Welcome to Ward 4
We are continuing our journey through London’s wards in this summer series, and now it’s home. This is part of London’s story, with its gorgeous neighbourhoods and challenging roads. Ward 4 contains communities such as Carling, Huron Heights, and Stoneybrook, but no longer Old East Village.
You may be familiar with this ward if you’ve borrowed books from Beacock Branch Library, caught a movie across the way at Huron Marketplace Theatre, or had a picture with Santa Claus at Northland Mall. Did you or your kids go to Lucas, Ross, Knollwood Park, Monsigneur Bruyère, or Blessed Sacrament? If you did, you got an education in Ward 4.
I am familiar with this Ward, because full disclosure: I live here, in Carling Heights. I moved in with my partner in January 2025. In a few weeks’ time, we will no longer live here. We are planning a move to a different neighbourhood in this Forest City. But over the last 18 months, and even well before that, I have dedicated a lot of time to getting to know the people and places in this area.
Taking transit is okay in this ward. If you need to get to Fanshawe College and surrounding areas, then transit options are abundant compared to the rest of the ward. With how limited municipal funding of London Transit is, allocation of the lion’s share of infrastructure is going to go to its most captive users, some of which are students. As I said, I have lived here for about 18 months. Transit was always easy for me to access, travelling between the college and downtown. I could just show up and wait. I could even go home during lunch and be back before my lunch was over. I share that to provide a little alternative perspective on some of the advantages of not driving in this city.
The ward, prior to the ward boundary review, was generally a working-class ward with some of London’s lowest income areas.
This ward after the boundary review is more lines on a map than a singular shared identity. However, the ward still retains much of its working class base, where more people have waged jobs than those with a salary. It is also a very diverse ward, with Carling and Huron Heights having greater proportions of visible minorities and Indigenous people than much of the east end. I saw this every day on my street with kids, friends, and families of all backgrounds walking down the sidewalk to East Carling, Blessed Sacrament, and John Paul II, and to parks like McCormick and Mornington. Sometimes, when walking my dog, we would pass by the Eritrean Orthodox Church in service. This was the place in the east side where a lot of cultures and languages came together. In profiling this ward, I had wondered, how do they figure into London’s overall story?
That’s our challenge this summer: the story of London Ontario in 14 wards. Join us. We’re going by bike and by car, and we’re inviting Londoners into the conversation.
Cedric says:
This is your city editor here! Welcome to my ward, a place I’ve been eager to know more and more about each day that I’ve lived here. Knowing facts and statistics is one thing, but walking it and observing it on a daily basis is another thing. Getting to know a place better can help us solve all those problems we face.
Mike says:
And hello from me, another resident of Ward 4 and also someone keen to learn about the area. With such a profound change during the ward boundaries review, this area is now mostly closely associated with residential areas to the north and forms a wonderful example of London life. There are great little neighbourhoods, but as soon as you hit the main road, the experience changes…
Every week, we’re having a chat in the ward itself. Here are our musings together in Ward 4, where we both happen to live. This time, because there’s no place like home, we recorded at Mike’s house.
Part 1: introducing Ward 4
Ward 4 - Carling, Huron Heights, Stoneybrook
Population - 37,647
Cedric writes
The modern-day Ward 4 was created in 2006, largely from the former Ward 3. For the last two decades, the ward has been typecast as a blue-collar ward containing working-class areas such as Old East Village and Carling Heights and Kipps Lane.
Ward 4 saw one of the most substantial changes to any Ward in the review. The ward will no longer have Old East Village in its constituency. Originally, Oxford Street was going to be the southern boundary, with everything south of Oxford being transferred to Ward 1. An amendment by the City Council placed Carling Heights south of Oxford Street into Ward 4.
The ward contains everything between Adelaide Street and Highbury Avenue, from the CPKC rail line in the south, to Fanshawe Park Road in the north.
The boundary changes essentially removed Ridgeview Heights, a community in western Huron Heights, from Ward 3. Previously Kipps Lane and Briarhill Avenue formed the boundary between Wards 3 and 4.
Part 2: Around the ward
Carling
Cedric writes
Military history is likely a defining feature in this area of the ward. Wolseley Barracks, which was also once known as CFB London, is located on Oxford between Elliott and Gammage. It is currently the home of the 4th Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment. The Royal Canadian Regiment Museum is located on the west wing of the barracks. North of Oxford Street, many streets are named after various battles and military personnel from over a century ago. I recall a time when I was a kid where on car rides, I would look through the fence of the barracks and noticed that most of the cars had federal license plates and wondered, “who qualifies for one of those?” Over the last few decades, the area around the base has changed. The south portion of the base became the Carling Heights Optimist Community Centre, with a tract converted to single-family housing along an extension of McMahen Street.
The major infrastructure work in this district is the East London Link. It is a bus rapid transit line that is transforming King Street, Dundas Street, Highbury Avenue, and Oxford Street, where high-frequency buses will take riders between downtown and Fanshawe College. Transportation policy and land use go hand-in-hand, and the long game is being played here with Legacy Village being the site of a large transit-oriented development at Highbury and Oxford.
At the northwest corner of Huron and Barker Street, is a large complex serving the Francophone community in the London area, known as the Carrefour communitaire francophone de London. The space contains a Catholic secondary school, a community centre, and a church among other uses. You may be familiar with this place if you have passed by the large drapeau franco-ontarien.
In the north end of Carling, Kipps Lane is the main street that runs through this part of the district. Kipps Lane, and Boullee Street, evoke a visceral response to a segment of Londoners, with a lot of it having to do with the history of gang violence in the area. I remember reading an article in the London Free Press about 25 years ago about local gang culture, and the passage that has lived in my head rent-free since then was about a job applicant having been refused employment for disclosing that they lived on Boullee Street. In the years that have passed, I’ve visited people in this area, and have knocked on doors for political canvassing. The residents are some of the kindest people in the city. Doing this series on the wards in London made me think about how much, and sometimes, how little we understand each other. I’ve also thought about the steps we need to take to change all that.
Huron Heights
Cedric writes
The west end of Huron Heights is a new addition to this ward. Previously, Ward 4’s northern boundary was shaped by Kipps Lane and Briarhill Avenue. Now, Ward 4 contains the subdivision historically known as Ridgeview Heights.
The public library system in this ward is a bit related to each other. The first public library that opened in the ward was in 1967, in Northland Mall. That library moved into its present location in 1982, being renamed Beacock Branch Library in 1985, after the former chief librarian of the London Public Library system, E.S. Beacock.
Northland Mall has been a third place in the area for decades. A lot of malls in the inner suburbs have either been demolished or converted to big-box space, but this place keeps on going. It has a wonderful Polish deli that I’ve bought paczki from every Shrove Tuesday. Just around the corner is the old Huron Marketplace movie theatre. Have you viewed a film in this now-shuttered theatre? Let us know in the comments!
Kilally Road also begins in this district, in a subdivision with very large houses. At the beginning of the road, there is a path to the Thames Valley Parkway. Other than along the TVP, cycling in the area is not great. Even with protected bike lanes, you have to watch yourself as the cars that travel beside you are going at four to five times the speed you are.
Stoneybrook
Cedric writes
The newest major addition to this ward is the eastern part of Stoneybrook; this community had been located in Ward 5 since 2006.
One of these things is not like the other, the song goes, and it applies here. Other than using arterial roads like Adelaide Street and Highbury Avenue, there is no other way to directly access Stoneybrook from Carling Heights, and vice versa. The Thames River separates both communities. The Thames Valley Parkway runs along the south side of the river, with a trail network on the north side, but nothing connects the two.
You can’t judge a book by its cover, but the statistics do bolster such sentiments. Among certain metrics, this district is comparatively more posh than the other two. Individual and household incomes here are higher than the districts located south of the Thames. It is statistically easier to pick out a white-collar worker in a crowd in Stoneybrook than it is in Carling and Huron Heights.
Stoneybrook in Ward 4 mainly contains single-family residences and schools, and is London’s northernmost neighborhood with a strip plaza within a subdivision. That plaza, known as Northridge Plaza, on 1444 Glenora Drive, was home to the Northridge Branch of the London Public Library until its closure in June 2010. That branch was succeeded by the Stoney Creek Branch that opened in January 2011 on Sunningdale and Adelaide. Northridge, interestingly enough, was created as an extension of the Northland branch in 1972.
While I was on Tennent Avenue, I took a pause as I noticed that the architecture of the houses near Adelaide were very identical in one spot. What I later learned was that the area was once home to Northdale Public School, one of many schools that fell victim to the Thames Valley District School Board’s series of school closures in the 2010s. The school closed around 2012, with the land being sold off to a developer and turned into 44 homes, with some along Tennent and others along a new street known as Horseshoe Crescent.
Part 3: Politics of Ward 4
Mike writes
Well, what a to-do. This ward was always going to be a focus of some interest, but incumbent councillor Susan Stevenson really set the cat among the pigeons when she declared she’d run for mayor instead. Now the ward is effectively up for grabs, and there is a lot of choice out there.
This week, CBC London posted this excellent guide to all the Ward 4 candidates, led by Mr. Backyard Chickens himself, Stephen Orser. There’s some background on all the runners there, including fifth-time candidate Bob Wright, local chef and second-time candidate Mario Jozic, and poet and progressive candidate Tom Cull. There are two further candidates with scant details: Bonnie Baleck and Randi Prunner. In a crowded field, the trick is to stand out well, and Orser, a former councillor who’s repeatedly tried to get back to City Hall, has made early headway. We might note the similarly-crowded race four years ago, and Susan Stevenson’s slim majority - this one’s there for the taking.
A full list of Ward candidates is maintained by the City Clerk’s Office here. And you can find a guide to every ward in our MEGAPOST here.
Here are the last three outcomes of votes in Ward 4 - but a very different ward, so these should be treated with care. They also show the same trend as all other wards, with a declining voter turnout set against rising populations again creating an unpredictable factor.
2022 results
2018 results
2014 results
Part 4: In the news
Mike writes
With Old East Village now part of Ward 1, quite a lot of Ward 4’s media footprint is gone, too.
But there are stories in and around those neighbourhoods, and here are a few:
Folks in Stoneybrook turned out to oppose infill development. You can find out more in this London Free Press story.
The Carling Heights Optimists Centre is a well-known local spot, and was the scene of The Most London Ontario Thing Ever when there was a traffic jam to collect free trees on Earth Day. Here’s CTV London.
And, that neighbourhood paid a heavy toll during the pandemic, hosting a Covid testing centre. We should thanks the people in that area for their strength on behalf of us all. Here’s a CBC London story.
Elsewhere in Ward 4, Boullee Street was shaken when a homicide suspect turned out to be a former resident. Here’s a news hit from CP24. Note: this story has moved on, including an arrest, so none of that is up-to-date legally.
And, with road safety an unignorable issue across London, one memorable crash took place in Ward 4, at Oxford and McNay. Here’s a London Free Press story interviewing the victim about her slow recovery.
Part 5: And there’s more…
Our restaurant pick
Fuh is a Vietnamese restaurant located in a strip plaza at 994 Huron Street, just west of Briarhill Avenue. I once tried the satay chicken vermicelli noodle bowl and it was unforgettable. Just as a side note, strip malls in the suburbs are underrated gems for culture and food in any city. Comparatively lower rents in places like these than in city centres can make magic happen. This was not even the first time that I had dined in this particular unit. Several years ago, my family and I dined at Pepe’s Filipino Restaurant, which is no longer with us. An evening like that happened because we sought it out. There are a lot of fun places like these scattered across the city.
The unmissable landmarks
St Peter’s Cemetery
Founded in 1881 and located at 806 Victoria Street, this is currently the only Catholic cemetery serving the Forest City. It straddles Barker Street between Victoria and Huron. You may have, like most Carling commuters, passed by it at some point and have given yourself pause as to what is there. The pristine nature of this place has made me do just that. As a cyclist, I’ve made it a part of my commute, and it has made me think about the circle of life. In general, cemetery capacity in London has led the Roman Catholic Diocese of London to apply to rezone land it owns in south London for a new cemetery. One may wonder, if the tipping point was in this cemetery?
That’s Ward 4
And that’s how we see it. We’ve crossed Cheapside Street, traversed Traverse Street, and zipped along the Thames Valley Parkway, and we offer you this guide to what it’s all about.
The Cedric/Mike teamup will continue all summer! We’re looking at all 14 wards, featuring one every Tuesday all the way to September. You can follow along here at London Ontario Online News, where there’s new content every day and we live here, too.
We’d love you to stay engaged and in touch. You can send us any topics you’d like us to discuss, or questions, or most anything else. Thank you - see you soon!
Great piece, Cedric and Mike. I was raised in what is now Ward 4, living on McNay from 1996 until moving in with my now wife in 2011. I even saw Independence Day in theatres at Huron Marketplace in July 1998! I can confirm that your average neighbourhood resident is just as friendly in that area as they are in my new hood of Wortley, and their only difference is their tax bracket. I also attended Montcalm '96 to '01 and it does not deserve its rep whatsoever, had zero issues and the staff went above and beyond to support kids with goals and amibitions in as many ways as they could.
That was a good read! My daughter lives in Ward 4, so when I’m in London, that’s where I stay. It’s a fantastic ward and I’m super excited to see Tom Cull running!