The Riversdale Business Improvement District has removed part of its website description following complaints about the post.

The website took down the phrase describing Riversdale as: “Once known for being the neighbourhood your mother told you never to go to.”

“Really? My mom never warned me about this place. This was life. This is the way we lived. I grew up here. I had fun here,” resident Marcel Petit said.

“It’s just the ignorance about language we’re using.”

Petit said the post disregards Riversdale’s history.

“This was a community beforehand. There was culture here. There was art here. There were businesses here — long before ten years ago,” he said.

The executive director of the Riversdale BID said its website description was written based on discussions with businesses and had been online for years.

“But when we were made aware that it was offensive and taken out of context, we removed it within hours,” Randy Pshebylo told CTV News.

Petit said he’s happy that the post has been removed and hopes a conversation about gentrification can come from the situation.

“The dialogue has started, whether you like it or not. We just need to talk and the dialogue still needs to happen.”