Torontonians needed

Sirene · Feb 12, 2008

I want to move in a few months in Toronto, but I'm missing some informations.
Any help would be tremendously appreciated
Here are my questions

1- In which papers will I find the best classifieds ?

2- Which neighborhoods do you suggest ? Or I should avoid ?

3- What are the prices for a nice above the ground bachelor in a safe area ? Or a one bedroom apartment ?

Thanks for any input, this means a lot to me !

CanadianMe · Feb 12, 2008

Well what areas to avoid, thats a very open question, most of Toronto is very safe and good place to live. You may be able to find short term leases but for rentals it is usually 12 months. You might look at www.thestar.com. http://toronto.kijiji.ca/ and craigslist to look for apartments. If you give me more information on what you like in an area, an idea about rent costs I would be more than happy to give you some better info. Rent can be very costly here but it depends on what type of hood you want to live in. There is Toronto Proper which I reside then there is the suburbs which I really don't care for. Give me a bit more info and I will try and direct you to some areas you may want to consider. Also what you need, if you need access to the city center etc. Great City would live nowhere else. PS you can also private message me if you rather not talk cost in the forum.

Sirene · Feb 12, 2008

I just want an area that is close to downtown, meaning I could get there in less than one hour and a safe area for a woman alone. I don't have a car so close to subway would be great.
What should be my references in terms of cost ? My budget is about 800$/month, I've been told before that it may not be enough, even for a bachelor.. though in so many ads, including in the sites you've mentionned there's a lot of one bedroom apartments for 800$, so I'm kinda lost here...

Thanks for your help !
I can't wait to get in your city

CanadianMe · Feb 12, 2008

Well for $800 I would be weary of what your getting. Almost anywhere in the city is an hour from the Downtown area. $1000.00 is more likely what you need to spend. I would try and stick to the City center, Cabbage Town ( may have a few seedy areas but highly desirable), Mid Town (Yonge& Eglington south to St.Clair)lots of singles in the area, High Park(20 minutes to city center) More artsy areas Queen West, The Junction (can be a bit seedy in areas), The Annex. I live in an area called the Beaches a 20 to 30 minute Street ride, very close to the lake and you can get some decent deals if you look hard in a very nice area. You may get lucky and find a small bachelors for $800.00, but just know to get a good place your usually in the middle of nowhere for that cost or what I would consider in the middle of nowhere. I am Toronto Centric and know it like the back of my hand and lived almost everywhere in the city at one point or another and still like to travel around it. If you have any other questions feel free to ask. To get a feel on what goes on this is a cool site go to, www.torontoist.com.

Sirene · Feb 12, 2008

1000$ for what a bachelor or a one bedroom apartment ?
On this site
http://www.medallioncorp.com/
there's bachelors for as low as 600$ and they seem nice to me, security and all and if you take a look at the classifieds from The Star and select apartments for 900$ maximum you will see there's a lot of one bedroom apartments for less then 1000$ how is that ? I know some of them might be in shady areas like Regent Park but surely not all ?

I'm really lost and I will have only 4 days to find my rental, I need all the information I can get.
Thanks for the tips about neighbourhoods!

CanadianMe · Feb 12, 2008

Two blocks from Regent park are some of the best neighbourhoods in Toronto. And they are tearing it down and already have started. All I can think of is if you want I will PM you my email, send me a few links of what your seeing in those price ranges and I can tell you much more. Sometimes across a major intersection can be night and day. And since you cannot physically look, send me your choices and I can tell you where it is and what type of area it is, and how far you are to the city. All I can really think of to offer you help and I am an insomniac and will be up for a while yet. I am going through all the old posts here to get info on a camera and lens decision so I will check back.

skieur · Feb 13, 2008

Sirene said:
I want to move in a few months in Toronto, but I'm missing some informations.
Any help would be tremendously appreciated
Here are my questions

1- In which papers will I find the best classifieds ?

2- Which neighborhoods do you suggest ? Or I should avoid ?

3- What are the prices for a nice above the ground bachelor in a safe area ? Or a one bedroom apartment ?

Thanks for any input, this means a lot to me !

I don't live there, but I have spent time there on business.

1. The Toronto Star for classifieds.

2. Neighbourhoods to suggest: Bloor West Village, Willowdale, East York, Bathurst and Avenue Road areas, Yorkville (although expensive and trendy) areas on the Sheppard subway, areas between Lawrence and Eglinton, areas on the Spadina Subway line north toward York Universtiy, etc. There are several others.

3. Avoid almost all areas around Jane St. and particularly around Jane and Finch., Regent Park, Dundas St. particularly what is called the track, areas in Scarborough, some parts of the Danforth, etc.

Toronto is reasonably safe if you use common sense.

skieur

CanadianMe · Feb 13, 2008

The Track, The Junction is not so bad a very artistic bohemian area. Dundas goes from almost Coxwell to Mississauga. Two blocks north of Regent Park is Riverdale a very nice and expensive neigbourhood and plus they are slowly tearing down Regent Park and rebuilding. Jane and finch the same, unless you live in one of the projects it is not that bad of an area, a very Large Italian hood, Danforth I am unaware of any Dangerous parts, walk along it many nights at 2 or 3 in the AM and is very safe, and Toronto is the safest City in North America and one of the Safest In Canada. Sorry not being a jerk but a lot of misinformation is spoken of the city and just feel a need to correct these inaccuracies.

Chiller · Feb 13, 2008

Toronto Star for Classified.
As for places to live, there is good and bad. I have lived in Scarborough all my life, and have never had a problem here, but.there are some bad pockets. I think if you are taking public transportation try to find a place close to subways or major bus routes. With the snow fall the last few days, some of the routes have been crammed with people.
Not sure about downtown life....Anty is our downtown specialist

In Scarborough, stay far away from the Malvern area, anything on lower Markham road. I live along the lower lakeshore area in scarborough and there are some great places down here. Not sure about pricing tho. I own my house...well the bank does.,.so Im out of that loop. :er:

gizmo2071 · Feb 14, 2008

This post has been very useful to me aswell.
We still havn't found a place to live and we're moving to Toronto in 13 days from the UK. Eeep
I don't think any areas can be comparable to what I call bad in Birmingham, England. heh...
I think we've been looking around the beaches and the areas around the Universities. I'm not to bothered where I live, I just want to get there, find work and settle down in the city. After a year we can decide where we want to be living and have more options.

Thanks for the second hand advice ^_^

DigiJay · Feb 14, 2008

If you want to live downtown, then there are plenty of options, I would stick to the advice above.
Personally, I live in the suburbs, in Mississauga, which is right beside Toronto. Still a huge city, and the transit systems join together. Theres a massive University of Toronto campus here with most programs and the transit system joins to all the major cities in the area (Toronto, Brampton, Oakville etc).
Rent will definitly be cheaper here, you will have no problem finding a bachelor or 1 bedroom for about $700-800.
PM me if you would like more info.

Antarctican · Feb 14, 2008

Downtown can be expensive ... you pay for the convenience and it's more in the 1,000+ price range. The Beach is a wonderful place to live, and easy to get downtown by streetcar. The Annex is very nice, and can be expensive, but affordable rentals do come up. Bathurst and Avenue is a good suggestion. Cabbagetown. There are a lot of good areas. Given CanadianMe's generous offer to vet the ads you're interested in, I'd say start there. A mapquest search on the address will let you know the area.

Once you and Gizmo2071 are settled, we'll have to get a meetup organized!

DPW2007 · Feb 14, 2008

All this Toronto chat makes me want to move there!

David

skieur · Feb 14, 2008

CanadianMe said:
The Track, The Junction is not so bad a very artistic bohemian area. Dundas goes from almost Coxwell to Mississauga. Two blocks north of Regent Park is Riverdale a very nice and expensive neigbourhood and plus they are slowly tearing down Regent Park and rebuilding. Jane and finch the same, unless you live in one of the projects it is not that bad of an area, a very Large Italian hood, Danforth I am unaware of any Dangerous parts, walk along it many nights at 2 or 3 in the AM and is very safe, and Toronto is the safest City in North America and one of the Safest In Canada. Sorry not being a jerk but a lot of misinformation is spoken of the city and just feel a need to correct these inaccuracies.

Well, The Track, you could be solicited as either a male or female prostitute. The Junction has a negative reputation for polution even from buried waste. Dundas from Yonge St. East there have been gang problems as well as harassment by street people with occasional violence.
As to Jane and Finch you have to be kidding. There has been violence even in plazas in broad daylight. Side streets have been prone to break-ins and Grandravine Drive has been the source of ongoing incidents as well. By the way the Carribeans have replaced your so-called "large Italian hood", so it has been awhile since you have been there and gang fights have plagued the area as well as pockets in Scarborough. So the misinformation and inaccuracies are yours.

skieur

CanadianMe · Feb 15, 2008

skieur said:
Well, The Track, you could be solicited as either a male or female prostitute. The Junction has a negative reputation for polution even from buried waste. Dundas from Yonge St. East there have been gang problems as well as harassment by street people with occasional violence.
As to Jane and Finch you have to be kidding. There has been violence even in plazas in broad daylight. Side streets have been prone to break-ins and Grandravine Drive has been the source of ongoing incidents as well. By the way the Carribeans have replaced your so-called "large Italian hood", so it has been awhile since you have been there and gang fights have plagued the area as well as pockets in Scarborough. So the misinformation and inaccuracies are yours. We have immigrants all over the city, what makes it just so great to live here.

skieur

Well believe what you want, it seems your lack of knowledge of Toronto is astounding. There is violence in Forest Hill, there are homeless beggars in Rosedale, I think if you don't live here and have not spent years here your perception of it through the ignorant media outlets and those from the Burbs who take such pleasure in Trashing Our Great City or those isolated Torontonians who have not a clue. It has its issues but not nearly what you imply. I would get into the numbers and stats for all the areas you mention but it would not be a post it would be a long winded diatribe about just how right I am. I lived all over this City and we are not Called the Center of Universe for no reason, seems to be what keeps Canada together, lets all dump on Toronto and believe all this misinformation. As I said a block can make a difference. So it is the Caribbeans is it? I lived at Jane and Finch have you? I lived in the Junction Track area Have you? I have lived on various parts of Dundas East and know many people who still do, doubt you have, had some real decent friends who I met at school who lived in Regent Park and felt safe leaving at 3 in the morning I really doubt you have been in it. I know from experience and not from hearsay.