spider
Senior Member
What happened to that Up and Coming, Highly Desirable Leslieville area?
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Where would you live?
- Thread starter supergirly
- Start date
Eug
Senior Member
Leslieville is a great bang for the buck. It's up and coming as you say, without being prohibitively expensive. I'd live there. However, with a higher budget, I'd probably choose The Beach.
To put it another way, if I had $500000 to spend on a house, I'd might rather buy in Leslieville than The Beach. However, if I had $1000000 to spend on a house, I might rather buy in The Beach than in Leslieville. If I had $3 million to spend, maybe I'd move to Rosedale. Well, probably not, but some people might.
Eug
Senior Member
Not a great selection at that store.Yeah, there's a Rogers Video and Front & Sherbourne (I think). Who rents movies anymore though? That's what the internet is for!
Where I live (Bluffs) the video stores also suck. Some things I miss from downtown include the better selection of quick but good cheap restaurants and non-mainstream movie rental places like Queen Video or Bay Street Video.
On the other hand, I did manage to find Audition for purchase cheap at a Rogers. Sometimes those standard shops do have good offbeat stuff.
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
I won't go into a Blockbuster or Rogers which is why I wonder if there's an alternative video store in the St. Lawrence Market area. I've looked but haven't spotted one yet.
Yes, Netflix is in Canada (what country are you from?!) but I like to leave my home, walk, shop and touch things. I'm not a big fan of buying things on the Internet unless it's an item that is so unusual that I can't find it anywhere else (such as a Lava Lamp).
Yes, Netflix is in Canada (what country are you from?!) but I like to leave my home, walk, shop and touch things. I'm not a big fan of buying things on the Internet unless it's an item that is so unusual that I can't find it anywhere else (such as a Lava Lamp).
jimbogreen
New Member
You really DO know how to sell a place! I'm moving over to Toronto early next year (from England) so this thread is proving invaluable.
Puke, what are average rental prices in SLM? I'm either considering a 1 bd place or getting a room in a shared house - but either way, would need it to be furnished.
Eug
Senior Member
There are no houses there. They're all condos (which is why we didn't stay there). 99% of them are not furnished. (The vast majority of rentals in Toronto are not furnished.)
PukeGreen
Active Member
Haha, I honestly have no financial stake in this sale
But I do have a lot of enthusiasm for my hood, and I like to share it.But definitely, you do need to embrace an urban lifestyle to live here, as there are very few (if any) individual houses. Condos are pretty much the only option, and the convenience of the neighbourhood will be offset by small square footage and expensive parking, if you need that. Trying to live a more suburban lifestyle in the SLM would be expensive and probably frustrating. Best bet is to not to own a car: there are Zip Car and Autoshare car sharing services sprinkled throughout, and a decent Budget Car Rental location near King and Parliament for those occassional I-need-a-car days.
I don't know what the average rents are: check craigslist. But there are a lot of new condo buildings springing up so I imagine the rental options should be fairly plentiful. If you go further east into Leslieville / Corktown / Cabbagetown there are a lot more older residential areas with houses. You may be able to rent a floor in one of those, and then you'd still have access to downtown via a quick streetcar ride west along Queen.
And that Rogers Video on Front St at George is the only video rental place I know of, and it sucks. And it smells like offgassing carpet and the staff turns over every week. I hate being dragged in there! If you need indie video shops you'll have to head down Queen West or to the Annex. But I think, as others have mentioned, that those kind of video stores are a bit of dying breed everywhere, what with the Innernets and all. Sad.
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prosperegal
Senior Member
In high school, I would probably have said that I wanted to live in Forest Hill -I went to school there, and loved the area. Later (in my early 20s), I wanted to live in one of the Victorian houses in Yorkville - probably in one of the Victorian houses rather than the condos. These days, areas I like are:
- Yorkville
- Distillery District
- Liberty Village
- Annex
- Yonge and Eglinton
As for videos: I haven't rented hard copy DVDs in years. I either get them on demand or "rent" them on iTunes.
- Yorkville
- Distillery District
- Liberty Village
- Annex
- Yonge and Eglinton
As for videos: I haven't rented hard copy DVDs in years. I either get them on demand or "rent" them on iTunes.
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
It's not just condos, there are an enormous amount of co-ops in St. Lawrence Market. Market units - 1 bedrooms, $700-900, 2-3 bedrooms $900-$1400 (rough guide). Waiting lists can be from a few months to a year or two, depending on the building and waiting lists for subsidized units are usually longer.
wonderboy416
Active Member
The Annex - hands down.
Having only lived in the St Lawrence Market neighbourhood (longboat ave just south of some of those co-ops mentioned) and Korea Town (Pendrith st, just north of the pitts) I always find myself drawn to the annex. When it's not winter it's no big deal to walk as far down as the eaton centre or chinatown, makes for a wonderful walk, always plenty to see along the way. Since I'm a cheap SOB at heart I'd probably just move back into K-town since it's a stones throw away from the Annex with drastically lower rent.
Having only lived in the St Lawrence Market neighbourhood (longboat ave just south of some of those co-ops mentioned) and Korea Town (Pendrith st, just north of the pitts) I always find myself drawn to the annex. When it's not winter it's no big deal to walk as far down as the eaton centre or chinatown, makes for a wonderful walk, always plenty to see along the way. Since I'm a cheap SOB at heart I'd probably just move back into K-town since it's a stones throw away from the Annex with drastically lower rent.
newbuyer
Active Member
North York for me. Between sheppard and bayview to Don mills and sheppard. I don't like little houses jammed close to each other like the ones on the picture. I like space around my house and wide street.
Eug
Senior Member
I like the Annex, although I probably wouldn't ever buy there, unless it was well away from the noise.
Here's a take on from The Star. It's a one-sided, but does reflect what I'm talking about.
Wild side has a dark side in the Annex
Nights have changed in the Annex, and many residents and business owners are complaining that an emerging "club" scene is bringing levels of vandalism and violence the area has never experienced.
On July 26, around 1 a.m., Sebastian Herrera, 23, was shot and killed during a random robbery in the alley behind the Brunswick House. Police are still searching for his killer.
The shooting has many locals recalling a double shooting outside the By the Way Café across the street just last year.
Last weekend the alley where Herrera was shot was dark and forgotten. Cars were parked over the spot where he lay dying in the urine-scented lane, covered in graffiti and littered with trash.
Miranda Black, owner of the Bloor St. men's store Theodore 1922, has had her window smashed by nighttime revellers. She won't walk her boxer, Chloe, in the area after 10 p.m.
Her complaints were echoed by several other business owners.
During the day, Black says, Annex sidewalks are filled with families and students, but at night it's a different story: "Like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."
Here's a take on from The Star. It's a one-sided, but does reflect what I'm talking about.
Wild side has a dark side in the Annex
Nights have changed in the Annex, and many residents and business owners are complaining that an emerging "club" scene is bringing levels of vandalism and violence the area has never experienced.
On July 26, around 1 a.m., Sebastian Herrera, 23, was shot and killed during a random robbery in the alley behind the Brunswick House. Police are still searching for his killer.
The shooting has many locals recalling a double shooting outside the By the Way Café across the street just last year.
Last weekend the alley where Herrera was shot was dark and forgotten. Cars were parked over the spot where he lay dying in the urine-scented lane, covered in graffiti and littered with trash.
Miranda Black, owner of the Bloor St. men's store Theodore 1922, has had her window smashed by nighttime revellers. She won't walk her boxer, Chloe, in the area after 10 p.m.
Her complaints were echoed by several other business owners.
During the day, Black says, Annex sidewalks are filled with families and students, but at night it's a different story: "Like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."
My friends' experiences have been waiting lists of over a year, with no guarantees of course. If you want to rent something quick, it's gonna be a condo (unfurnished).
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OttoSchloss
Active Member
^who will think of the children?
It's a central neighborhood in a major metropolitan area within walking distance of 2 universities and a few colleges. Do these people expect the placid isolating peace of the suburbs?
It's a central neighborhood in a major metropolitan area within walking distance of 2 universities and a few colleges. Do these people expect the placid isolating peace of the suburbs?
Eug
Senior Member
The Annex used to be much quieter, according to those I know who lived there.
Same goes for that Ossington Dundas strip (or at least so I hear from the newspapers).
jn_12
Senior Member
I'm down at Harbourfront. I have some mixed feelings about it. It's going to be an amazing place in a few years when everything is finished, but right now it's still a very young area with few bars/restaurants and stores. Mind you, Queen St is only a few blocks away, and whatever gets put in Cityplace will be helpful (the new Sobeys, for example). Being a Jays season ticket holder, it's very convenient, and both my girlfriend and I are close enough to walk to where I used to work (Porter) and to where she works. My girlfriend loves the area because of the parks and being on the water.
I think in the future we'll either stay down here or move to somewhere like St Lawrence. I wouldn't mind a house in Little Italy/Portugal or even then Annex, but it would be difficult to go from such a beautiful area to something a bit edgier. My girlfriend used to live pretty much at the corner of Chruch and Wellesley and that was a bit much at times.
I think in the future we'll either stay down here or move to somewhere like St Lawrence. I wouldn't mind a house in Little Italy/Portugal or even then Annex, but it would be difficult to go from such a beautiful area to something a bit edgier. My girlfriend used to live pretty much at the corner of Chruch and Wellesley and that was a bit much at times.