Neighbourhood by neighbourhood, Toronto is reinventing itself now more than ever. As our city grows, we’re seeing new pockets of exciting residential developments and retail activity taking off. These five Toronto neighbourhoods showcase the best of what’s possible in urban housing developments and engaged communities.
Riverside
Average home price for this area: $594,848 (Fall 2015).
The pendulum of developer interest has swung east to Riverside, where there is also growing evening-and-weekend activity centred mostly around the bars and restaurants located near Broadview and Queen East. The local BIA holds an annual “Beats and Eats” street festival for the community, and developers like Streetcar are in the midst of creating new residential living spaces that offer easy access to hotspots like Tiny Record Shop, Boxcar Social and Sweet Jesus.
Flickr: booledozer
Canary District
Average condo price for this area: $390,000 (Spring 2015).
This neighbourhood in the West Don Lands could just as easily be named “Coming Soon” with all of the businesses expected to open here in the near future. Formerly the athlete’s village during the 2015 Pan Am Games, the Canary District is making its transformation to a new Toronto residential neighbourhood with a variety of condo towers and new locations for Tabülé and Dark Horse Coffee. Young families have already become a fixture at Corktown Common Park, which features playground facilities and a splash pad area.
Flickr: alljengi
East Danforth
Average home sale price for this area: $711,000 (Fall 2015).
While newer condo developments are starting to appear, this area isn’t so much gentrifying as it is mobilizing its sense of community through a growing pop-up shop movement and laneway crawls. The older homes available on the market are appealing as fixer-uppers, and businesses such as The Only Cafe and Press Books, Vinyl & Coffee complement Toronto’s best Ethiopian restaurants for a totally unique neighbourhood on the rise.
Sam J. Queen
Davenport
Average home sale price for this area: $660,314 (Fall 2015).
Davenport is quietly evolving – storefront by storefront, development by development – and only locals or visitors who explore this up-and-coming residential area can see how great it’s become already. Businesses like The Sovereign, SeeSaw Cafe and Dante’s Inferno Paninoteca have become anchors for the area’s evolution, which is also being driven by the condo developments at the eastern tail of Davenport as they move west.
Wikimedia Commons: Canada Jack
Junction Triangle
Average home sale price for this area: $547,199 (Fall 2015).
The recent redevelopment in the Junction Triangle has brought new life to this uniquely shaped neighbourhood. The Lower JCT is the most prominent among them, with condos, townhouses and a reclaimed automotive manufacturing facility that will house the new Museum of Contemporary Art. And, of course, the West Toronto Railpath is a big draw for cyclists in need of a safe commuting corridor – one that will likely be extended to the downtown core in the future.
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