Bramalea, Ontario
Encyclopedia
Bramalea is a neighbourhood in the city of Brampton
Brampton
Brampton is the third-largest city in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada.Brampton may also refer to:- Canada :* Brampton, a city in Ontario** Brampton GO Station, a station in the GO Transit network located in the city- United Kingdom :...

, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. Created as an innovative "new town
New town
A new town is a specific type of a planned community, or planned city, that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are uncommon in new...

", Bramalea was developed as a separate community from the city. Located in the former Chinguacousy Township
Chinguacousy Township, Ontario
Chinguacousy Township is a former municipality and geographic township in Peel County, Ontario. In 1973, when Peel County became the Regional Municipality of Peel, it was split in half, with the northern half becoming part of the town of Caledon, and the southern half, along with the township of...

, it was Canada's first satellite community developed by one of the country's largest real estate developers, Bramalea Consolidated (later Bramalea Limited), formerly known as Brampton Leasing.

The name "Bramalea" was created by the farmer William Sheard, who integrated the BRAM from Brampton, MAL from Malton
Malton, Ontario
Malton is a neighbourhood in the northeastern part of the city of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, located to the northwest of Toronto. The neighbourhood has a population of approximately 36,400 as of 2002....

 (a neighbouring region), and the LEA, an old British word meaning meadow or grassland. He sold the land to Brampton Leasing developers and built one of Bramalea's first houses on the intersection of Bramalea Road and Avondale Boulevard. Mr. Sheard owned a large parcel of cattle grazing land that was purchased by the new venture.

The community had an extensive Master Plan, which included provisions for a parkland trail system of "green belts" that followed small rivulets that feed the Etobicoke Creek and a "downtown", which would include essential services and a shopping centre. The downtown area's centrepiece was the Civic Centre, which included the township's council chamber, a library, live stage theatre, fire dispatch control centre, post office, and the fledgling Rogers Cable community production centre. This building was funded and built by Bramalea's agreement to maintain a particular balance of residential/industrial taxation base. In default, and in lieu of cash payment, Bramalea offered the Civic Centre as recompense. The township accepted, and as a result, an interesting piece of 1970s architecture was erected.

Shortly thereafter, the Township of Chinguacousy was swallowed up in a merger with the Town of Brampton, to become the City of Brampton. Directly across Team Canada Drive from the Civic Centre, Bramalea Limited built a shopping centre named Bramalea City Centre
Bramalea City Centre
The Bramalea City Centre is an indoor shopping mall located in the city of Brampton, Ontario, Canada. With over a million square feet of retail space and more than 280 outlets, it is one of Canada's largest shopping malls...

. The two centrepieces were connected by a short underground tunnel, which has long since been sealed due to hooligan activities. Other features included a police station, which was built before the other structures, (closed in 2008 in order to move into the new Peel Region offices), a bus terminal which originally was a "dial-a-bus" hub, and a collection of seniors' retirement homes.

Each phase of the new city was built with progressing first letters of street name
Street name
A street name or odonym is an identifying name given to a street. The street name usually forms part of the address...

s. Development started with the "A" section, with street names like Argyle, Avondale, and Aloma. Developer then created a "B" section, "C" section, and so forth.

Bramalea is the location of the Brampton Assembly
Brampton Assembly
Brampton Assembly is a Chrysler automobile factory is located at 2000 Williams Parkway East, in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. Originally built by American Motors Corporation for US$260 million, the manufacturing plant was specially designed for building the Eagle Premier.-History:In June 1984,...

 automobile factory, owned by Chrysler
Chrysler
Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....

 and originally developed by American Motors
American Motors
American Motors Corporation was an American automobile company formed by the 1954 merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company. At the time, it was the largest corporate merger in U.S. history.George W...

 for the manufacture of its large Eagle Premier
Eagle Premier
The Eagle Premier was a full-size automobile developed by the American Motors Corporation and Renault partnership, inherited by Chrysler Corporation when it acquired AMC in 1987, and marketed from 1987 through 1992...

 sedan (a joint venture with Renault
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...

).

The neighbourhood is served by the Bramalea GO Station on GO Transit
GO Transit
GO Transit is an inter-regional public transit system in Southern Ontario, Canada. It primarily serves the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area conurbation, with operations extending to several communities beyond the GTHA proper in the Greater Golden Horseshoe...

.

External links

  • Bramalea at Geographical Names of Canada
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