Recommended areas in Toronto area (GTA) to check out on scouting trip
Sep 20th 2016, 11:07 pm
#46
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jan 2011
Location: Orton, Ontario
Posts: 2,031
Re: Recommended areas in Toronto area (GTA) to check out on scouting trip
In Ontario full-day kindergarten begins (Junior Kindergarten, JK) in the September of the calendar year in which the child turns 4 - so if, as you indicate, your currently-3-year-old turns 4 in December 2016 then she would just have started JK this month, will begin Senior Kindergarten (SK) in September of 2017, and Grade 1 the following year (Sept 2018).
I'm a bit late to this thread so haven't much to add beyond what has already been said. A couple of things to highlight:
I'm a bit late to this thread so haven't much to add beyond what has already been said. A couple of things to highlight:
- For inner suburbia, the area around High Park or Bloor West Village would give you an easy commute to the U of T campus. But for a very approximate London reference point, you'd need to think in terms of Kilburn or West Hampstead rather than anywhere further out into the Herts countryside than about Edgware or Barnet; it's still relatively speaking in the middle of the city. And the market for detached houses - both to buy and to rent - is tight right now, with elevated prices reflecting that.
- Going further out of downtown, the usual advice is to keep within easy distance of the Lakeshore GO train lines - these are (still) the only GO commuter services that offer trains all day instead of a combination of trains and buses, and are are much better bet for both peak-hours commuting as well as the only realistic option for off-peak travel. East of Toronto that means Pickering/Ajax/Whitby/Oshawa, while heading West it means Mississauga/Oakville/Burlington.
- dbd33's description of Port Credit (part of Mississauga), in his usual inimitable style, goes equally for much of the development along the lake. The approximate dividing line is the QEW highway, south of which are typically older subdivisions with larger lots and mature trees, while north of the highway there are newer developments with smaller lots and less space between houses. However, prices for the bits near the lake match the perceptions of superiority that come with the older, larger lots! For those of us mere mortals who can't afford that, there are some decent bits further north in all three municipalities, but also some featureless acreages of identikit tract housing; a good realtor can guide you (paging HGerchikov of this parish, who is one of those...). I'm biased, but I think Oakville's a great place to bring up kids; we have three in the local school system and fully immersed in extracurriculars, and they are all thriving on it!
- Unsurprisingly, house prices command a premium when they're within easy reach of a GO station. But the GO service itself is generally excellent on the Lakeshore line. I haven't commuted into Toronto for a few years now, but when I did (from Oakville, about a 10 minute bus ride from the train station) it would take me significantly less than an hour door-to-desk to my office in the downtown core, a block from Union station. In your case I'd add an additional 15-20 mins for the TTC ride the other end.
- Novocastrian knows of what he speaks when it comes to senior academic postings in Toronto. He's now departed these shores for a comfortable, warm and very gloating retirement gallivanting around Europe, but had been around the quad a few times before he buggered off...
Sep 21st 2016, 12:20 pm
#47
Concierge
Joined: Jun 2011
Location: Oakville, ON, CA
Posts: 8,320
Re: Recommended areas in Toronto area (GTA) to check out on scouting trip
I consider myself paged! although I have to say you haven't left me much to add. We chose Oakville to raise our kids for the same reasons as Oakvillian, it has a relatively small town feel (even though it is quite big and getting bigger), good schools, and good transportation into Toronto via the GO. We didn't really have a lot of time to make a decision, Oakville was the first place we visited and it worked for us so we just went with it. We have not regretted it.
