Living Downtown

[Eug]

Crossing Yonge is a pain. If you work on the west side of yonge, and live on the east side, then you may grow to regret it. The traffic, one way streets, etc can add a lot of time to what should be a short commute. I work at university and queen, (on the west side of yonge) and because of that I wouldn't live on the east side of yonge.

Huh? Yonge is a 10 minute walk from University.

 

[JayBee]

Areas:
- Bay/College/Wellesley Area
- St Lawrence Market (my fave, as it reminds me of Montreal a bit...just a bit)
- King West between Spadina and Bathurst

Buildings...I'm only going to list buildings that are a reality for me lol (no 1 st thomas or 1 bedford)
- X
- Glass
- That mulitcolored building on Bathurst just south of King Street.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

I know it'll sound weird, but I don't like anything along queen's quay or lakeshore as there are so few amenities - no decent grocery store (save Loblaws which is waaaaay east of most condos), no decent restaurants or bars, and there's no street life a lot of the time except on weekends.

Excellent point. My love of the area in general blinds me to the fact that Queens Quay is poorly planned for retail, restaurants and markets.

 

[daveto]

Huh? Yonge is a 10 minute walk from University.

Yes, and Jarvis is 15 minute walk from University. Yet between 8am-6pm weekdays it also takes 15 minutes to drive or by streetcar.

In contrast you could travel from St.Clair West subway station down to Osgoode subway in 15 minutes.

 

[ILuvTO]

Yes, and Jarvis is 15 minute walk from University. Yet between 8am-6pm weekdays it also takes 15 minutes to drive or by streetcar.

In contrast you could travel from St.Clair West subway station down to Osgoode subway in 15 minutes.

Thanks again to all that replied! I'm getting some great ideas here.

 

[Eug]

Yes, and Jarvis is 15 minute walk from University.

Yes, so if you live a little east of Yonge, you can just walk it.

Yet between 8am-6pm weekdays it also takes 15 minutes to drive or by streetcar.

Not in my experience. Between 8 am to 9:30 and 4:30 to 6 is the worst, but even then it doesn't take 15 minutes between University and Jarvis by car on Richmond/Adelaide. Yes it's very slow, but in my experience it's usually more like 10 minutes.

Outside those times it's more like 5 minutes or less.

In contrast you could travel from St.Clair West subway station down to Osgoode subway in 15 minutes.

Well, if you're on the subway, yes it will be faster. You could easily take the subway from Danforth and then switch lines at St. George.

It all depends on where the planned workplace is, and the planned place of residence is. Just to say "if you work west of Yonge and live east of Yonge it will be a commuting disaster" really doesn't make sense. Sometimes it might be true and sometimes it might not.

 

[GraphicMatt]

Anyone who drives from Jarvis to University is a terrorist.

Or some kind of delivery guy or something. Whatever.

 

[beaconer]

Crossing Yonge is a pain. If you work on the west side of yonge, and live on the east side, then you may grow to regret it. The traffic, one way streets, etc can add a lot of time to what should be a short commute. I work at university and queen, (on the west side of yonge) and because of that I wouldn't live on the east side of yonge.

Hmm, I found the opposite to be true.. If you need to get to Yonge from the west end going East of Yonge it is far worse than the above..

 

[Eug]

Hmm, I found the opposite to be true.. If you need to get to Yonge from the west end going East of Yonge it is far worse than the above..

That's not necessarily true either in my experience.

I used to live near Bathurst south of King, and it used to take me under 25 minutes to get to Bayview north of Eglinton in rush hour by car, with Bathurst to Jarvis segment taking less than 10 minutes using Adelaide.

It really depends on the origin, the destination, and the route taken. Just saying living west of Yonge going east of Yonge or vice versa really doesn't tell us very much.

P.S. I now live in Scarborough and sometimes need to come in to work downtown west of Yonge, so that's why I feel qualified to comment on both situations.

P.P.S. My main beef about Queens Quay (besides the lack of amenities) is that it is a completely urban wasteland in the winter, and in the summer it's infested with tourists. Where I used to live near Bathurst was much more interesting and convenient and cost less than Queens Quay, but usually without the lake views.

 

[TrickyRicky]

Each person has their own likes and objectives but in general I think the best places for an urban experience to live here in Toronto and in most cities are the shoulder neighbourhoods a few km outside the city core. This is not exactly the theme of the post but related in that very few people, even those who choose to live in a downtown core highrise for some years will end up living there long-term.

 

[daveto]

It all depends on where the planned workplace is, and the planned place of residence is. Just to say "if you work west of Yonge and live east of Yonge it will be a commuting disaster" really doesn't make sense. Sometimes it might be true and sometimes it might not.

I said it would be a pain, not a disaster.

But can we agree that commuting across yonge st south of bloor is more time consuming than commuting across any other street in Toronto?

 

[AKS]

Each person has their own likes and objectives but in general I think the best places for an urban experience to live here in Toronto and in most cities are the shoulder neighbourhoods a few km outside the city core. This is not exactly the theme of the post but related in that very few people, even those who choose to live in a downtown core highrise for some years will end up living there long-term.

Do you mean living in the same building? Same district?

And...why are people driving to work downtown if they live 15 minutes walking distance? Downtown isn't the burbs where you drive even if it's a 5 min walking distance.

 

[confused5o1]

1 bloor East of course!

 

[Eug]

1 bloor East of course!

Winnar!

 

[PukeGreen]

I'll also throw in my enthusiastic vote for the SLM neighbourhood.

There are similar discussions on this recent thread as well:

http://urbantoronto.ca/showthread.php?t=9786

In there I described why I like the 'hood so much... here's a reprise (is quoting yourself against forum rules? hmm, maybe it should be...)

Personally, after 6 years in the St. Lawrence Market area, I can't envisioning moving elsewhere. My wife and I would like a bigger place, but we both agree we wouldn't leave the neighbourhood. Anywhere in the King East to Parliament to Esplanade to Yonge box is great, really, and maybe even bit further east than that.

The best thing to me is that it's such a walkable neighbourhood: 3 major grocery chains, the SLM itself, financial district, every bank, the Eaton Centre (once in a while), Dundas Square, Rainbow and AMC theatres, Harbourfront, the Distillery, a zillion restaurants and pubs... are all within a reasonable walk. Plus the King streetcar passes through if you need transit.

Another thing I like is the mix: on King you have furniture stores that sell tables worth half as much as my condo. A block south there are co-op apartments with many low-income tenants and mom-and-pop restaurants with $5 dinner specials. People are from all different backgrounds, ages, income levels, countries, etc, yet there is still a strong sense of neighbourhood with community events, community gardens, etc. While there is still a bit of scruffiness there's not a major visible homeless or panhandling problem. We have a few local street characters but I recognize them in their normal spots, and they are not aggressive like I've experienced other parts of the city.

There are also some beautiful parks (St. James, Berczy, Crombie) and great historical architecture (Distillery, King East, St. James Cathedral, Flatiron, Front and Church, etc.) Finally, the fact that the waterfront and West Donlands developments are now underway will only make this area more vibrant and central in the future. If the DRL ever becomes a reality it would be perfect.