The Oaklands is one of 12 neighbourhoods that make up the city of Victoria, British Columbia. From the late 1850s, large tracts of land around Fort Victoria were surveyed for farms, orchards and housing. The Oaklands over time has remained mostly a neighbourhood of single family houses. Along with many parks, sporting venues, a Woonerf, schools and easy access to shopping, universities and colleges, the Oaklands is a desirable neighbourhood for future, thoughtful residential density and commercial developments. The population of the Oaklands includes individuals from a wide array of racial, cultural, linguistic, and national backgrounds, as well as varying sexual orientations and gender identities. The Oaklands is an inclusive neighbourhood.
Early History The first known human inhabitants settled on the wast coast of North America more than 10,000 years ago. In what is now known as British Columbia or S'ólh Téméxw (meaning "our land" or "our world" in Halkomelem), the Lekwungen speaking people (the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations) lived in the area of southern Vancouver Island for thousands of years. Before colonization and development, southern Vancouver Island was made up of woodlands and open meadows, which were used by the Songhees and Esquimalt people for food foraging, food cultivation, with many forms of land management. The Oaklands neighbourhood, as one neingbhbourhood of the city of Victoria, was carved out of the Songhees and Esquimalt peoples' traditional land as part of the colonization of British Columbia and Vancouver Island. This area remains the traditional territory of the Songhees and Esquimalt people with the right to hunt, fish and gather food on their unoccupied lands.
Settlement
City of Victoria The present-day location of the City of Victoria began in and around a natural harbour (known as the inner harbour of Victoria) with the arrival of the Maritime fur trade. The overland fur trade expanded trade between First Nations and colonizers in the Pacific North West. A Hudson Bay Company trading post was established in the inner harbour by James Douglas in 1842, followed by a fort in 1850.
The city of Victoria was incorporated in 1862 by the Legislature of Vancouver Island. Over time large tracts of land were leased to tenants and Fort Victoria began to grow. These large plots of land ultimately pushed the boundaries of new settlement into First Nations land, ultimately becoming distinct neighbourhoods of the City of Victoria.
Neighbourhood
The Oaklands
The Oaklands area was surveyed in 1850 and divided into large plots in the northwestern parts of the Oaklands for farms and orchards. The Prior family [Suzette Prior, nee Work, and E.G. Prior (premier and lieutenant governor of British Columbia)] established the Hillside Farm in 1852. Further development and housing on various sized properties followed quickly as the City of Victoria expanded during the early 1910s, 1920s and 1930s. The modest housing created in the Oakland neighbourhood was advertised as being close to town centre, but still maintaining a rural feel [pre 1930].
The Oaklands is one of 12 neighbourhoods in the City of Victoria. The Oakland's neighbourhood is centrally located in relation to other City of Victoria neighbourhoods, as well as the local municipalities of Greater Victoria. The Oaklands occupies the area along the City of Victoria's northern border with the District of Saanich. Some of the other 12 neighbourhoods of Victoria border the Oaklands and include North Jubilee on the east, Fernwood to the south, and Quadra/Hillside on the west. The Oaklands neighbourhood is dissected by major North/South and East/West thoroughfares linking other neighbourhoods, districts and municipalities.
The Oaklands takes its name from the Garry oak tree Quercus garryana, which occurs throughout the Oaklands neighbourhood. The neighbourhood is predominantly single family residential housing with some low rise apartment blocks. A 2021 statistics Canada census noted that the population of the Oaklands neighbourhood is 7585.The Oaklands neighbourhood is approximately 173 hectares in area.
Demographics of the Oaklands neighbourhood. +Distribution (%) of the population by broad age groups0 to 14 years1315 to 64 years6765 years and over2085 years and over5Average age of the population43Occupied private dwellings by structural type of dwelling 3,310 Single-detached house990 Semi-detached house150 Row house345 Apartment or flat in a duplex630 Apartment in a building that has fewer than five storeys1,185 Apartment in a building that has five or more storeys0 Other single-attached house5 Movable dwelling0Private households by household size3,3051 person1,1752 persons1,1203 persons4854 persons3555 or more persons170Average household size2Number of persons in private households7,225
Attractions
Architecture Since the Oaklands neighbourhood was established in the late 1890s, and through many years of house building, the neighbourhood has very fine examples of homes such as vernacular Edwardian architecture(1901–1910), Arts & Crafts houses (1904–1920) and Craftsman Bungalows (1900–1930). The Victoria Heritage Foundation operates a registry of 20th-century architectural house styles, and they have identified the Oaklands Rise area in the northwest corner of the Oaklands as an area of interest for house architectural types. More modern homes are scattered throughout the Oaklands as aging homes are replaced with housing styles contemporary to these times (1940–2020s).
Art Oaklands Outdoor Art (OOA) is a local initiative that conducted an inventory of outdoor art. This outdoor art reflects the local cultures, social events and environment of the Oaklands Neighbourhood. Art pieces include street paintings and sidewalk art, murals, mosaics, small architectural follies, and wooden benches.
The Fernwood Art Stroll is a non-juried art event that was formed in 2007 by artists and artisans in the Fernwood neighbourhood, and who invite the public into their studios and to view their work. The Art Stroll has expanded to include numerous artists in the Oaklands neighbourhood.
Cemetery The Bays Ha Chayim Jewish Cemetery, consecrated in 1859, is the oldest continuous operating non-indigenous cemetery in British Columbia.
Parks The Oaklands neighbourhood has nine parks/green spaces of varying size and function: Clawthorpe Park children's playground and David Spencer Park, (playing field and open space), which is named for David Spencer a business man who lived in Victoria with his family from 1864 until his death in 1920. There are also Highview Playlot, Hillside Park, Kiwanis Green and Mt. Stephens Park, which is a protected Garry oak area. Oaklands Holly Green is a protected green space and Oswald park has the Oswald Community Garden; an allotment garden, which is one of the many gardens of the City of Victoria's Community Garden initiative. Oswald Park also has a playground, basketball court, and an off-leash dog area. Oaklands Park features a children's playground, large playing fields, public washrooms, an off-leash dog area, and tennis and pickle ball courts. Ryan Road Green Space: The Ryan Street Greenways Project and the related Garry oak Restoration project led by students, focused on invasive plant removal, native plant additions, and slope stabilization within a city-owned site on Ryan Street.
Oaklands greenway loop is a self-guided and easy walk through the Oaklands neighbourhood via some the above mentioned parks and green spaces.
Pedestrian priority walkway
The Oakland Rise Walkway is patterned on a Dutch Woonerf, a pedestrian priority and living street. The principle of the Oaklands Rise Walkway is that of a shared space - such that this space is shared with all ages and mobilities, and with slow moving bicycles, scooters and vehicles. The Oakland Rise Walkway, with one end near the Oaklands Rise area of Kings Street runs through to Oaklands Park on its eastern end. The Oaklands Rise Walkway is decorated with painted intersections, painted planters and furnished with wooden benches, and enhanced with parklets.
Sport venues The Mount Stephen Athletic Club in the Oaklands supported a boxing venue on a property in the 2600 block of Mount Stephen Avenue between 1934 and 1936. Currently, baseball is played at the Jerry Hale Field at the corner of Cook Street and Hillside Avenue. Baseball teams based in the Oaklands have been associated with the National Little League since 1953. The National Little League is the longest running Little League on Vancouver Island and it is a chartered member of the Little League International. Additional baseball diamonds are at David Spencer park and Oaklands Park. There are tennis and Pickleball courts at the south end of Oaklands Park, along with basket ball hoops and a road hockey area. Oaklands Park also has a seasonal soccer pitch.
Urban forest The Oaklands's namesake, the Garry oak tree, predominates as one of the principal trees of boulevards, parks and residential properties in the Oaklands neighbourhood. The Garry oak is uniquely adapted to the maritime climate found in the rain shadow of the southern end of Vancouver Island. In its natural habitat the Garry oak tree predominates in an ecosystem of woodlands to meadows, a habitat that was a large part of the Oaklands. As urban developments occur, fewer open meadows and wooded natural areas of Garry oak remain. This decline in Garry oak has allowed coniferous trees to grow up and shade out Garry oak trees, and too, landowners and municipal governments prefer to plant faster-growing trees (often exotic trees) whose roots do not pose a threat to underground infrastructure. As a consequence of these changes the Garry oak tree in the Oaklands neighbourhood is limited to small artificial refugia of urban parks and boulevards, and private and city lots. The restoration of the Garry oak and the preservation of its natural habitat are major initiatives of the Garry oak Meadow preservation society in the Oaklands neighbourhood.
Over the years and because of Victoria's favourable climate for tree growth, many native trees, but more non-native trees have been planted on city properties as well as on private properties. But, the current tree planting efforts by the City of Victoria has been recognized and awarded the honorific of a "tree city of the world", for 4 years running( 2020 to 2024). The total percentage of tree cover for the city of Victoria is 27%, whereas a slightly higher percentage of tree cover (28%) is found in the Oaklands neighbourhood.
Some unusual trees have been planted on city property in the Oaklands, including a living fossil, the Ginkgo tree (Ginkgo biloba), with many specimen planted along most of the length of Belmont Avenue between Ryan Street and Haultain Street. Another living fossil, the dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) is represented by two examples in the Oaklands neighbourhood; one on Pearl Street between Shakespeare Street and Scott Street, and the second on the northeast corner of Oswald Park.
Water courses