[Justin10000]

Maybe you need to get over yourself and realize that some people are more successful than you. They aren't looking down on you, you're actually the one judging them, and diminishing yourself.

It's an opinion thread, why are you attacking him for his opinion? Yeesh.

Anyways,

The pocket neighbourhood near Yorkdale, just west of Dufferin has to rank one as of the worst neighbourhoods for me. Bland houses, very few amenities(with the exception of Yorkdale, I guess), and surrounded by industry.

 

[taal]

I don't want to go down this road but felt I should probably mention:

One thing to look at when commenting on how prosperous a particular neighborhood is; Employment ... clearly there doesn't need to be employment in every neighborhood, that simply doesn't make sense, many people drive / commute to work. But many areas in the city of Toronto (outer 416) used to have a higher concentration of manufacturing jobs; Over the years, a lot of this space transitioned into warehousing (this is key as there are very few areas in Toronto with vast amounts of vacant buildings) but these tend to employee much less people. These areas have never seen growth in other areas (i.e. the service industry and the like). The stagnation of many outer Toronto suburbs, in terms of employment (where it used to exist) probably correlates to a certain degree to the prosperity or lack there of. To be fair, it's not as if opening a software campus in such areas would do much for the relatively uneducated population - but over time these things do have an impact.

So in other words, the lack of economic growth in just about all Toronto's outer suburbs I do think contributes to the wealth of some areas and the lack of it in others. I do think attracting more jobs to many of these regions would do wonders for the city ... but over the long term ... in the short term, the employment wouldn't be local i.e. people would commute to these areas from other locations.

But all signs point to just about 0 growth in the rest of Toronto, so this is not something we're likely to see unfortunately. So I think this trend will continue for many years.

Another thing, I assume this is the same in other cities across North America ? It generally always happens to be the case that the main city (i.e. the 416) has the vast amount of social services / low paid service industry jobs compared to the outer suburbs. I do think this ideally would be spread around but maybe this doesn't make sense to a certain degree. So described the 416 as a tail of two cities (i.e. the richer and poorer) is always going to be the case; Particularly compared to the rest of the GTA, where things aren't as different.

 

[GenerationW]

The worst neighbourhoods are those located far from the arterial roads or public transit, especially those with cul-de-sacs. No stores within walking distance. If you have to use a car for just about everything, schools, doctor, recreation, transit, etc., that is one neighbourhood I would avoid to live in.

And what are some examples of these horrible wastelands?

 

[Silence&Motion]

There are many reasons to dislike high income neighbourhoods other than just left-wing hatred toward the rich. There are certain characteristics of high income neighbourhoods that may not be desirable: lack of diversity, prohibitively expensive rent, property values, and retail options, overly powerful residents associations, etc. The Bridle Path is not the worst neighbourhood it Toronto, but it's pretty bad. Who wants to spend any time surrounded by boring, imposing gates and navigating roads with speed bumps?

On the other hand, way too many people are jumping to the conclusion that poverty automatically makes a bad neighbourhood. Regent Park, Moss Park, and Parkdale have a lot of things going for them that random neighbourhoods in the suburbs don't have: small, pedestrian friendly streets, main commercial strips, access to public transportation, dense and mixed populations. I'd much rather live at Queen and Sherbourne than Lawrence and Leslie.

 

[lafard]

Rich neighbourhoods tend to be bland and kind of pointless-feeling. Forest Hill village is quite pleasant, but is mixed income and has the main street commercial stretch to it, with middle-class apartments in behind. Go a bit further north on Spadina and it's all of a sudden pretty uninteresting. Bad? Not really, there are lots of mature trees and wel maintained houses, but it's just ... boring.

It kind of hints that income level is not what makes or breaks a neighbourhood - it's built form and diversity. Cabbagetown has a lot of poverty kicking around it, but is similarly vibrant.

It's the single use, monotonous built form that makes a bad neighbourhood, bad. Be it the Bridle Path or one of the failed public housing projects. Diversity and mixed uses make for vibrant, pleasant neighbourhoods.

 

[Eug]

There are many reasons to dislike high income neighbourhoods other than just left-wing hatred toward the rich. There are certain characteristics of high income neighbourhoods that may not be desirable: lack of diversity, prohibitively expensive rent, property values, and retail options, overly powerful residents associations, etc. The Bridle Path is not the worst neighbourhood it Toronto, but it's pretty bad. Who wants to spend any time surrounded by boring, imposing gates and navigating roads with speed bumps?

On the other hand, way too many people are jumping to the conclusion that poverty automatically makes a bad neighbourhood. Regent Park, Moss Park, and Parkdale have a lot of things going for them that random neighbourhoods in the suburbs don't have: small, pedestrian friendly streets, main commercial strips, access to public transportation, dense and mixed populations. I'd much rather live at Queen and Sherbourne than Lawrence and Leslie.

Hmmm... Not that I'm a big fan of either neighbourhood, but I'd much rather live in the Bridle Path than Regent Park for obvious reasons.

BTW, not all of Bridle Path is made up of gated monstrosities. Part of it of looks like upscale suburb. As for Lawrence and Leslie, it's quite a nice area. Nice shopping and a Congee Queen within a few minutes walking distance. Better congee than anywhere in downtown Chinatown and relatively inexpensive.

 

[ducati0000]

The worst corner not neighborhood has to be Jane and Lawrence,go there during the summer after midnight you meet some very interesting people there.......

 

[asrt4141]

thanks for share good sharing

 

[Dilla]

There are many reasons to dislike high income neighbourhoods other than just left-wing hatred toward the rich. There are certain characteristics of high income neighbourhoods that may not be desirable: lack of diversity, prohibitively expensive rent, property values, and retail options, overly powerful residents associations, etc. The Bridle Path is not the worst neighbourhood it Toronto, but it's pretty bad. Who wants to spend any time surrounded by boring, imposing gates and navigating roads with speed bumps?

On the other hand, way too many people are jumping to the conclusion that poverty automatically makes a bad neighbourhood. Regent Park, Moss Park, and Parkdale have a lot of things going for them that random neighbourhoods in the suburbs don't have: small, pedestrian friendly streets, main commercial strips, access to public transportation, dense and mixed populations. I'd much rather live at Queen and Sherbourne than Lawrence and Leslie.

I live right between Regent and Moss Park, the streets aren't anymore pedestrian friendly than they are anywhere else in the core, and there are not a lot of main commercial strips. Bordering, River, Gerrard, Richmond and Sherborne, what is there, commercially? Don't get me wrong, I love my neighbourhood, despite these things, but while they may have good "bones", a lot of their potential sits unrealized, I feel mainly due the lack of mixed incomes in them. Hopefully things don't change as much to leave my area the next Queen west, but a bit more balance may bring in some more commercial investment and add some liveliness to what can be a rather depressing area.

And while there are plenty of reasons to not like high income neighbourhoods, the poster who was being admonished for doing so was basically just trolling. Spouting off that everyone in Mississauga is a teenager who smokes weed is not going to get you a seat at the grown-ups table around here.

 

[TrickyRicky]

For those suggesting that rich neighbourhoods aren't better (and I'm not saying this is right or wrong) I want to ask you this question: Do you think poor people would choose to live in their present circumstances if they had the option?

I don't think there is any uniform answer to this question. I think that most people stick up for or support the area where they live because it is where they live. To think otherwise would be akin to telling yourself how much you suck. On the other hand I have never met a low-income single mother who would not jump at the opportunity to live in a souless rich neighbourhood if she could have her child go to a better school or have closer access to a good job. I can't account on meeting many low income people who like high crime and think decaying public spaces or poor levels of service are cool. And most would I believe, like most of us, be wiling to make a compromise decision and trade a walkable dynamic neighbourhood for a souless suburban middle-class enclave if they had the means.

 

[Eug]

For those suggesting that rich neighbourhoods aren't better (and I'm not saying this is right or wrong) I want to ask you this question: Do you think poor people would choose to live in their present circumstances if they had the option?

I don't think there is any uniform answer to this question. I think that most people stick up for or support the area where they live because it is where they live. To think otherwise would be akin to telling yourself how much you suck. On the other hand I have never met a low-income single mother who would not jump at the opportunity to live in a souless rich neighbourhood if she could have her child go to a better school or have closer access to a good job. I can't account on meeting many low income people who like high crime and think decaying public spaces or poor levels of service are cool. And most would I believe, like most of us, be wiling to make a compromise decision and trade a walkable dynamic neighbourhood for a souless suburban middle-class enclave if they had the means.

Heh. I'm not sure I would put it in those terms, but essentially you have hit the nail on the head. I get the impression that there is quite a bit of "rich-people-suck!" snobbery in this thread. But as you said, like it or not, those in rich neighbourhoods generally don't want to move to poor neighbourhoods, but those in poor neighbourhoods often would like to live in rich neighbourhoods.

In my case, I went from downtown to "inner" suburb and not to a similarly priced house in the core. While I can afford to live in a house in the core in a nice neighbourhood, the house would be smaller, with a smaller lot. I made the decision to go to a cheaper neighbourhood outside the core (but still in the 416) in order to have more space. However, it's still in a nice neighbourhood, just not exactly rich. It's not as if I'd be move to a dangerous neighbourhood for that increased space.