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I'm following the RE market closely and anywhere close to public transportation and good schools are astronomically priced. If you can't afford it, you end up in a not so nice neighborhood or move further out to the burbs and take a long commute. Similar trend in terms of buying as other places.
My friends just bought a 3 bedroom house in Richmond Hill and it was $1.1 million. It is just a regular house with absolutely nothing fancy, and they are just regular working people who don't make a lot. They sold their old house after it appreciated by 50% in 5 years. The house is expensive because it has the best public school nearby, but the mother has to commute 1.5 hours one way each day just to get to work.
With such prices, regular family who enter the market late simply won't be able to afford anything "nice". It is their choice but I will never commute 3 hours a day just to live in a good "school district".
My friends just bought a 3 bedroom house in Richmond Hill and it was $1.1 million. It is just a regular house with absolutely nothing fancy, and they are just regular working people who don't make a lot. They sold their old house after it appreciated by 50% in 5 years. The house is expensive because it has the best public school nearby, but the mother has to commute 1.5 hours one way each day just to get to work.
With such prices, regular family who enter the market late simply won't be able to afford anything "nice". It is their choice but I will never commute 3 hours a day just to live in a good "school district".
Painful situation in terms of commute but once you become a parent, you will not want your children to go to a school filled with bad influences/low achievers because it can hold back their future. The employment market (esp for youth) is so competitive nowadays and I find a lot of Canadian schools have become very profit centric in terms of volumes. I remember when I graduated from UFT undergrad, there were maybe 250 of us in the business program, 10-11 years later, they are churning out something like 750 students and charging tuition of 15K a year (excl board + books, etc). I spoke to young grad recently and he said very few had a job at graduation, whereas maybe 70% had jobs in my time. Even Ivey (which historically is very selective) has ramped up to bigger class sizes and charges even higher private school-level tuition with no guarantees of lucrative employment after. It's a tough world for the younger generation. You can rely on home training and/or hope certain areas will get better over time but when in the situation, I still find most people (esp with money) are risk averse when it comes to their children's education and try to find the best district they can afford as a major criterion. And there are only a few well regarded public schools in the core of Toronto to choice from.
Last edited by johnathanc; 01-07-2015 at 01:15 PM..
Thanks, it's nice to be closer to family and old friends again and there are so many new spots in the city to try out so it's been good so far...except for the effing ice cold weather. .
Welcome back! You ain`t kidding about the weather.. Over the holidays it was actually above zero and not just by a degree or two - today it was -18 and with the windchill felt much colllddderrr.. I hardly ever use the heated seats in the car because I find them largely useless but not the case the last few days.. Portugal 6 weeks away
I agree, there is a lot of friggin wealth being created out there but it's not equal. The prime real estate will be assumed by those with money and those with less are pushed further and further away or just have to contend with lower living standards overall. Income distribution in the US has never been equal and Canada, although not as unequal, is becoming more unequal too.
After moving back to Toronto, I find the real estate prices vs. income levels in this city are creating a very evident divide between haves and have nots nowadays compared to anything I saw growing up. I'm following the RE market closely and anywhere close to public transportation and good schools are astronomically priced. If you can't afford it, you end up in a not so nice neighborhood or move further out to the burbs and take a long commute. Similar trend in terms of buying as other places.
Agreed - its amazing how much has changed in Toronto in such a short period of time.. Its scary but at the same time it doesn`t look to be changing anytime soon. The good thing is, the city is becoming a much more dynamic place so it isn`t all bad.
While I agree Toronto's Mass transit system isn't extensive enough - the areas that are served by Subway lines have impressive ridership numbers in relation to every other city in the U.S/Canada except for NYC and Montreal.. I think that speaks to something.. I'm a 5 minute walk from Islington Station and I find that the subway frequencies are excellent and very reliable actually... I usually never have to wait more than 5 minutes for a subway and I'm at Church and Wellesley in about 25 mins 9.5 times out of 10...
I remember being in Chicago and although the system is very extensive - the wait time for a subway was noticeable longer.. I remember waiting 15 minutes for a subway on the red line and it was only 830pm... I've only RARELY had to wait that long for a Subway in T.O.
I also agree with Nat's points re insurance rates...
TTC is awesome. In Niagara FaILs the buses only run every 30-60 mins even in rush hour http://www.niagarafalls.ca/pdf/transit/2014-routes.pdf where bus frequency usually picks up in a normal city. Im looking to get out of Niagara to Toronto but the city is out of my price range so Im most likely looking at Scarborough. Even out in Scarborough the bus that takes you to Kennedy Station to connect to the subway runs every seven minutes.
I cant stand this BS 30-60 minutes spacing between Niagara buses. In the hour it takes to get from Scarborough to Union Station I would still be standing outside in the cold waiting for the bus in Niagara. Sometimes its even FASTER to walk. Then with living in Niagara most of the major businesses/stores are in St. Catharines so you have to use the regional bus system which is $6 there and $6 back to Niagara which is a hour ride itself with all kinds of weird backtracking and looparounds.
With TTC thats a day pass for much wider coverage area with a dollar left over. I cant wait to start using TTC.
Comparing Toronto to a very small town like Niagara Falls is meaningless. You can't expect a town with 80,000 people yet covering 200sq km, to have good public transit. It could, but you would need to pay exorbitant fees to have TTC's frequency of service - if the buses departs every 10 minutes, there are probably 2 people in them every time and each has to pay $20 for a ride.
You have a very low standard to say "TTC is awesome". I will give it a 7 out of 10.
Comparing Toronto to a very small town like Niagara Falls is meaningless. You can't expect a town with 80,000 people yet covering 200sq km, to have good public transit. It could, but you would need to pay exorbitant fees to have TTC's frequency of service - if the buses departs every 10 minutes, there are probably 2 people in them every time and each has to pay $20 for a ride.
You have a very low standard to say "TTC is awesome". I will give it a 7 out of 10.
More like 5 or 6 out of 10 compared with transit systems in other international cities of similar size and stature...
Last edited by bostonkid123; 01-12-2015 at 09:10 AM..
Please let me know if I can help you. I am an insurance broker with many different companies I can shop for you. I'm sure I can find you a competitive rate.
More like 5 or 6 out of 10 compared with transit systems in other international cities of similar size and stature...
internationally, yes.
Only this morning, the Yonge line was delayed by half an hour again. Nobody pays much attention to it any more because it is the norm.
Public transit IMO is the worst thing about this city.
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