When it Comes to Neighbourhoods, Money Matters

We’ve all heard about Toronto’s reputation as a city of neighbourhoods, and I don’t suppose I’m alone when I say those that spring to mind first are the most distinctive: Kensington Market, Distillery District, the Beach. It makes a hometown guy proud to think about diversity the city offers, and also makes for limitless possibilities for weekend jaunts. However, even if hard-pressed, I don’t think I could have come up with 140 of them. Toronto Life did, though, in their September issue, in which they use reader polls to rank 140 Toronto neighbourhoods.

It’s both unsurprising and kind of disappointing to see Rosedale/Moore Park come first. There’s little debate that the area is gorgeous, but it’s almost exclusively residential, which means those who live there are the only ones getting the benefit of it. The average home price, says the mag, is a whopping $951,300, and the average household income $386,076. I like pretty houses and big trees as much as the next guy, but Rosedale isn’t exactly brimming with quirky personality. Apparently almost half its residents are renters, though, which is at least indicative that some quirky personalities might be living there, alongside celeb residents like Pamela Wallin and Heather Reisman. The neighbourhood ranked high for “community engagement,” which one assumes means that the community engages within the community — they’re not exactly throwing open their block parties to the gen pop.

More surprising was the No. 2 pick: Banbury-Don Mills. With average home prices of $527,900 and the nifty Shops of Don Mills, one of Toronto’s original suburbs is proving to still be a very desirable place to live. Unlike the No. 1 pick, it invites visitors, making it a neighbourhood the whole city can enjoy.

Mt. Pleasant and two High Park neighbourhoods come next, with another big surprise at No. 6: Wexford/Maryvale. Good on you, Scarborough. With great stats for community engagement and low crime, the east end neighbourhood boasts a reasonable average home price of $376,300 to boot. Nice to see Mimico crack the top 10 too.

Looking at a colour-coded map of the rankings, it’s hard to see a discernible pattern, which bodes well for our continued diversity, and for overall home values. The lowest-ranking 20 neighbourhoods are scattered pretty evenly, as are the top 40. At the very bottom of the list is Mount Dennis, in the Weston Road/Eglinton area, but it too has some upcoming developments that should start to tip things in its favour. Hey, if that’s the worst neighbourhood in Toronto, we’re doing very well indeed.

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If you need anecdotal evidence that the Toronto market is still in great shape, look no further than the recent release of Broccolini’s Park Towns at Bayview and Sheppard, which sold out in nanoseconds. The 50-unit development, all housed in one building, features one-, two- and three-bedroom layouts starting at $250,000 and going up to $565,000. A cobblestoned courtyard and rooftop terraces likely helped the appeal, but the location would be what really sold it, along with the elegant design by SMV Architects. Looks like the Broccolinis were right in guessing market strength and the appeal of the neighbourhood were still strong.

Although it’s not yet even on sale, Daniels’ Corporation’s HighPark is now under construction, testament to the builder’s reputation and experience. It’s a Top 10 neighbourhood according to Toronto Life, and likely to sell out pretty quickly too.

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CityPlace residents were celebrating their neighbourhood over the weekend, with CityFest, intended to be the first of an annual event. Canoe Landing Park hosted musical performances, a poutine truck and a beer tent, which proved to be the event’s most popular feature. Hey, nothing wrong with some suds in the sun. Festival co-founder Phuong Dinh told the Toronto Star the event followed several successful social events at his building, and that busy residents were always looking for more ways to connect with the thousands who call CityPlace home. Engaging residents was, Dinh said, paramount to creating a real “neighbourhood.” Kudos to organizers and to CityPlace residents for making it happen. May it serve as an inspiration to all of our ever-increasing vertical urban neighbourhoods.

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I know summer technically doesn’t end until late September, but I’ve always thought of the opening of the CNE as the death knell. Enjoy it while it lasts, folks. Get outside!