Despite being part of the elite (see: "Which class are you?" thread above) I have come to the sad conclusion I cannot afford the house I want in Toronto without being somewhat house poor. As such I am recalibrating my sights on Ajax or Whitby which seem to be family oriented as well as having a good selection of reasonably priced homes.

Can anyone tell me what these areas are like for raising a young family? Also, which areas are worth focusing on given I would like to be within walking distance of the Go! Station.

Many thanks in advance.

Only thing I can tell which wont likely be any help is that I have a friend who lives in Whitby (him, his wife and 2 young children - 6 & 8 ish) and loves it and cant see them moving to eb honest.

I can ask him and try and get some areas if you want and don't have any luck with responses on here.

I go to Ajax once a month for meetings so only see the highway and the road to the company I go to.

That would be much appreciated!

LA is great for the Go. And schools. And close to the lake for cooling down in summer. The community Center also has an indoor and out door swim pool.

All is good here for us, for now.

Sorry but what is "LA". I assume you don't mean Los Angeles.

Lower Ajax, south of the 401. :@)

I liked Whitby when I lived there, its a nice little community and city, has everything you need for the most part.

Ok great. Does Ajax have a downtown to speak of? Whitby is a bit more attractive right now as it seems to have a walkable downtown- similar to an English market town.

We live in Brooklin, technically part of Whitby but just north of it. Has a good reputation for families - plenty of elementary schools, both Catholic and not, with a high school planned to open in about 3 years. I'll pm you with some other info.

Whitby is an older looking town, not sure it's walkable as in a small English town, it's more like all along a long stretch of road, at Brock and Dundas. The houses in the Whitby town area are mostly older pre 1970's looking houses and bungalows. Further north, away from the GO and stores the housing is newer. But Whitby is cheaper than Ajax.

In south Ajax my son walks to school, he also walked to work PT at no frills (quit now) swimming, bank, barbers and more, it is 100% walkable IMO.

Also look at Pickering and if budget is king, there is also Oshawa. Would I live in Oshawa? Not close to the Go, no. Maybe north, but then I would miss walking the dog by the lake.

OP needs walking distance to GO and town Centre. Although Brooklin is very nice in a small out of the way, towny way.

I would prefer to drive if I lived in Brooklin. Bus is an option though I suppose.

Brooklin certainly isn't walking distance to GO - you're right, I missed that! However, worth noting that there are are good bus links to the station which are used by a lot of people.

We found some great stuff in Brooklin but I'm put off by the distance North. I may reconsider if the bus links are really good.

Thanks- appreciate the insight. We'll be selling up a two bedroom townhouse in Downtown Toronto, so all things being equal, budget is very flexible.

If you is in Toronto why not get the GO and go takes a lookee see?

Or rent a car