early Canadian implementation of the concepts of the Garden City Movement. In 1911 architect Robert Pope envisioned the area as a designed neighbourhood for 1,700 residents. That year J. J. McKittrick bought several hundred acres of land for the planned neighbourhood, first called Hamilton Gardens. Construction began in the early 1920s. Spearheaded by W.J. Westaway's development company Westdale Properties and a contingent of local investors on the Westaway Citizens Committee, the project aimed to stimulate an upscale Protestant environment. Established on what had been predominantly farmland, its shopping district was constructed on King Street, the western end of a major Hamilton route. The major housing developments branched from Sterling Street, a wide tree-lined lane that ends at McMaster's east campus gates. By 1927 McMittrick Properties was bankrupt. That year 377 acres of the development were sold to the City of Hamilton as the site of the Hamilton campus of McMaster University and the first lands of Royal Botanical Gardens (Ontario). Westdale was envisioned as an exclusive white Protestant neighbourhood. Specific groups such as blacks, Asians, Slavs, and Jews were unable to purchase homes; near the end of the Second World War restrictions upon Jewish home ownership were lifted whereupon many relocated from the central part of the city. However, legal loopholes allowed for discrimination to persist into the 1950s. Over time, Westdale has become increasingly diverse and vestiges of its former exclusivity have largely disappeared. Present Although urban development has reduced the isolation once integral for Westdale's modelled environment, the Village persists as an established shopping destination for West Hamilton residents. The Westdale Village Business Improvement Association represents over 70 businesses located in the immediate Westdale area. The Westdale community is contained between Highway 403, Main Street and the areas east of McMaster. In addition to many small businesses, Westdale is also home to the Hamilton Aviary and Churchill Park, both situated on lands owned by Royal Botanical Gardens (Ontario), a grocery store, a branch of the Hamilton Public Library, and branches of three major banks. Student housing The increase of McMaster's student population in recent decades has resulted in many Westdale homes being rented out to students. In 2006 a few Westdale homeowners calling themselves WADS (Westdale Against Drunk Students) staged a rally to protest the student population and called for the McMaster pub, Quarters, to be closed. McMaster responded by setting up a mediation between surrounding homeowners and