Where to Live in Toronto?

Interactive Neighborhood Map

As I mentioned in the first post, one of the best things about Toronto is that it is really a collection of different neighborhoods.  This is great because there will be a place that is suited perfectly for you.  Each neighborhood varies greatly in type of housing (condos, houses, and apartments), type of people (age, interests), cost of living, type of businesses, access to public transit, etc.  The following link has a good starting point for you to learn about the neighborhoods http://www.blogto.com/neighbourhoods/. Do your homework, then be sure to get out and explore before you settle on a neighborhood.  TTC has a daily pass which gives you unlimited rides for $10, or if you know people in Toronto, ask them to take you around on a tour.

When choosing a neighborhood our priorities were proximity to public transportation, safety, walking distance to stores and restaurants, and general fit with the neighborhood.  We toured the city and explored some of the different areas by spending some time with professors that lived in the areas.  At the end we decided to rent for at least a year since we liked several neighborhoods and wanted more time to explore before buying.  We decided to start out close to the U of T and focused mainly on Yorkville and the Annex. 

In order to find apartment listings, we primarily used View it.ca and Craigslist, but the MLS listings are also available to the public.  Our priorities in a new apartment were good light, open layout, outdoor space, fireplace, gas stove, and building with only a few units.  Everything but the fireplace and gas stove were pretty easy to find, and we ended up having to forgo a working fireplace.  Moving from New York, we were happy to get all of the space and some amenities, but we were surprised that rents were still very expensive.  We had for comparison our place in Minneapolis, our place in NY, and our friends’ places in Chicago.  We found rents in similar neighborhoods to be higher than Chicago, but less than NYC.  We ended up getting an apartment in an old house in the Annex, and actually the thing that hooked us the most was that we are close to the strip of great restaurants on Harbord Street – they are just our style!