Gerrard Street is changing, but the area hopes to maintain its Indian culture. ... Singh said Gerrard Street was the mecca of anything South Asian in North America, including fashion, food, grocery, and entertainment.

He is now one of the board members on the Gerrard India Bazaar BIA Board of Management.

There are currently 125 businesses along the Gerrard India Bazaar strip, including 22 non-South Asian businesses.

“The vacancy rates are falling down,” Tasneem Bandukwala, BIA manager for the Gerrard India Bazaar, said.

The current vacancy rate in the bazaar is five per cent.

“I think the vacancy rate’s pretty stable there,” Councillor Paula Fletcher (Ward 30, Toronto-Danforth) said. The ward she represents covers the north side of Gerrard Street East until Coxwell Avenue.

A historical survey, Toronto’s Little India: A Brief Neighbourhood History, released by Ryerson University in 2010, mentions cracked sidewalks, insufficient lighting, litter, and parking problems among the concerns that surfaced as early as the 1980s.

Tension between local residents and businesses grew as cars were parked on private lawns and driveways. There was even a proposal to close Gerrard Street between Woodfield and Gerrard to automobile traffic during the summer months or on weekends, the report said.

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