One Percent Realty January 29, 2014

Toronto is a great city to live in, but there are so many diverse and wonderful places to choose from -which neighbourhood should you select? Well, purchasing a home just got a little bit easier! Toronto Life has issued the best places to live in the Toronto area and we at OnePercentGuys.com definitely agree with their top 5 picks.

5th Place: High Park North
Developments of new condo buildings with breathtaking views of the park below is making the area quite popular. It’s easy to see why people want to situate themselves in this neighbourhood, with its winding, hilly avenues full of old Victorians and Edwardian homes. It’s also home to Humberside Collegiate, with its popular French immersion program; the innovative Ursula Franklin Academy, where students take over the curriculum on Wednesdays. A budding community association has christened the zone between Keele and the CP railway line the West Bend. The name is starting to catch on with the young professionals who have been moving in and planting community gardens by the railway tracks. The other advantage of High Park North is its proximity not just to the park, but also to the ever-gentrifying Junction, with its taquerias, breweries and decor shops, and close to the more quiet charms of Bloor West Village.
Toronto Life’s Ranking
Housing: 62.0
Crime: 57.0
Transit: 82.4
Shopping: 66.2
Health & Environment: 54.2
Entertainment: 81.7
Community Engagement: 95.1
Diversity: 73.2
Schools: 66.9
Employment: 38.7
4th Place: Mount Pleasant West
Every morning, streams of young professionals emerge from their apartments and filter onto the subway to head to their jobs in the downtown core, and every evening they return to fill the shops and restaurants along Yonge Street. Set against this resolutely modern cityscape, the charming, tree-lined central section of the neighbourhood feels like a time warp to 1930. Edwardian and English Cottage–style homes radiate out on narrow lots from the Church of the Transfiguration, and the quiet streets are filled with dog walkers. Old North Toronto meets up with modern-day Mount Pleasant at June Rowlands Park, a green space with a baseball diamond, a new splash pad and a weekly farmers’ market. But the future of the area will always be up: in 2004, Minto began construction on its Quantum towers, kicking off a development rush to rival the mid-century one.
Toronto Life’s Ranking
Housing: 26.8
Crime: 49.3
Transit: 93.0
Shopping: 54.9
Health & Environment: 69.7
Entertainment: 62.7
Community Engagement: 81.0
Diversity: 90.1
Schools: 82.4
Employment: 76.8
3rd Place: High Park – Swansea
An urban oasis of hills teeming with cyclists in spandex, picnic areas filled with extended families and fitness boot camps, a giant pond around and, of course, a zoo. East of the park, on the nearby Roncesvalles strip, a hip new restaurant, fishmonger or odds-&-ends shop seems to open up every five minutes. The area is heaven to left-leaning, Birkenstock-wearing professionals who abhor the flashiness of, say, Yorkville, but nevertheless pull in enough to afford the $2-million detached homes. The area is child friendly with new with places like Smock, a new café where moms can sip wine, while their tots play arts and crafts.
Toronto Life’s Ranking
Housing: 46.5
Crime: 59.9
Transit: 63.4
Shopping: 54.9
Health & Environment: 95.1
Entertainment: 76.8
Community Engagement: 97.9
Diversity: 66.9
Schools: 72.5
Employment: 83.8
2nd Place: Banbury – Don Mills
In 2009, the original Don Mills Centre reopened as the more upscale Shops at Don Mills, a Californian-style mall with its own network of streets and a central square with a sculptural clock tower designed by Douglas Coupland. The development quickly transformed a sleepy suburban mall into a destination. Mark McEwan, Toronto’s top and most enterprising chef, chose Don Mills for his first gourmet grocery shop as well as a giant toy store for foodies with wallets to match their tastes. Layout residential streets around existing trees and green spaces, with generous square lots for the detached homes. The houses themselves are set back at varying distances from the main streets, and feature quirky mid-century design touches like gabled roofs sloping off the sides to form carports.
Toronto Life’s Ranking
Housing: 59.2
Crime: 42.3
Transit: 23.2
Shopping: 70.4
Health & Environment: 97.2
Entertainment: 97.9
Community Engagement: 69.0
Diversity: 92.3
Schools: 92.3
Employment: 92.3
1st Place: Rosedale-Moore Park!
The Rosedale/Moore Park area are beautiful neighbourhoods located in Midtown Toronto. One of the most desirable aspects of Moore Park is the fact that it’s mostly surrounded by natural landscapes. The beautiful winding streets, which seem designed to baffle outsiders, divide into countless little pockets: there are the secluded mansions of Drumsnab Park, the family-friendly enclave of Nanton Avenue, the remnants of the lieutenant governor’s mansion in Chorley Park. Nearly half the residents are renters, which means there are grad students and artists mixed in with the bankers and trust-funders. The average household income in the area is $386,076, and few detached homes go for less than $1.5 million.
Toronto Life’s Ranking
Housing: 55.00
Crime: 46.0
Transit: 73.0
Shopping: 54.0
Health & Environment: 95.0
Entertainment: 74.0
Community Engagement: 89.0
Diversity: 77.0
Schools: 93.0
Employment: 97.0

To read the rest of the list by Andrew D’Cruz, click here to read more.

To read more about Toronto’s many neighbourhoods, click here.