Neighbourhood Guide
Davisville Village
Yonge – Eglinton
With a mall, two cinemas and dozens of shops and restaurants, this neighborhood offers all the conveniences of downtown combined with quiet side streets making it a sought-after address, with highly reputable schools such as Allenby and the soon-to-be-rebuilt North Toronto Collegiate have filled the area with affluent families. Young and eligible 20-somethings snap up new condos, which are sprouting at an exponential rate. Beyond shopping and eating, North Toronto Memorial Community Centre offers tennis, soccer, swimming and skating on a dog-friendly park that stretches from Eglinton to Roselawn.
Housing Stock: In North Toronto, maple-shaded streets feature a variety of sizes and architectural styles.
Mount Pleasant West
Tucked between charming St. Clair and tony Yonge and Eglinton is Mount Pleasant West; this neighborhood includes apartment buildings, condominiums and a variety of semi-detached & detached homes. There are some houses on the north side of Keewatin, on Soudan east of Redpath, and on Belsize Drive (part of which is divided by Glebe Manor West parkette, making for a lovely wide boulevard). The area offers opportunities to live in midtown for prices you won’t find again until you’re north of the 401.
Housing Stock: Brick semis and detached homes are sprinkled throughout this neighborhood.
Mount Pleasant East
The Mount Pleasant Cemetery is an idyllic parkland, offering more than 500 tree species and varieties and has become the city’s most desirable resting place. This midtown neighbourhood has become as posh as the graveyard to its south. Mothers fill their stroller baskets with baguettes or antique finds from Mount Pleasant’s shops, while Bayview’s casual sidewalk pubs and restaurants cater to locals. Good schools (like private Sunnybrook School and Maurice Cody Public School) are drawing young, double-income families to live among long-time residents. Two-storey semis and detached 1920s brick homes, new mansions and a few townhouses can be found.
Housing Stock: Detached post-war houses with three to four bedrooms dominate, as do neat gardens—a signal of solid upkeep.
Chaplin Estates
This neighbourhood that covers the southwest portion within the Yonge and Eglinton area. It lies west of Yonge Street and is bounded by Eglinton Avenue to the north and Avenue Road to the west. The southern boundary is Chaplin Crescent which itself runs parallel to the former Beltline Railway line, now a scenic walking, running and biking trail known as the Kay Gardner Beltline Trail. Transit access is provided through Davisville and Eglinton stations.
Housing Stock: Large detached homes on quiet tree-lined streets. Many of the homes have beautifully landscaped & have been recently renovated.
Lawrence Park South
The area retains some of its original character from the 1880s. Though it’s close to many things bright and beautiful—the Rosedale Golf Club, the Granite Club, Toronto French School—the facilities within its own boundaries are more modest. Allenby Primary School, the first in Toronto to offer French immersion, has been here since 1931 and is a selling point for many parents. Muir Park and Blythwood Ravine are small but well kept, with a wide variety of native trees, including black cherry, mulberry, crack willow and silver maple, some of which are the result of a 1996 naturalization effort. Burke Brook and McDougall Stream run under much of the neighbourhood.
Housing Stock: Brick and stone cladding is the order of the day, with renos and rebuilds taking their cues from the older houses interspersed among them. Front-lawn landscaping and addresses spelled out on porticos are the norm.
Lawrence Park North
There are many fine homes here. Older houses—which tend toward the Tudor and Georgian close to the Rosedale Golf Club and Riverview Drive Ravine, and Edwardian and Georgian the closer you get to Yonge—are being replaced by newly built & spacious homes. Teddington Park Avenue is an anomaly; the streets on either side of it are much more modest. Though the area is steps from Yonge, the streets here are quiet with surprisingly little traffic. John Wanless Public School is a major draw for families.
Housing Stock: The options are well-preserved early-20th-century homes with a high incidence of Sub-Zero fridges inside, and early-21st-century retro-grandiose piles with spare-no-expense attention to detail.
Yonge & St. Clair
Moore Park
Wychwood, Hillcrest
St Lawrence Market
Junction
Parkdale
Conclusion
With Avenue, Yonge, Mount Pleasant, Bayview & Eglinton providing great shopping & restaurants, a library, a community centre + access to the Davisville, Eglinton & Lawrence subway stations you only have to leave the neighborhood to go to work.
In addition, the cycling, running & walking trails found in the Kay Gardiner Beltline, Sherwood Park, Muir Park & Blythwood Ravine make enjoying the great outdoors incredibly convenient. The shopping districts include fashion retailers, children’s stores, sporting goods, gift shops, bakeries, gourmet dining, casual restaurants, movie theatres, fitness clubs and many, many coffee shops.
These neighborhoods draw young professional parents who are in search of coveted school districts. The broad range of houses allows homeowners to move up without leaving the ’hood. All great features to have when you are looking to make sure the value of your home increases.