%
Dominant religion—Islam	59%
Dominant country of origin—Pakistan	40%
Mean household size	4.3
Mean time in the neighbourhood/house	5.7 years
Home ownership	73%

This small neighbourhood is a typical suburban community of relatively young homeowners who are new to the area (5–6 years on average). They are almost all immigrants of mostly Muslim and South Asian background with slightly larger households by Canadian norms (size 4.3, as opposed to a Canadian average household size of 2.6). The proximity of the mosque seems to have partially promoted a greater concentration of Muslims in these few blocks than in the larger area of the census tract.

Does the prevalence of Muslims make it a ‘faith community’? To address this question, we have to examine whether this area is exclusively Muslim and whether they are segregated from people of other faiths. Firstly, about 40% of the residents are actually Italian in what was once an Italian neighbourhood, and many of them continue to live side by side with immigrant Muslims. Secondly, Muslims are of diverse ethnic backgrounds, including Pakistanis, Indians, and Guyanese. The uniformity of religion is mitigated by the diversity of ethnicity. Thirdly, the scale of this faith concentration is so small that residents cannot avoid encountering others like themselves.

The mosque and the neighbourhood

Mosques in Toronto, like the Islamic Foundation mosque, are not only places of worship but also community centres offering children's programmes, women's groups, facilities for community events, summer camps, and lectures. In reply to the survey question ‘what activities of the place of worship do you and your family participate in?’, an overwhelming majority of Muslims indicated that their primary use was for prayers, followed by community meetings and children programmes. The level of participation was not out of line with what happens at parish churches, except Islamic prayers are not a weekly but a daily obligation.

When respondents were asked about the reasons for choosing to live in this neighbourhood, they gave reasons unrelated to religion—it was affordable, convenient, and near various services; but 70% of Muslims also indicated the proximity to the mosque as another draw. Yet when asked whether they would have moved here if there was no mosque, only 23% of the respondents indicated that they would not have located here if no mosque existed.

All in all, the mosque is a significant facility for Muslims. Yet it may not be the overriding element of their community life. Does it bind residents together into a tighter community?

Faith and neighbourliness

Interviewers found the neighbourhood to be a friendly place. They found residents to be friendly not only towards them but also with each other. Respondents would introduce them to their neighbours and walk them to other homes. This sentiment was not limited to the social network of Muslims but was shared by non-Muslim neighbours. Is this a unique situation, peculiar to this small group, or a spillover of the faith solidarity among a majority of residents? It is hard to answer this question on the basis of a one-time survey. Yet it is a situation worth noting.

In reply to the question about the ‘how and where’ people interacted, responses were largely along the lines, ‘we meet outside in streets and occasionally visit neighbours at home’. About 23% of Muslims mentioned the mosque as the venue for interacting with neighbours in addition to the streets and other local facilities. Obviously the mosque as an institution and faith as a binding force have some bearing on the neighbourliness, but they are neither all-encompassing nor exclusive influences. They act as catalyst but not as the primary factors. One practice specific to this neighbourhood was the summer barbecues that drew most of the residents and others from the nearby subdivisions. It was mentioned as a neighbourly activity by a number of respondents.

In reply to the question ‘what do you like/dislike about this neighbourhood?’, the most common answer was that it was ‘quiet, clean and friendly’. Only two respondents mentioned the mosque as a desirable institution of this neighbourhood. There were some positive comments about the ethnic diversity of the neighbourhood. Regarding the negative aspects of the neighbourhood, the modal (most frequent) response (40%) was that there were no dislikable elements. Overall, residents of this little neighbourhood seemed to be well satisfied. The basis of their satisfaction is similar to what one finds in a typical suburban Canadian neighbourhood. The bonds of faith were not exclusively what had underlain residents' positive outlook.

Summary

In sum, the Nugget Avenue neighbourhood is a Muslim-dominated neighbourhood, with a distinct ethnic and faith identity. It is an enclave but not an exclusive area where people of other religion and ethnicity live alongside Muslims. The mosque as an institution and faith as a binding force have some bearing on the neighbourliness.

Morningstar Drive Neighbourhood

This neighbourhood also has a high concentration of a religious group, in this case Sikhs, near its place of worship, the Sri Guru Singh Malton Gurdwara. The combination of these two qualities, concentration of a religious group in proximity to a place of worship, makes this neighbourhood a faith-based community.

Located in the Malton area of the city of Mississauga, the neighbourhood extends over a few blocks of the city, including a cluster of subdivisions. The gurdwara is a converted high-school building along Airport Road next to Pearson airport. Established in 1980s, it spawned the movement of Sikhs into the residential subdivisions of single-family homes and duplexes once largely inhabited by Italians. About 32% of the population of the neighbourhood is Sikh, but 30% are Roman Catholics. Yet the striking presence of the gurdwara gives the neighbourhood the reputation of being a Sikh area, an image reinforced by the Indian strip malls nearby. It is a middle-income neighbourhood where 32% of households earned more than $60,000, placing the area close to the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area average ($70,000).

The gurdwara, like other places of worship in Toronto, not only offers daily prayers but also many community services, such as a weekly gathering place and a centre for family and children services, language classes, and sports. It serves Sikhs from far and wide, and thus is supported by a much broader community—although for the neighbourhood it is an institution of strong presence.

Social profile of the neighbourhood

The Morningstar Drive neighbourhood is associated with Sikhs, who are in the majority, and it has the makings of an ethnic enclave. Yet it is also a suburban neighbourhood of relatively comfortable working families. To gain an understanding of the social organization of the neighbourhood, Table 2 reports the critical indicators.

Table 2. Social characteristics of the respondents of the Morningside Drive Neighbourhood

Mean age of the respondents	42.6 years
Respondents' university/college education	38%
Dominant ethnicity—South Asians	63%
Dominant religion—Sikhism	53%
Dominant country of origin—India	60%
Mean household size	4.1
Mean time in the neighbourhood/house	6.4 years
Home ownership	97%

The survey reveals that an average household of the neighbourhood is about 43 years old. Although 38% of the respondents have some post-secondary education, only 17% had studied at a university. On the other end, 21% were high school dropouts. Sikhs from India are in the majority, making the neighbourhood a South Asian enclave where ethnic/religious institutions stand out. Yet it would be mistake to characterize the area as an exclusively Sikh or South Asian. About 37% of the residents are of other ethnicities and religions, mostly West Indians and Christians.

A typical household of the area consists of a nuclear family, comprised of a couple and two children, although one-third of the households are two-generation families, mostly Sikhs, where one or more parents of the couple live with them. A stable neighbourhood now, it was once an Italian area. The average time living in the neighbourhood is 6.4 years, comparable with other suburban neighbourhoods.

Only one out of the 30 respondents of the survey was born in Canada. The rest were immigrants of more than 10 years standing on the average. Occupationally, 65% of the respondents currently employed were engaged in ‘trades, transport and equipment operator’, including truck and taxi drivers, factory workers, and self-employed tradesmen. The second largest category of respondents’ occupations was ‘sales and service’, mostly retail, childcare, and home-making workers.

The social profile of the neighbourhood presents the picture of an immigrant community of solid working/middle-class standings, with the concentration of Sikhs and other Indians but not exclusive to them. The faith links many together but Canadian suburban culture is also a defining element of their social organization. How does the gurdwara affect the social life? Let us turn to this question.

The gurdwara and the neighbourhood

Sri Guru Singh Malton Gurdwara has a defining presence in the neighbourhood, dominating the skyline and serving as a sort of community centre come prayers place for Sikhs. Yet its reach extends to a large community living all over Mississauga, Etobicoke, and Brampton.

Obviously its influence locally extends to Sikhs primarily, and through them onto the quality of life in the neighbourhood. In reply to the question about what services of the place of worship members of a household take part in, a majority of Sikh household heads (81%) referred to ‘prayers, and religious services’ as their primary activity and the same was the case for their spouses. Their children took advantage of classes and sports in addition to the religious services. The gurdwara serves as a place to meet and greet friends and relatives, as is the case with churches. Furthermore, Sikhs' participation in prayers seems to be largely a weekly affair as only 13% indicated that they pray almost daily.

From the responses in the survey, the gurdwara does not seem to be an all-encompassing neighbourhood institution. It linked Sikhs together but did not displace other neighbourly networks. Of course, the proximity of the place of place of worship was mentioned as one of the attractions of the neighbourhood. Yet only 19% of Sikhs indicated that they would not have moved in the neighbourhood if there was no gurdwara.

The role of the gurdwara in the neighbourhood is as a social network complementing other local organizations.

Faith and neighbourliness

How does a shared faith affect neighbourly relations? Does it create a community of close relations? According to respondents' answers about interactions with their neighbours, there does not appear to be any extraordinary conviviality in this neighbourhood. Even the shared faith of Sikhs does not seem to increase neighbourliness much more than in many other suburban neighbourhoods. In answer to the question about interactions with neighbours, the most common response was that we meet them ‘outside’ on the street and sometimes at home. Only about 25% of Sikhs mentioned ‘place of worship’ as another venue for meeting neighbours.

More than faith, ethnicity (Punjabi) was mentioned as the basis of relations. Regarding the frequency of relationships among the adult members of the families, 65% of respondents indicated that they interacted ‘occasionally’. ‘Yes' answers among Sikhs (those indicating they met each other ‘regularly’) were a bit more numerous (38%). Women were friendlier, yet a majority indicated that their interactions were largely limited to ‘greetings’ and conversations on the street and school, whereas the place of worship (the gurdwara) was mentioned by a small number in addition to other venues. Children played with each other in the street/park and met in the school and in the gurdwara. Altogether, the social interactions were neither exceptionally intense nor primarily focused on the place of worship. The shared faith created social networks and not a neighbourly community.

When respondents were asked about what they liked and disliked about their neighbourhood, the answers fell into same patterns as one might expect to receive from people in any neighbourhood. It was ‘quiet, peaceful, a good place to raise kids, close to shops and transport’. Only two Sikh respondents mentioned the proximity of the gurdwara as an asset. There were not many strong dislikes.

Summary

In a nutshell, the Morningstar Drive neighbourhood is a Sikh-dominated neighbourhood. It has an ethnic and faith identity. It is an enclave but not an exclusive area where one does not find non-Sikhs. The Sikh faith and the gurdwara foster social networks but the community sentiments they engender operate within the norms of Canadian neighbourliness.

Bathurst and Eglinton Neighbourhood

This community is close to Bathurst Street and Eglinton Avenue, surrounding the Holy Blossom Temple. The 150-year-old Holy Blossom is the largest synagogue in Canada and in the Reform Movement worldwide. Its current membership exceeds 2,000 families from an original membership of 105 in 1856. The synagogue moved to its current location in 1938 when the area was rural and far from any Jewish settlements. Over the years, Holy Blossom has drawn many of the city's movers and shakers and its intellectual elites. The members of the congregation come from different parts of the world. Many trace their roots to Eastern Europe, while other more recent immigrants come from South Africa and Israel.

Social profile of the neighbourhood

The 2001 census data substantiate the survey, which revealed that almost 65% of the residents of the area are Jewish. Most (84%) are Canadian-born baby boomers who tend to be relatively older (mean age is 45.8 years) than the immigrant population. An overwhelming majority of them are university or college graduates and are employed in high-paying positions in service sectors such as health, management, business, finance and government services. The 2001 data tell us that just over one-half of the families living in this area earn in excess of $100,000, which is way above the City of Toronto and the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area averages. As is the trend with this generation of Canadians, family size is relatively small (3.35). A clear majority has lived in the neighbourhood for more than 11 years, making it a strong, stable neighbourhood (Table 3).

Table 3. Social characteristics of the respondents of the Bathurst Neighbourhood

Mean age of the respondent	45.8 years
Respondents' university/college education	87%
Dominant ethnicity—Jewish	64.5%
Dominant religion—Jewish	64.5
Other religion	9.6%
Canadian-born	83.8%
Mean household size	3.35
Mean time in the neighbourhood/house	11+ years
Home ownership	90.3%

When asked how their community was different from the previous neighbourhoods in which they might have lived, many people described the community as comfortable, safe, centrally located and close to the different amenities. The demographic homogeneity of the neighbourhood was cast in both positive and negative light. About 30% opined that the Jewish nature of the community was a positive trait, while two in the sample thought it to be less multicultural and too Jewish. Some also brought up the issues such as the ‘upper class snobbery’, ‘sense of entitlement’ and ‘lack of closeness among people’.

The synagogue and the neighbourhood

The synagogue claims to be at the forefront of speaking out ardently for human rights and social justice. It has been engaged in campaigns to help the poor and hungry. More recently, the congregation has addressed the vexing problem in Toronto—homelessness—by building a cooperative housing project for single mothers and hosting dinners for those in need.

The synagogue holds numerous services for its members and plays an important role in their lives by providing a range of services from daily and Shabbat worships, to assisting in life-cycle events like baby-naming, consecration, bar/bat mizvah, confirmation, wedding and funerals. The congregation acts as House of Education as much as a House of Worship. The synagogue has a Jewish Learning centre, and a religious school for students from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 10 as well as a pre-school. The congregation has initiated or been involved in a number of community activities such as helping the homeless, the ill, and victims of domestic violence.

In response to the question about the reasons for choosing to live in this neighbourhood, many cited safety, quietness, family and friends living in the area and proximity to downtown. Many also cited being close to work and to facilities and services of daily needs like schools, shopping, and transportation as reasons for their choice of the neighbourhood. Interestingly, the proximity to the place of worship was not a significant factor. One-third said that they would have moved irrespective of the presence of the synagogue, while one-quarter indicated that the synagogue was an important factor along with the presence of co-ethnics, religious schools, and so on. Faith does seem to have some influence in relocation, but whether it adds to the neighbourliness is what we probe in the following section.

Faith and neighbourliness

In response to the question ‘how often and where do you interact with your neighbours?’, at least one-half chose to meet ‘outside the home’ and only occasionally or sometimes. Almost one-half of the respondents’ interactions with their neighbours were limited to occasional greetings. A couple of residents interact more often and invite each other inside their homes because of children, while another couple are close to a few of their neighbours who are their good friends. Children seem to be much more connected with their neighbours as they socialize more often. Neighbourliness among the residents of this neighbourhood does not seem to be a striking asset.

In response to the question about the likes and dislikes of the neighbourhood, the oft-cited answer about likeable qualities was quietness, cleanliness, accessibility, and safety. Only two mentioned the proximity to the synagogues as a desirable feature of the neighbourhood. For a few (5 out of 31), the presence of people of their religious background was a positive point. At the same time, three (out of which two were Jewish) indicated that the area was too homogeneous, too Jewish, and highlighted these characteristics as the downside of the neighbourhood. Increasing property taxes was also brought up as a negative aspect. Nevertheless, 35.5% seemed satisfied and did not bring up anything negative.

Summary

This neighbourhood is a well-established, stable Jewish enclave. Faith does seem to play some role in the reason behind why people have moved here and stayed on for long. But this is not the only factor that has affected their decision to relocate. Neither faith nor the synagogue seems to contribute to tightening the personal bonds among the residents.

St Clare of Assisi community

This community locates itself around The Saint Clare of Assisi Roman Catholic Church in the Woodbridge area in the City of Vaughan. The church was built in 1995 after conducting mass in a local school on weekends for 7 years. As the way all the Catholic churches in the Toronto area are centrally planned and located, the Diocese of Toronto determined the location of this church as well based on the information it collected from various government agencies, school boards, developers and pastors.

Social characteristics of the community

People living in this neighbourhood are relatively young as the mean age of our respondents was 29.1 years. The young age could be explained by the participation of at least six respondents who were in their early 20s. Many in the neighbourhood are engaged in the sales and services sector while others work in trades, transport and as equipment operators. A few are self-employed, government workers, and students. Almost one-third are high school dropouts. A clear majority (68%) is Catholic, mainly from Italy (21.4%) and Iraq (25%). Also included in the sample were a Sikh, a Hindu, an atheist, and followers of other religions. Numbers tell us that this is a Catholic neighbourhood, but certainly not an exclusive area where one does not find people of other faiths and ethnicities (Table 4).

The respondents describe their neighbourhood as ‘new, quiet, nice and safe’. A few pointed out the ethnic diversity in the positive light. One person, however, was very critical of the neighbourhood and said ‘the people are not very helpful and there isn't a very strong community’. He went on to say that ‘you don't really see people walking on the street’.

Table 4. Social characteristics of the respondents of the St Clare of Assisi Neighbourhood

Mean age of the respondent	29.1 years
Respondents' university/college education	46.4%
High school	32.1%
Dominant ethnicity—Italian	39.2%
Other visible minority	50%
Dominant religion—Catholicism	67.85%
Country of origin
Iraq	25%
Italy	21.4%
Mean household size	4.43
Mean time in the neighbourhood/house	11+ years
Home ownership	96.4%

The church and the neighbourhood

St Clare Parish offers a range of services to its congregants. Faith-related services include scripture teachings, wedding ceremonies, funerals, baptisms, various social activities and programmes for youths. There are also different ministries within the church such as choir, altar servers, communion and lectors and gospel readers. The church's Knights of Columbus are involved in supporting the church and aiding to those in need. They are involved in raising funds for a number of charitable causes such as youth, needy families and social agencies.

Community-wide involvement of the church often involves working with the school boards. Recently, the church opened its doors to the community for a blood-donor programme and food drive. People prepare snacks at the church and then distribute them to the hungry.

When we asked about the reasons for locating in the neighbourhood, one-quarter cited ‘it is close to their work place’, 18% said that they chose the neighbourhood because it is close to facilities of daily needs, and 14% cited affordability. Only two said that the place of worship was a determining factor. For another two, place of worship was the second most important factor. Another three respondents said place of worship was one of several factors, but not the prime reason, behind moving into the area.

Many Catholic Iraqis who live in the area do not attend the neighbourhood church. They go to an Iraqi church elsewhere.

Sixty-four per cent said that they would have moved to the neighbourhood even in the absence of the place of worship. For 14%, the presence of the church was a decisive factor in locating to the neighbourhood. For the majority, the church was not a determining factor in choosing the neighbourhood.

Faith and neighbourliness

For the question about ‘how and where’ people interacted with neighbours, most responded ‘we meet outside on the street and occasionally a few friends who live in the neighbourhood come to our homes’. One person mentioned the church as the place to meet neighbours. Another brought up the local bus, where he sees his neighbours. The interactions on the street are limited to greeting exchanges and chitchat. Children, however, visit neighbours' houses often and play together.

People liked that the neighbourhood was ‘safe, close to shopping, and quiet’. Only one pointed out the presence of church, especially the church bells, as a positive aspect of the neighbourhood. Two were pleased with the presence of co-ethnics in the neighbourhood. Regarding the negative aspects of the neighbourhood, one respondent mentioned the church bell, which would go off every hour until late in the night. Traffic was brought up several times as the major negative characteristic. One-quarter of the sample mentioned the lack of neighbourliness or sense of community. They found that the neighbourhood was too quiet, devoid of community life and that ‘people are very private and reserved’. Forty per cent had no complaints.

Summary

This community is relatively new and perhaps the neighbourhood bonds have not yet developed. The church obviously has little influence over neighbourly network. Despite the dominance of one religion, the diversity of ethnicity militates the uniformity of religion.

Conclusion

The study explored the characteristics of faith communities and examined how and why they form. The findings present us with a mixed picture of such neighbourhoods. Only one out of four studied purports faith and the presence of the place of worship as having some bearing on people's decision to relocate and on neighbourliness, a condition necessary for the tightening of bonds in the neighbourhood. Others appear to be products of market forces, pre-existing ethnic and personal ties, and, of course, individual choices.

1. A faith-based neighbourhood is essentially a social network of persons of the same faith, reinforced by the presence of a religious institution/place of worship. The faith-based social network is not geographically bound. The network and ties may be based on the association with the place of worship, but certainly not just because the congregants live side by side in a neighbourhood. Mere presence of a place of worship does not make urban friendship and intimacy local either. The contemporary faith-based neighbourhood, like any other neighbourhood, is a community of polite but limited social relations. Educational institutions, political/economic organizations, professional groups and voluntary associations are the critical sites of social cohesion, not the neighbourhoods (Qadeer & Kumar, 2006).

2. Religion seems to play a role, although a weak one, in binding people together. It does have some influence in forming small concentrations. But even the formation of a small concentration and its neighbourly network depends largely upon the religion and the individuals' adherence to the religious rituals. For instance, for a devout Muslim, devotional practices centre around the mosque, so it may make more sense for him/her to move closer to a mosque. Unlike Muslims or Sikhs, Hindus do not have a unified set of beliefs and practices shared by all believers. Nor is their religion as heavily focused on a community temple with daily or weekly congregational worship, hence a long commute is less burdensome and thus there is no need to live in close proximity to their respective religious institutions.

3. Faith is not an all-encompassing characteristic of a neighbourhood. There are several other guiding factors in relocating people, such as affordability, accessibility, safety and cleanliness. Affordability, accessibility and others are a necessary condition while the presence of a place of worship is a sufficient condition to relocate.

4. A faith-based network does not make a neighbourhood an exclusive area. There are people of other faiths and ethnicities, although a minority, living in the same neighbourhood. In fact, a significant amount of exchange happens at work, at the school and at other places of interest outside the neighbourhoods. Comparing their geographic size and number of residents with those of census tracts, each of which consists of 5,000 residents on average, these congregational neighbourhoods are much smaller.

5. At the scale of a subdivision, social environment and local institutions largely determine residents' level of satisfaction. Faith and place of worship are a catalyst to draw people together, but they do not displace other characteristics of a neighbourhood like accessibility, affordability, schools and so on.

All in all, a faith-based ‘community’ is a piece of Canadian spatial fabric. It is not strikingly at variance from a typical Canadian neighbourhood in terms of its social and physical characteristics.

This is an exploratory work based on a small sample of neighbourhoods as well as the small number of subjects surveyed. The findings of this study could form hypotheses for future research works. Controlling for income, geographic location, education and length of stay may yield different results. An in-depth ethnographic technique could give us further insight into social ties and personal networks.

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank the respondents of the survey as well as the places of worship, which agreed to participate in the study. The study would not have been possible without the financial support from the Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement, Toronto. The author is grateful to Dr Mohammad Qadeer's invaluable comments and guidance. The survey questionnaire is available on request.