The Best Places To Live in Toronto

There are many factors affecting your decision on choosing the best neighborhood to live. The final choice depends completely on your own priorities. In this article we are going to review the available information about Toronto’s best neighborhoods to live.

A Top Toronto real estate agent could offer you all the information based on your priorities. The final decision must be made carefully. So let’s find out what are the best neighborhoods in Toronto to live.

You may consider many factors in your mind when you want to choose the best place to live. These factors include livability, local community, cost of living, environment, safety and accessibility.

Toronto has 140 official and 239 unofficial neighborhoods. One neighborhood may seem very attractive to one person and not livable at all to another. This is a matter of taste and completely subjective.

So here in this article, we simply review Toronto’s best neighborhoods from different points of view so that we can help you make your final decision. There is no universally absolute list for the best neighborhoods anywhere in the world.

Kensington Market

Toronto’s Kensington Market is a bohemian neighborhood full of eclectic bars, thrift shops, record shops, cheap eateries and cafes arranged in the maze of unique streets of this area. It is known as a popular shopping destination in Toronto. Kensington Market is defined by a combination of multicultural flavor of its environment and colorful and vibrant outdoor.

This area is filled with Victorian small to moderate row-houses mostly built around the 1870’s and 1890’s. But the neighborhood is recently renovated by new housing projects. The average price for all housing types is slightly over $800,000, and the average rent is approximately $2,300.

Bellevue Square is the local park with a playground and a wading pool. Cecil Community Centre in this neighborhood is a multi-service local center with many different recreational, educational, social and cultural programs. There is also Shaw College Public Library.

Residents have convenient access to downtown. Kensington Market is the third most walkable neighborhood in Toronto, especially on Saturdays nights when people walk freely in the streets. The residents have had the Pedestrian Sunday events since 2004, so they close the streets and pedestrians can enjoy live music and performances.

The Beaches

If you like living near the beach and have no problem with streetcars, The Toronto’s Beaches neighborhood would be the best choice. This area is only 20 minutes away from Toronto’s downtown. The Beaches is less crowded than the city center and has approximately 20,000 residents.

The Toronto’s beaches neighborhood has 1.86 miles of boardwalk, 6.5 hectares park and flower garden in the Kew Gardens. Buying a house in The Beaches will cost you about $1.7 to $2.2 million, or you can just buy a typical 2 bedroom condo with $750,000+.  Also, the average rent price in the beaches is about $3,357.

Most of the residents in this neighborhood own their homes and have kids. Since this area has some of the best schools in Toronto (including Malvern Collegiate Institute and Kew Beach Junior Public School), The Beaches can be a good place to raise a family. This is a family friendly neighborhood with cafe culture and homey restaurants and bars.

The Annex

Since the main campus of University of Toronto is located in The Annex, this neighborhood has become a hub for young students and professionals. This young and vibrant area is located in the downtown of Toronto. Transit access is excellent in this neighborhood and you have medical care and many healthy grocery options available.

Streets of Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood are decorated with old homes, leafy sidewalks, and low-budget pubs and restaurants fit for students. It is a jumble of coffee shops, yoga studios, pubs and bookstores with a reasonable price. However, an average Home price in The Annex is about $1.2-1.8 million.

The Annex has a population of 15,602 residents which include an authentic mixture of old and new. This neighborhood is Toronto’s most diverse community. In addition to students and faculty members of University of Toronto, many successful business people and famous artists are living in The Annex.

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Queen Street West

This trendy neighborhood of Toronto was in Vogue’s list of the coolest neighborhoods in the world. Everyone can find everything in Queen St. West. You can find every entertainment you like, but it is known as a heaven for fashion artists. This area has many boutiques, interesting art galleries, hair salons, record stores, yoga studios, vintage and hipster stores.

Queen Street West neighborhood is like an international arts center for Canadian fashion, music, broadcasting, visual arts, and performance. If you live in Queen West, you will always have a favorite spot to chill out. One of the interesting places in Queen West is Graffiti Alley in which all the buildings are painted by colorful murals.

The average price of all types of homes is about $1,3M, while the average rent is $3,353. This neighborhood may seem to be very crowded, but it certainly has a friendly environment.

During the summer, one of the popular places to hang out in Toronto is Trinity Bellwoods Park, a 37-acre park. It is a lovely destination for gathering at weekends, picnics and enjoying the Cherry Blossoms in spring. If you have catchy eyes, you can also see squirrels playing around.

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Little Italy

For those who love living in a multicultural neighborhood, Little Italy would be the best place to live in Toronto. You can find about 25 café and restaurants within a 5-minute walk in College St.

Little Italy’s sidewalks are filled with locals and visitors gathering and sipping espresso at outdoor patios. Café Diplomatico is one of the popular destinations in Little Italy which is considered as a heaven for coffee lovers. If you are a caffeine addict, you will enjoy the various coffee roasts and preparing techniques.

The social atmosphere of Little Italy is connected with the pleasant flavor of Italian dishes at reasonable prices. The area is located between two of Toronto’s most active commercial lines.

This neighborhood has well-structured Victorian houses built in the early 1900s. The average price for all accommodation types in Little Italy is $1,837,100. However, you can find surprisingly more affordable options in Palmerston St.

Each June, the best summer street carnivals in Toronto celebrate The Taste of Little Italy Festival. The essence of Little Italy is related to its trattorias, trendy restaurants, cafes, pool halls, shops and nightclubs. It is also the best place to watch football among the enthusiast fans in that friendly and vibrant nightlife.

Little Italy is a wonderful combination of old world charm and new world modernity. Recently, some condo projects are developing, which would change the landscape and provide modern amenities for younger families.

Read More: The Best Places To Live Around Toronto

Yonge & Eglinton

Out of 140 Toronto neighborhoods, “Toronto Life Magazine” has ranked the Yonge & Eglinton neighborhood as 4th best place to live in Toronto. This area has many boutiques, amenities and restaurants available. You have easy access to medical offices, grocery stores, bars and the subway.

The nightlife is very good in the neighborhood, maybe that’s why it is very popular for young professionals. Living in the Yonge and Elington neighborhood may seem quite expensive, but there are actually many affordable housing options.

This popular midtown neighborhood has recently changed from a quiet intersection to the Las Vegas of Toronto. The new high-rise skyscraping condos, the presence of some of the city’s finest schools and good restaurants made this neighborhood one of the best places to live in Toronto.

The residential streets have charming homes and apartments in line with mature trees. Eglinton Park in this area is stretched over the nine hectares of athletic fields, including five multipurpose sports fields, four tennis courts, two ball diamonds, a children’s playground and a wading pool.

Roncesvalles

Roncesvalles, or as locals say “Roncy”, is one of the prettiest neighborhoods in the west end of Toronto. This area has been a Polish neighborhood. There still are many Polish institutions, businesses, and churches over there. Now it becomes a haven for creative individuals and hipsters during the last decade.

These days, the residents mostly include creative people, professional artists, and Millennials. The character of the neighborhood is obviously tangible in its local coffee shops, bars, and independent stores.

In the Roncesvalles, you feel the wealth of transit options (three streetcar lines and a subway stop). You can find anything available in the area, for groceries there are many options ranging from Loblaws to fancy fishmongers. Also you can feel the wonderful Eastern European delicacies in the streets and enjoy the taste of hand-made perogies, juicy sausages and sauerkraut.

This quiet leafy area has large traditional homes in Victorian and Edwardian century style. The houses in this neighborhood are cheaper than the High Park. However, if you are willing to buy an average detached home in Roncesvalles, you should pay over $1,500,000.

In September, the main street is closed to host the annual Roncesvalles Polish festival. The neighborhood is filled with dancers, games, rides, food and locals and visitors. You can totally feel its European ambience and small-town community.

Roncesvalles is a family-friendly neighborhood with a welcoming small town community. If you have children, they can enjoy spending time at Smock Café (an ultimate kid-friendly café) and Wonder Workshop. There is also Sorauren Park in the neighborhood which has kid’s soccer and T-ball leagues and a great playground.