North York
The former city of North York, Ontario is one of several municipalities that were joined together in 1998 to create the new City of Toronto, which also includes Etobicoke, East York, and Scarborough. Located directly north of the old City of Toronto, North York occupies about 176 square kilometers of the Greater Toronto Area and has a population of over 635,000. This number increases with every passing year because of the area's popularity with home buyers, especially those who are newly arrived in Canada. As a result, North York is one of the most culturally diverse parts of the City of Toronto, with over half of area residents coming from countries in Asia, the Middle East, South America, or the Pacific Islands.
Choosing a home in Toronto often means finding a balance between real estate prices and commute times. The further away a community is from downtown the lower the asking prices on real estate. North York's popularity can be attributed to the fact that the area offers more affordable living space with only a short commute to downtown Toronto. Though North York was once a rural township composed of a collection of villages that supported themselves through agriculture, after the Second World War the farmland began to disappear underneath suburban housing developments. Though many of the original village names have survived as neighborhood monikers, the area has been almost completely transformed.
Modern day North York is known for its diversity, not just among its people but among its dwellings. Some of the older neighborhoods, like Lawrence Park, feature detached homes built in early 20th century styles such as Victorian, English Cottage, and Tudor Revival, while North York Center's compliment of gleaming high rise condominium towers is beginning to rival downtown Toronto. In between are all sizes of detached homes, town homes, apartments, and condominium complexes in forty distinct neighborhoods, representing nearly the entire alphabet from Allenby to York Mills.
Prices of property in the North York MLS occupy a broad range, from the mid $100,000s for a small condo in the Jane and Finch area and yonge/sheppard from $300,000 to multi millions of dollars for a sprawling mansion in the Bridle Path neighborhood. Generally speaking, though, for the average single story home in North York you'll be looking at around $545,000. For a two storey home expect to pay closer to $735,000, while town houses average out at $530,000 and condos are around $372,000 on average. For more information Click here
Your commute times to workplaces in Toronto will vary depending on the neighborhood you choose and the location of your office, but the distance from North York city center to downtown Toronto is only 16km. This is less than a 20 minute drive straight down Yonge Street in normal traffic. Busses and trains running on the Barrie or E Line of Go Transit take about 25 minutes to make the trip regardless of time of day.
