Sparky2008

My husband and I, and our 6yr old/10yr old kids are going to be moving from Vancouver to Toronto. Husband will be commuting downtown Toronto. We want to live in a quiet, kid friendly area with lots of elementary/high schools within walking distance. Has to be walking distance to the Go Train. Would like to be close to a few shops, coffee shops etc but not interested in the city area at all. Can anyone please guide me in the right direction to start even looking at areas we might like??

There's only one place that keeps coming up as a good place to live and that's Oakville?

Look forward to hearing from you!

Cheers. Sparky

magnumpi

LOL Its always Oakville, must be the Oakie name meaning wooded city full of Villas, with a tree in every garden. I must admit, even we did a recce of Oakville when we first wanted to move. Bit pricey though for us. But if you selling a 2 million dollar 2 bed town house in Van then you maybe ok there.

Just download the GO train map and pick a town, there's lots to choose from. Do the google street thing and MLS for house price comparison, and then go with what feels good for you.

Largo

Burlington would be a good choice, and perhaps not quite as expensive as Oakville

Oakvillian

Walking distance to the GO is a challenge in Oakville if you also want schools & coffee shops in easy reach. I suppose the condo towers and older homes on Kerr St just south of Cornwall/Speers would be about walkable, but - how to put this - I'm not sure it's the kind of neighbourhood that's in most people's minds when they think of Oakville. Generally speaking, on one side of the train tracks you have light-industrial and commercial zoning, on the other side is the QEW. How far is "walking distance" when it's -20 outside?

Having said that, if you're after avoiding multiple car ownership, the bus service to the GO is usually very good. When I was commuting downtown daily, I could plan to leave home later if I was catching the bus than if I drove to the station, as my bus stop is closer to my house than the nearest regularly available parking space was to the station entrance. For both Oakville station in the eastern part of the town and Bronte in the west, the bus system uses the GO stations as transit hubs, and the schedules are built around the train service for morning and evening commutes.

Cyan

You should check out the Streetsville area of Mississauga. Most houses are walking distance to the GO Train station, and it has a quaint village like feel with a couple of Irish and English pubs.

dbd33

<imagines a tin of biscuits with an image of Streetsville on the lid>

<snorts>

Aberdeen_Loon

I'm somewhat biased, but you'll get far more house for your money on the east side of the city. Here in Whitby, there's a fairly similar feel to that of Oakville, but far cheaper. There are also houses that are walking distance to the GO Train (as well as to downtown Whitby in the other direction).

HGerchikov

What Oakvillian says is mostly correct, but there are some very nice residential areas within walking distance to the GO with restaurants, coffee shops readily available - large portions of the district known as 'Old Oakville' (and Riverside Drive area) fall under this category. However, the schools, at least High Schools, are not so accessible.

Prospector

This is my first post here, and you'll have to forgive me as I am NOT a Brit - I have lived in Ontario my entire life. (Actually there was a time in Georgia, and another in Clagary, but I have always called Ontario home)

I am answering this because I actually work in the Traffic field, and need to point out that the GO stations in Both communities you are talking about are not especially pedestrian friendly. I came across your question while researching some traffic issues in a community you are considering.

The great failure of the Canadian - well Toronto Area anyways - transportation network is that we do an adequate job of moving people in cars and trains and busses, but have never gotten down the bit about integrating the transfers between the modes. This means traffic issues surround the stations every time a train arrives. Folks who live within walking distance of the train will usually have the greatest issues until traffic disperses.

Most folks around here drive to the train - the walkers and cyclists end up stranded in a traffic gridlock as the drivers get loose and reckless on the roads trying to escape the vortex that is paradoxically referred to as a GO Station.

If you are considering a transit/pedestrian/cycling friendly place to live, please call the city hall and ask for the traffic section before you move. Ask an engineer or planner or even receptionist if they get many calls at transfer times when the trains arrive. You will likely discover different attitudes towards the problem in different jurisdictions.

FWIW - the Town of Richmond Hill is in the late planning stages for a multi-modal transit hub to be built in the coming years. If you are in teh early stages of getting things together to come over, reserving a condo there now could see you living in a building directly connected to the subway, Go Transit, York Region Rapid Transit, and regular surface transit. Richmond Hill is a mostly chinese, affluent, progressive community that has a strong IT and business community.

dbd33

The subway? In Richmond Hill?

Prospector

I thought I had replied to you, but it didn't show up, maybe this forum has a delay.

In any case, yes, and Vaughan too. While Toronto has been stumbling with making its mind up on Transit, York Region is forging ahead. Vaughan should get a subway first, but in my opinion, Richmond Hill is doing a better job of integrating their modes and the subway should work better with GO transit, YRT, VIVA, and even taxis. Richmond Hill is remodelling their stretch of Yonge Street to become more transit friendly.

If I were to choose between the two right now based on public transit and nothing else, Richmond Hill would win hands-down. There will be public outcry at implementation time though since a lot of people will have to change their habits to adapt to this model. Its a big gamble for the town.

Here is the city of Toronto project page: http://www.toronto.ca/involved/projects/yongesubway/
The TTC project page: http://www.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Proj...sion/index.jsp
and the YRT project page: http://www.vivanext.com/yonge_extension

There have been rumours of delays from Toronto, and it has been a political issue, but to scrap the plans at this point would be very surprising based on what I know. If you know anything about teh Mayor of Toronto, you know what I am talking about. I'll leave this at that.

iaink

Posts with links from new posters go in the moderator queue... its a way to discourage spammers.

Shard

There is a good guide called Toronto Neighbourhoods both in print form and as an online site. Good starting point, just Google it.

dbd33

I'd be rather surprised if there were to be tunnels dug all the way out there. Even more so if people were to use a subway from there to commute to work in Toronto; they'd need to take sleeping bags and camping stoves.

Prospector

Ummm. Yeah.
http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2012/07/...age-connection

So you're guessing that they will stop these guys short of the intended finish? Do a little more homework and you may change your mind. You are aware that GO is running beyond its planned capacity in peak hours as far north as Barrie?