Goodbye England, Hello Toronto!
 

Hi all,

This is my first time and slightly confused already! We are in the process of relocating to Toronto and would really appreciate any help that anyone can give.

My husband was born in Canada, so the process is automatically that much simpler than most, however I do wonder sometimes. He is in Toronto at the moment and has been for the last 2 months, working. He has been researching areas for us to live and has decided that 'The Beaches' would be the best place for us. We have 2 children, 7 & 4 and although he is currently staying with old family friends in Port Credit, we know no one! He believes that The Beaches would be the ideal place for the kids and also for me to make new friends, do you agree? Unfortunately he is finding it quite hard to find houses to rent in the area, so my next question is, do any of you know of any local rental agencies in the area, that my husband can contact? Or even if you are local, do you know of any houses for rent? :confused:

I look forward to any replies and thank you.

Re: Goodbye England, Hello Toronto!
 

Hi, heres a couple of links to try http://www.click2rent.ca/ and http://www.ontariorental.com/ and http://www.rent-ontario.com/
I hope these are useful and good luck with your move.

Re: Goodbye England, Hello Toronto!
 

Hi, maddhobs, thank you for the links, I will check them out.

Re: Goodbye England, Hello Toronto!
 

I lived in the Beach for fifteen years or so, up until February and one of my children rents there now. Yes, it's very much a family neighbourhood and especially well suited to Brits due to the ready availability of quality beer at the Feathers. If you have, or were to acquire, a dog you would quickly meet people as every else has a dog and they all throw sticks in the lake from the same few points. You could also meet people by crewing at the yacht club or by putting the kids in swimming lessons at one of the many free pools. Be aware that it's not cheap, especially in comparison to Port Credit (where my ex lives). We got about $400,000 for our, barely habitable, 21' wide shed on one of the lesser streets and it's since been flipped.

Since there are a great number of rental properties in the area I think driving up and down is the way to go; start at Vic Park and cruise every street between the lake and Gerrard looking for signs. Traditionally the Beach ends at Woodbine but there are some very nice houses west of there, (north of Queen, I don't mean the tenements on the old racetrack). I'd look at anything east of Greenwood, after that it's probably more Chinese than you'd want. Note that Little India runs along Gerrard from Greenwood to Coxwell, you'll likely want to be near enough for curry delivery without being right there.

Be aware that the transit in the Beach aint all that. It's ok, but slow, if you want to go downtown but north/south or east are tricky.

This is a good guide to Toronto neighbourhoods:

http://www.boldts.net/Toronto.shtml

beware of the Goof. It's a landmark, buy the shirt if you like, don't eat there.

Re: Goodbye England, Hello Toronto!
 

Thank you for the info and the link. That was one of our concerns, wether it may be a bit too pricey! Are there any comparible areas that you can suggest we take a look at?

Re: Goodbye England, Hello Toronto!
 

As you go west along Queen it gets cheaper and scruffier. I like the bit around Greenwood Park, especially the houses to the wast facing the park and the pool, but it's a matter of how scruffy you're prepared to go. One advantage of being over there is that it's quicker to town. Some friends went east from the Beach into Scarborough, past the really flash bit along the lake to the Cliffside Village. They got a really nice house for a sensible price but have to be cautious about the bars in the nearby plaza as they get edgey.

The traditional suggestions are High Park and Bloor West Village but I don't think they're cheaper than the Beach. I suppose it depends how urban you want to be and where you have to go for work; the newly gentrified Port Credit isn't such a terrible place.

Re: Goodbye England, Hello Toronto!
 

Thank you for your suggestions, I will pass them to my husband to check them out. We don't really want to be too urban as initially I will have no transport so would ideally like to be located centrally to everything. Your right Port Credit isn't too bad, but according to my mother-in-law, who lived in the GTA for many years, you don't get that same sense of community there as somewhere like the beaches and she feels that is vital in helping me to settle and meet new people. Also we would like to have a reasonable distance from the family friends, as they can be a bit suffocating!!

Re: Goodbye England, Hello Toronto!
 

I'm not sure about the sense of community in either Port Credit or the Beach. I'd characterise the latter as being very cliquey. However, if you don't have a car, any part of Mississauga would be very difficult whereas I know several beach dwellers who don't drive.

Re: Goodbye England, Hello Toronto!
 

Hi there,
Just to add my 'two penneth', I've been here for over thirty years,originally from the south of England. The 'beach/beaches' is a lovelly area but very expensive, as is Port Credit & Oakville. Mississauga is'nt cheap and tends to be a sprawling mass with no downtown area (my opinion, I have friends that love it,but it's not for me). I live in Brampton,direct GO train to the downtown area of TO. We have our own downtown area with Gage Park, the new Rose theatre, shops,including a Scottish/English bakery, restaurants, museum & art gallery, city hall. Throughout the summer/fall/winter there is always entertainment of some type going on in the downtown area,from music in the park gazebo, old car rally through the town, A Night Santa Claus Parade.The whole of Brampton is full of parks and lakes. There are plenty of rentals or houses to buy at a reasonable cost, the older areas have wonderful houses full of character and if new, modern houses are what your after we have those too.Check out the Brampton Guardian, classified section. Brampton has it's faults, it is a city afterall, somewhat congested in rush hour and expanding at a faster pace than I would like. But I love it and have happily called it home for thirty years. Check it out, it maybe what your looking for too.:thumbsup: