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I visited Toronto for the first time this weekend and as cool as I think the city is, we ate at Buca Italian restaurant which was AMAZING, I am not a city girl. The homes we looked at in Bedford Park, the Beaches, Etobicoke was not what we are looking for. Actually Thornhill crest and The Kingsway did have more of what we are looking for but still didn't make us feel at home. I have learned that I am a fuddy duddy mom who just likes to walk her dogs, watch her son play soccer, make dinner for the family and drink wine in the back yard with the hubby. I don't need excitement of big city entertainment and I definitely don't want the traffic. We are now looking at Kings Township - North of Downsview. Yes, I know the commute with be much longer although people have told us about the toll road which has less traffic. We can get a nice house, land and more country living out there. In the areas we visited this weekend, we raised our price a whole million just to get a little of what we are looking for. We decided that's insane. Living 8 years in Utah has shown us that we like hearing the birds chirp and just sitting outside watching leaves blow in the wind. Sounds boring to most I'm sure but the older we get, the more calm we want in our lives.
We also found what we think is a great school for our middle schooler - Villanova College in Kings City. Anyone familiar with it?
Have you checked out any of the river valley parks while you were in Toronto? There's one by The Kingsway (Humber Valley), they can be nice for dog walking. There's also some in North York (East and West Don). It seems like the cities you've lived in in the United States don't have much like that, but in Toronto a big chunk of the city and suburbs have river valleys locally accessible to residents. Each of these valleys, or which there are dozens, has several miles of interconnected trails. In the neighbourhood where I grew up in the suburb of Brampton there was a trail over 5 miles long going along Etobicoke Creek. It was a big part of my life there, building stick forts, going for bike rides, checking out all the playgrounds along the trails, tobogganing down the sides of the valley, feeding the ducks, exploring nature... There's often tunnels under the main roads too, so in my case I could bike the whole 5 miles without ever crossing traffic.
I'm not sure if King City has anything similar. There are conservation areas you can drive to, but I'm not sure if there's anywhere that's free and publicly accessible (i.e. trails). King Township has some nice countryside and horse farms though, and it's true it's less expensive and you might even be able to find a rural property (i.e. multi-acre). Regarding the commute, the toll road (highway 407) is going to be of little use if you want to get to Downsview or Downtown Toronto. Hwy 407 goes east-west while you're going to want to travel north-south, maybe you can take it for a short stretch but not enough to make a real difference. You should be able to get to Downsview in less than an hour by car, and about an hour by train to downtown, with about 45 min of that spent on the train itself.
Bayview Woods and Bayview Village might be other neighbourhoods to look at too, and they have access to the East Don Parks.
If it wasn't for the fact that you'd need to commute to Downsview, I think you'd like the western suburbs like Burlington, Oakville and parts of southern Mississauga.
I don't think there's such thing as Thornhill Crest. Thorncrest is in Etobicoke, and Thornhill straddles the boundary of Vaughan and Markham. Both are relatively nice suburban neighbourhoods.
Memph,
Yes, we also liked Oakville but the commute to Downsview would be tough. You are right, it was Thorncrest that we looked at and liked. The homes are older and for the amount of yard we wanted, you're looking above $2m but we loved the trees and the bits of privacy that some of the homes offered. Kingsway and Princess something were nice too but they still had that city feel. I really thought I'd like the city - and I did when we were doing dinner and going to a game but then I wanted out. My husband works a lot and coming home to a big backyard where he plays soccer with my son, maybe even a pool is just not going to happen with what we want to spend in those areas. Woodbridge has come up too so I will check those out again. Now that we visited it looks like my husband will definitely spend more time in Downsview than ACC. He gets to make his own schedule so he can always leave super early and go to ACC first but then head back to Downsview in the afternoon and then home later to break up his day.
I've only just started researching the areas near King City so if you have any input, I'd appreciate it. You have been a plethora of information! I really appreciate it! You helped me get started as I was very overwhelmed in the beginning. Now that I have visited, I am more familiar with the areas you mentioned.
Now I'm trying to figure out if the areas around King City are similar to if my husband worked in NYC and we lived in CT, West Chester County NY or North Jersey? NYC was another one of our options but because we are from there and know it well, we thought living in Canada could be exciting. Plus, he liked the offer better. Lol.
Is King City built up at all? Grocery, fitness centers, mall? Is it normal suburban living or ultra rural?
King City is somewhat built up, the built up part (including the larger lot acre+ subdivisions) had a population of about 4,700 in the 2011 census. There is quite a bit of new development going up in King City, mostly on lot sizes that are more comparable to those of Toronto, i.e. on lot smaller than in the already developed parts of King City. When those are built in the next few years, the population will be about 10,000. I'm guessing it's probably already around 6,000.
King Township overall has about 20,000 people, which includes 2,300 people in the community of Schomberg and 3,600 in Nobleton. The remaining 9,400 residents of King Township would be in a pretty rural setting. I wouldn't bother with Schomberg and Nobleton though, they're pretty similar to King City but even more far flung and remote.
Schomberg, King City and Nobleton each have a grocery store of some sorts, and a few other shops. However, you're not going to have the same variety of options as in more built up suburbs. You'll probably find yourself doing some of your shopping and such in the bigger nearby suburbs of Richmond Hill and Vaughan, or maybe near your sons soccer practice (ex Yorkdale Mall).
Westchester seems to be mostly homes with large yards that contains lots of mature trees. King Township has more farm land and fewer areas with homes. The places that do have homes in King were often built on former farm land instead of within a forest, so that means there weren't any trees initially and the trees haven't had a chance to grow as big and usually the tree cover is not as dense either. In terms of access to shops they might be similar.
Would your husband have to work at both locations on the same day or was that just an idea to save time? The transit connections for Downsview are not that great so if he works at both in the same day he'll likely want to take the car, but then that means driving through the city to get to/from the ACC. To avoid that traffic he'd have to leave really early like before 6am and there will still be some traffic mid-day. I think it would be more efficient to take the train downtown (ACC) on one day, and then commute to Downsview on a different day, if that's an option.
The train from King City to ACC is about an hour, maybe even a bit less, include the time to get to the train station, wait for the train and get from the train to work. Driving will probably be an hour or more if you leave any time after 6am and leave work any time before 6-7pm, even mid-day will be about an hour. If you leave right in the middle of rush hour it will probably at least 30min longer than by train.
Driving between King City and Downsview shouldn't be too bad for traffic, probably about 30-40min, probably at most 50min if you're unlucky and it's rush-hour.
So if you want a big yard, like "really" big (by Toronto standards) i.e. more than 0.2 acres, there isn't going to be much of that, even in the "suburban" parts of Toronto and nearby suburbs like Vaughan/Woodbridge and it would make sense to have King City as one of your options.
In North York neighbourhoods like Bathurst Manor, Willowdale, Bayview Village and Bayview Woods-Steeles, something like this is more or less the most space you could get for under $2 million, a house on about 1/6 acres, but which backs onto a forested ravine. 12 BALLYCONNOR CRT, Toronto, Ontario * M2M4C6 - C3319799 | Realtor.ca
I'm not sure if that's still within your budget, but if you're looking for something more around $1.0 million (instead of $1.3m+) in Richmond Hill, Vaughan or Toronto, it will either be an older ranch or split level house with a decent sized backyard, or a bigger and newer house, but on a smaller lot (about 0.1 acre), or something in between in age and yard size.
This would be "in between", the house is not brand new (looks like about 20-25 yrs old?) so you can still get a bit of a backyard, although it's still less than in many parts of King City. 21 BURGOSA CRT, Vaughan, Ontario * L4L5C4 - N3189393 | Realtor.ca
My husband has an opportunity in the Downsview area of Toronto. Coming from the US, it is overwhelming to even start navigating my way through housing areas. We have a tween, a teen and a dog so a yard of some sort would be nice. We are used to living in neighborhoods where kids play soccer and ride bikes. A good school district is very important to us. I like to be able to talk to my neighbors and not just live inside of my house. We are outdoorsy active people as in hiking, ride bikes, run etc. Can someone direct me towards areas that would somewhat resemble what I'm looking for? Our price range can be above $1M. I know the cost of living is very expensive and will probably need to be above that range to get what we are looking for. 4 bedrooms ideally - and definitely a garage! We have lots of bikes and soccer goals!
Thanks for any direction and advice!
What is wrong with living Downsview or right outside of Downsview? It is not exactly the ghetto lol. Most of what you are looking for can be found in that area or just beside that area and everything else can be accessible by ttc or car. Why make your husband's commute longer then needed? If you can afford up to $1 Million you can find something nearer to Downsview for that price that meets most of your criteria.
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What is wrong with Downsview?
