Toronto Suburbs?
#16
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Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 44
Re: Toronto Suburbs?
The problem with "places north" is getting to downtown. The GO train (suburban commuter service) doesn't necessarily operate trains all day - outside of peak hours, a lot of lines operate a bus service which is a bit tedious if you're trying to get home after an evening out, or get into work after a morning appointment. Currently only the Lakeshore line (East and West) offers all-day trains; the Stouffville line (to Unionville, at least, so really Markham) will start all-day trains this month, and others "by 2024."
Realistically, if you're working downtown and want a little bit of time flexibility in your commute, then the Mississauga/Oakville/Burlington stretch to the west and the Pickering/Ajax/Whitby/Oshawa stretch to the east offer the only sensible options.
And echoing others' comments about house prices: you'll need to be some distance out from downtown Toronto to find a 3-4 bed house with more than a pocket-handkerchief of backyard for less than $500k. House prices are a little bit silly around Toronto, especially in the more easily commutable areas.
Standard advice on these boards is to look to rent before you buy, to make sure you like the area. That, of course, risks being lured into a lovely neighbourhood that you then can't afford to buy in. It may be that by the summer of 2019 the long-forecast price correction will have happened and it may have turned into a buyers' market, but I wouldn't hold my breath...
Realistically, if you're working downtown and want a little bit of time flexibility in your commute, then the Mississauga/Oakville/Burlington stretch to the west and the Pickering/Ajax/Whitby/Oshawa stretch to the east offer the only sensible options.
And echoing others' comments about house prices: you'll need to be some distance out from downtown Toronto to find a 3-4 bed house with more than a pocket-handkerchief of backyard for less than $500k. House prices are a little bit silly around Toronto, especially in the more easily commutable areas.
Standard advice on these boards is to look to rent before you buy, to make sure you like the area. That, of course, risks being lured into a lovely neighbourhood that you then can't afford to buy in. It may be that by the summer of 2019 the long-forecast price correction will have happened and it may have turned into a buyers' market, but I wouldn't hold my breath...
The idea would be to rent first but we would like to try and rent in an area we can expect to buy in and within the same school catchment to save moving schools, so a lot of research to do to aim for that
#18
Re: Toronto Suburbs?
Halton Public: https://www.hdsb.ca/schools/Pages/Fi...dary-Maps.aspx
Halton Catholic: https://www.hcdsb.org/Schools/Bounda...s/default.aspx
Halton covers Oakville, Burlington, Milton, Acton, and Georgetown.
Mississauga would be the Peel board (just google 'Peel school boundaries' and 'Peel catholic school bounadires'). Not sure which board covers Ajax/Oshawa/Pickering/etc.
Halton Catholic: https://www.hcdsb.org/Schools/Bounda...s/default.aspx
Halton covers Oakville, Burlington, Milton, Acton, and Georgetown.
Mississauga would be the Peel board (just google 'Peel school boundaries' and 'Peel catholic school bounadires'). Not sure which board covers Ajax/Oshawa/Pickering/etc.
#19
Re: Toronto Suburbs?
Just to expand on this point .... selling a house in Canada costs 4-5% in estate agent fees (generally) rather than the 1% or so in the UK. So buying the wrong house and having to move will cost you $20k or more on that $500k house.
#20
Re: Toronto Suburbs?
Very good point, I always forget about that! Yeah, selling here is insanely expensive... so renting makes way more sense unless you are certain about where you want to live and are willing to either take the plunge or suck up the cost of moving!
#21
Just Joined
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 18
Re: Toronto Suburbs?
Just something to add to the whole house purchase discussion.
Foreign Buyers Tax - it is in effect right now, who knows by time you get here what the situation will be. But depending on your visa status you may be charged an extra 15% buyers tax.
Rebates are available - but they have yet to be tested as it's such a new system.
Something to keep in mind.
Foreign Buyers Tax - it is in effect right now, who knows by time you get here what the situation will be. But depending on your visa status you may be charged an extra 15% buyers tax.
Rebates are available - but they have yet to be tested as it's such a new system.
Something to keep in mind.
#22
Re: Toronto Suburbs?
Just something to add to the whole house purchase discussion.
Foreign Buyers Tax - it is in effect right now, who knows by time you get here what the situation will be. But depending on your visa status you may be charged an extra 15% buyers tax.
Rebates are available - but they have yet to be tested as it's such a new system.
Something to keep in mind.
Foreign Buyers Tax - it is in effect right now, who knows by time you get here what the situation will be. But depending on your visa status you may be charged an extra 15% buyers tax.
Rebates are available - but they have yet to be tested as it's such a new system.
Something to keep in mind.
#23
Just Joined
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 18
Re: Toronto Suburbs?
If that's the case - then great - you only have to come up with $75k for 3 months on a 1/2 million dollar house! Not too unlike trying to set up utility account with Hydro
#24
Forum Regular
Joined: Jun 2010
Location: Ajax, Ont
Posts: 277
Re: Toronto Suburbs?
I don't think there is a map for catchement area on that website. When we moved here, we went to the website for the school boards and put in our address there so we knew which school to take them to. Most areas will have a Public school board and a Catholic school board. Plus English and French schools for both. You'll be happy to know that the school registration process here is SO much easier than in the UK. You go to the school with proof of your address and you just say you're there to register your children. No applying or waiting for approval. They can probably start the next day, depending on the school.
#25
Banned
Joined: Apr 2009
Location: SW Ontario
Posts: 19,879
Re: Toronto Suburbs?
Remax have a map for schools - and you can search for houses in that area. If you go to remax.ca and input the area, then when the map loads click on the green hat on the right hand side, it will load all the schools. Clicking on the green hat on the actual map (once it loads) in an area you are interested in, will show the catchment area and what properties are for sale in the area.
There's a ton of different school board catchment maps online
There's a ton of different school board catchment maps online
Last edited by Siouxie; Jun 20th 2017 at 12:10 am.
#26
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2010
Location: Whitby, Ontario
Posts: 732
Re: Toronto Suburbs?
Halton Public: https://www.hdsb.ca/schools/Pages/Fi...dary-Maps.aspx
Halton Catholic: https://www.hcdsb.org/Schools/Bounda...s/default.aspx
Halton covers Oakville, Burlington, Milton, Acton, and Georgetown.
Mississauga would be the Peel board (just google 'Peel school boundaries' and 'Peel catholic school bounadires'). Not sure which board covers Ajax/Oshawa/Pickering/etc.
Halton Catholic: https://www.hcdsb.org/Schools/Bounda...s/default.aspx
Halton covers Oakville, Burlington, Milton, Acton, and Georgetown.
Mississauga would be the Peel board (just google 'Peel school boundaries' and 'Peel catholic school bounadires'). Not sure which board covers Ajax/Oshawa/Pickering/etc.
#27
Banned
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 44
Re: Toronto Suburbs?
hey,
Will have a look into the info on schools, prob best starting another thread on schools and try keep this one on areas.
I am just so surprised at how expensive the housing is so far out of the city.
So for those who live in Oakville, Burlington and Pickering, Ajax and oshwa can you give me the good and bad points of these?
Thanks
Will have a look into the info on schools, prob best starting another thread on schools and try keep this one on areas.
I am just so surprised at how expensive the housing is so far out of the city.
So for those who live in Oakville, Burlington and Pickering, Ajax and oshwa can you give me the good and bad points of these?
Thanks
#28
Re: Toronto Suburbs?
hey,
Will have a look into the info on schools, prob best starting another thread on schools and try keep this one on areas.
I am just so surprised at how expensive the housing is so far out of the city.
So for those who live in Oakville, Burlington and Pickering, Ajax and oshwa can you give me the good and bad points of these?
Thanks
Will have a look into the info on schools, prob best starting another thread on schools and try keep this one on areas.
I am just so surprised at how expensive the housing is so far out of the city.
So for those who live in Oakville, Burlington and Pickering, Ajax and oshwa can you give me the good and bad points of these?
Thanks
Oakville/Burlington have low crime and generally higher average education for parents, which broadly speaking also means higher affluence. (massive, massive generalization there.) They also have higher house prices (Oakville moreso than Burlington). Both are good in terms of amenities and shops and stuff nearby, and both have excellent town-run programs (music, swimming, that sort of thing). Both will have their slightly more run-down areas, but at least in Oakville, areas like Kerr Village that used to be more run-down are certainly turning over and becoming more trendy and on the up-and-up.
The newer areas of Oakville and Burlington have higher-density housing - houses more packed together on smaller lots and narrower streets. Some areas of Oakville actually don't even have dedicated parking, it's only street permit parking, and your permit might be for a street two streets over. That's mostly north of Dundas, though. THe older parts of Oakville have larger lots and more green space, but you'll pay for the privilege.
Burlington has a much nicer waterfront area; Oakville has kind of sold out to developers and private land owners along the waterfront, though Coronation Park and Bronte Marina are lovely spots, and there's actually a reasonably long walking trail along the water at Bronte. The trail more downtown Oakville is less good, but downtown Burlington's waterfront is absolutely gorgeous and absolutely massive.
Traffic issues in both cities are getting worse, though, as the cities expand but the transit routes haven't really been increased to deal with the uptick in demand. This is mostly referring to cars and roads... Upper Middle in Oakville is a nightmare during rush hour; Dundas is regularly busy, and the QEW is basically busy all the time. At least the GO Trains are regular and reliable and run all day every 30 minutes with extra trains during rush hour, so that's decent (my husband commutes to Toronto every day). Parking at the GO Station is also free, so that's a bonus, and Oakville, Appleby, and Burlington GO stations have oodles of parking (as does Clarkson in Mississauga; the other stations closer to Toronto like Long Branch and Port Credit have awful parking). My husband has never had any issues with the trains, always gets a seat, and loves that the quiet zone on the upper floor is militantly enforced, so he often sleeps on his commute.
That's a few thoughts off the top of my head... not sure what specific kinds of things you were looking for, though. Asking specific questions will get you better answers as opposed to just blanket stuff.
#29
Re: Toronto Suburbs?
In Canada, other than Fort McMurray, I'd be hard pressed to find a place in which high educational attainment and affluence don't go hand in hand.
#30
Re: Toronto Suburbs?
The other way around, places with a concentration of people holding doctorates will likely have high educational attainment and low incomes; staff housing for the Toronto research hospitals would be an example.
Education aint about money and neither should it be. The rich Canadians, the Reichmanns and Bronfmans and Conrad Black are no more renowned for their schooling than are the rich Brits such as, say, Princess Anne.
Last edited by dbd33; Jun 20th 2017 at 3:11 pm.