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DearSummer

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Hey all,

I'm planning on moving to Toronto in the next few weeks. I'm a young professional who will be working in the Financial District.

I'm trying to pick a neighbourhood to live and two that have stood out are Cityplace and Yonge-Eglinton/Yonge-Davisville. I'm looking for a 1 bedroom apartment for around $1200/month max so both areas seem feasible.

I just wanted to get some opinions on these two neighbourhoods, pros/cons, good apartments, etc.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated as I try to decide on what area to live in! If you know of other areas I should be looking into please don't hesitate to post!
 
Yonge-Eglinton is a really nice place, and 15-20 min. away from any part of of downtown via subway. It's a "community" and has character.

CityPlace... not so much! IMO it's less pedestrian-friendly, and more car-friendly. Y-E is kinda the opposite. It's a GREAT place to walk around, and in fact you can meet people just by walking your dog regularly. :)

Y-E is also a more "mature" area; you don't have to deal with so many vain 18-20 year olds with gel in the hair only interested in clubbing. I'm assuming you are post-undergrad. There will be a ton of people in a similar stage of life as you, and with similar levels of job/education which might be good for your social situation, perhaps.

I vote for Y-E. See if there's any vacancies in the Minto Roehampton, nice building.
 
1 bedroom apt for $1200 in the newer buildings around Y/E aren't likely unless the place is 500 SF.
you will be able to find something in that price range in older buildings with larger suites.

in case you haven't heard, Y/E is known as 'young and eligible'
 
I have lived in both areas - I liked them both but they are very different. What's your lifestyle? Do you have a dog? Do you like to run outdoors or cycle? Then you'll love the parks and Kay Gartner belt line in the yonge-davisville area. Although Y/E is a great neighbourhood, it's definitely on the quieter side than Cityplace. If you like to go out to clubs and go out dancing, you will probably find Y/E a bore. There's young professsionals in both areas. I found Y/E had a lot of older buildings - some without A/C which is deathly in the summer!

Cityplace is new and modern with great condo amentities but some of the CP buildings are like frat houses with constant false fire alarms and tenants who have no respect for others. If you live in Cityplace, you could walk to work but Y/E would require public transportation to the financial district. I disagree that CP is less pedestrian friendly - it's very close to harbourfront and short walk away to the entertainment district and Chinatown.
 
I live in cityplace but spend a lot of time up at Y/E also. I think for you it's a no brainer - cityplace is a much better fit. First of all it's a very short walk (10 minutes) to the financial district, vs a lengthy subway ride from Y/E. And as others have mentioned, I find the cityplace area much more exciting. Closer to the harbourfront, entertainment district, and all the sports venues in the city. Not to mention all the theatres, and the downtown core in general.

I only go to Y/E to visit friends. Whereas I know if I lived at Y/E I'd probably be down near cityplace on a daily basis to visit all the places i listed above.
 
I'm pretty biased here but ... as others have mentioned it really depends on what your looking for.

I find the *excitement* factor mentioned a few times a little hard to understand. The area around cityplace isn't exactly a mecca of pedestrians ... there's very few compared to other parts of downtown ... and more importantly, Yonge and Eglinton (on Yonge).
That's not to say it isn't close to the excitement ... maybe a 10-20min walk, or a few subway stops.

Yonge and Eglinton is unique in the GTA and the price reflects it ... some may compare it to NYCC ... but the sheer amount of restaurants / interesting shops (yep that's biased), and amenities is unmatched. Maybe nothing expect for say living around Yonge and College. There's more to, in terms of trails to walk on that are extremely close by.

But being at Yonge and Eglinton means your a good 20min away from downtown on the subway ... in terms of work, this is great - unless you're wanting to walk to work. But if you really want all the *advantages* of being downtown - which to me would be:
The culture ... theater / art / music scene / events / night life (free events :).
A huge variety of neighborhoods and what they each offer.

And you want these things 7 days a week then I say go downtown.

Price is another factor, you'll be able to get more for your dollar downtown.

I live at Yonge and Eglinton (yes, I need to change my signature) and in an ideal world (i.e. it may or may not happen) I'd live here my whole life (and that's assuming I want to stay in Toronto of course) - and I'd say this no matter what the family situation would be (not married / married / kids / no kids / retired :) )

Regarding the post above, I can attest for a few in the sense that most weekend I go downtown (and some weekdays). Would I want to live there? No (as a similar neighborhood doesn't exist). I love all the amenities here and during the week (and some weekends) enjoy them - so as a standalone neighborhood I'd pick here.
 
+1.

Y/E is a bona fide neighbourhood. CP is a glorified post-grad dorm.

The few people I knew who lived in CP were renters who effectively 'graduated' from this district to other more legit areas like King West, QWW, and yes, Y/E.

Not to suggest that there's no fun to had there, but I believe your satisfaction level at CP is inversely proportionate to your maturity.

Also the traffic is just unbearable if you own and use a vehicle.
 
There have been a lot of great insights mentioned which I could reiterate, but instead I'm going to suggest viewing it in a different way. Downtown vs. Yonge & Eglinton.

But in choosing downtown, I would suggest a neighbourhood other than CityPlace. I can't knock it as much as others as I have less experience, but it seems very clear that while it is a very close walk to the financial district, it's just not anywhere close to what Yonge & Eg is in terms of neighbourhood which is right on the subway line and only 15-20 minutes to the financial district. You may find during the winter that the difference between walking and taking the subway is negligible, especially in terms of the experience.

I currently live at Yonge & Eglinton, but have bought a condo in St. Lawrence Market. I think in many ways they are similar yet very different. In terms of amenities, both are fairly equal, both are on the subway line, and SLM is a very close walk to the financial district. Closer than CP, depending on where you work. Definitely closer to Bay street. SLM may have it all in terms of what you're looking for in lifestyle and proximity to work.

I rarely go north of Eglinton and am always southbound on the subway. Having worked downtown, I think you may prefer living downtown after going out for drinks or dinner after work but then you'll always be returning to a great neighbourhood. King West and West Queen West are close though often people living downtown don't realize that it's often less time consuming to get to Eglinton since it's right on the subway line. It seems "way up there", but in any large city it's relative in terms of infrastructure. Nevertheless, it's a lot better to have a 10 minute walk home, IMHO. SLM and King West (closer to Spadina vs. Shaw) are ideal choices.
 
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Perfect argument ... see that I can by ... particularly due to the fact that if I were to leave Y&E, and it was possible, I'd likely pick the St. Lawrence Market areas :).

Toronto is extermely rare, in North America and, you know, a lot of the world really ... in the sense that you can live in walking distance to the downtown core i.e. no subways, and have all the amenities of the suburbs ... without needing to drive. Heck, maybe I didn't visit the right locations ... but even in London, I couldn't find this! So you might as well take advantage of that if it's something you like.
 
Thank you everybody for the comments so far. You've been very helpful!

A few more details:
-No car, will be taking transit/walking
-Like to go to nightclubs/bars
-Just finished undergrad

One thing that will likely be a deciding factor is the quality of the apartment itself. From what I've gathered from this thread is that CityPlace is cheaper than Y/E. The lowest prices on CP condos I've seen are about $1200/month. For Y/E I've seen them at less than $1000 but the CP condos seem much nicer.

I would love to hear some recommendations for apartment buildings less than $1200/month around Y/E. There's such a diversity of buildings up there it's tough to find a good place. Also, how bad is the commute up to Y/E from downtown after the subway closes?

Again, thank you everybody for the comments!
 
The CP condos are much nicer because they're brand new. Y/E is a more established neighbourhood. Anything less than $1,000 at Y/E is going to be a bachelor which is great when starting out (or a very bad 1 bedroom). Going rate for a 1 bedroom at Y/E is $1,100-1,200. For a brand new rental building i.e. Minto Roehampton is around $1,500 (over your budget, but fantastic apt in a prime hood). Seriously take a look at 66 Broadway... it's an older building, but upgraded to "condo quality" - yet the prices are at market rates. Seriously take a look at that building if considering Y/E. May be the best value for your money.

Yonge & Eglinton has a night life. It's not as dense a night life as downtown, but the beauty is you'll have your local establishments plus the downtown nightlife at your disposal.

After the subway closes, you've got the "Vomit Comet" (24 hour Yonge bus)... it's fine transportation. Can't remember how long it takes because at that hour my mind shuts down and has no further consideration of time. :p

I think you need to take a look at other hoods other than CP. It may be fine for you straight out of school, but as mentioned you may find yourself inevitably graduating to another hood. Why not get it right the first time? :)
 
Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely look into that building at Y/E.

What other neighbourhoods do you think would be possibilities for me, outside of CP?
 
Forget both locations. Why not rent an apartment in a beautiful old house around College and Shaw, in Little Italy? You're close to trendy bars on Dundas/Ossington/Queen and College, 10 minutes walk to Kensington Market, 15 minute bike ride to Bay St offices or via various streetcar routes. A much nicer urban experience than living in an apartment/condo building.
 
DearSummer said:
Did a little research on 66 Broadway. Good prices and layouts but the reviews are less than stellar...

http://urbantoronto.ca/showthread.php?8649-66-Broadway

UrbanVigor, did you live in 66 Broadway? Just wanted to know if you had first hand experience so I could get some more information...
Click to expand...

No first hand experience. Nor have I had a look inside the building yet because they rarely have vacancy and they rent out very fast when there is. You'll notice that there are good and bad experiences quoted by people that live there in that thread. Also good to see that someone from management contributed to the thread.

While I haven't checked out 66 Broadway, I hit the pavement big time a couple of years ago and have seen numerous buildings at Y/E. All these buildings were probably the cream of the crop in the 60's and 70's when they were built but now I find them most to be on a perpetual free fall. Most do not have A/C and just have a run down look to them. No, they are not decrepid by any means. But they certainly aren't upgraded to today's standards or even that of the 90's. Yet a lot of people seem happy with them. 66 Broadway in terms of quality apartments I expect is above average for the area but understandably not at par with the brand new rental buildings such as Minto Roehampton at $1,500. If I recall during my hitting the pavement, 18 Brownlow might have some really nicely designed suites. I never got to check them out. Everything I did see wasn't as good as my place and I am completely done with my current place and just waiting for my condo to be built. For what it's worth, I would give my building a bad review whereas most in my building probably would have good things to say. So you need to take reviews with a grain of salt and check out numerous places on your own in addition to seeking opinions.
 
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