As she peered out the windows of Mississauga City Hall, through classic 1970s horned-rimmed specs she sometimes donned, newly anointed mayor Hazel McCallion would have seen a city unrecognizable to the one she steers today.

For starters, the view north, west and south was nothing but rolling green fields.

In 1978, when McCallion rode a wave of support for what the Star dubbed her “plain talk” and “unpretentious campaign,” the 57-year-old politician inherited a predominantly white, car-dependant town of 280,000 not unlike Pleasantville.

“Everything was closed on Sunday, kids were in Sunday school, and all the dads cut the grass at the same time on Saturday,” said George Carlson, a long-time city councillor and lifelong Mississauga resident, with a chuckle. “It was a vanilla town. Light vanilla, even.”

In some ways, governing in that simpler time was, well, simpler, Carlson said, more to do with building the infrastructure — “all road, sewer, bridge, park, more paint by numbers,” he said.

But Mississauga was also already demonstrating the characteristics of a complex, diverse city with competing residential interests, foreshadowing what was to come. After all, McCallion had become heir to a brand new, toddling municipality, thanks to the province’s decision to amalgamate Mississauga with former towns Streetsville (where she had been previously been mayor) and Port Credit in 1974.

Much like the aftermath of Toronto’s amalgamation, the merger was a forced marriage of communities that resulted in discord amongst residents — everything from infighting about who got new fire trucks to who had the best sports arena lighting.

It also created identity problems, and McCallion’s council had to weave together once-fiercely individual towns.

“The city was really searching for its soul in 1978,” said Tom Urbaniak, author of Her Worship: Hazel McCallion and the Development of Mississauga.

Central to the quest for self was determining the best urban design to manage growth and create a livable city. Passionate disputes over the use of ample greenfield areas would ensue for years, the debate — between those advocating quick development at any cost, versus those wanting slow, considered city building — ultimately being about the kind of city Mississauga should become.

Which side won is not as simple as looking to Mississauga’s skyline. True, some of the green space is now host to tall, metropolitan buildings, such as the award-winning Absolute Towers, buildings that scream ‘modern metropolis.’

But Mississauga is simultaneously a bedroom community — offering families much-sought suburban seclusion, and patchwork of distinct neighbourhoods that have increasingly carved out their own identities, such as increasingly arts-rich, eco-conscious Port Credit.

In short, few words encapsulate the Mississauga of today except ‘many faceted’ and ‘diverse.’

That much is clearer when looking at the demographics, which census data show have shifted dramatically in the 36 years McCallion has been in power.

Aside from a population that nearly tripled in size — the city now boasts over 700,000 residents — Mississauga, like much of Ontario, experienced a dramatic inflow of immigrants, many of them from South Asia, and has become one of the most ethnically diverse cities in Canada.

According to 2011 census data, the most recent available, 47 per cent of Mississauga’s residents have a mother-tongue that is neither English nor French, the dominant languages being Urdu, Polish, Punjabi and Arabic.

As in other immigrant-rich Peel Region cities, the influx of newcomers has spurred new challenges. A dearth of well-paying jobs and affordable housing for immigrants, for instance, has created growing income inequality in a city once considered staunchly middle-class.

The flood of cultures has also increased demands on city services, already expanded well beyond basic necessities. Carlson said Mississauga citizens are demanding more quality of life services, such as arts and culture programming — “we are not just plowing snow and cutting the grass anymore,” he said.

Providing those services, alongside maintaining infrastructure of an aging city, will be especially tricky as Mississauga reaches into its once-deep pockets and finds them wanting. The city has grown accustomed to the riches that came with the major development of greenfield areas, but “that era is over,” said Urbaniak.

Meeting mounting expectations with a depleting budget will be one of the biggest challenges facing whoever takes hold of McCallion’s well-worn reins.

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Mississauga, then and now

Population in 1978: 280,852

Population in 2011: 713,443

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