cheesycheese

Hi all,

We're coming across in a couple of weeks time to look at areas to live, find accommodation, etc in preparation for our landing date of May 27th.

We've zoned in on East GTA rather than Toronto itself and the following is important to our choice of area;

* work is in Markham (although I will be working from home and only going there perhaps twice a month) so makes sense to be in East GTA but doesn't have to be in Markham itself.
* we are a family of four with a newborn and a 2 year old so want the 'friendly community' and 'family feel' to the area we live in
* we want to get as much detached house for our money as we can (within reason).
* want to be relatively close to the GO network, parks and the lake if possible.
* my salary is $120k+ so will allow us to have 2 cars, etc. (yes - I am aware of insurance costs! )

Within East GTA, we've picked out Whitby, Ajax and Pickering as the areas that seem to fit the bill. However, these areas seem to be pretty big (and growing) so I wondered if there are any good/bad areas within Whitby/Ajax/Pickering that we should look at/avoid?

For example, Port Whitby looks to be lovely online but when I went on Google StreetView to look at a house that's available there's a bloody great hospital stuck in the middle of it and I don't fancy listening to the sirens at all times of night. It's that sort of local knowledge that I'm looking for really that will give us a start for our recce.

The other thing (and I'm not sure this would exist out in the suburbs) is it would be great if the place we lived in had that 'small town feel' with a 'small town' high street and town centre. I know. I'm asking too much now.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Twitcher1958

Have sent you a PM with some information about your queries.

christmasoompa

If the PM has the same content as your deleted post above, then it would be really helpful if you could share the info on the open forum (taking out any personal stuff, but keeping the general overview of where you live) - that way others searching for info on the area in the future will also benefit from your opinion and help.

Twitcher1958

My advice on your query - for what it's worth! OH works in Pickering and work colleagues suggested Whitby as a good family place.
We met up with a realtor when we came over for a holiday prior to the move and she spent a morning showing us typical houses in the area that we could get for our money. We reestablished contact prior to the move and she was very helpful in filtering houses and passing relevant details to us - I can send you her details if interested.
She introduced us to Brooklin which is technically part of Whitby but just north of it. The town has ballooned over the last 15 years and whilst building is still going on, it's not at the same level, I'm told. It's called a village - ha! We lived in a village of 400 in the UK so don't think 15,000 qualifies! But we like it and have bought a house here - very family orientated, access to good schools, easy to get into Toronto (45 mins on GO train, 15 min drive to station) but close to countryside too.
The 407 toll road is being extended from Pickering through to Oshawa - currently building just west of Brooklin and that is seen as being a good thing for house prices around here - easy drive through to Markham too.
I think it's worth you having a look here - although big and sprawling and pretty bland in some ways, that's fairly typical of the GTA - but there are a lot of young families and lots of family events - for example every Thursday evening through the summer, they close down the square in downtown Brooklin and have a concert - different local band each week. Similarly big events for harvest festival, Christmas etc so you get the impression that they're trying hard to foster comunity spririt.
Hope this helps - let me know if you have any other queries!

magnumpi

Your on safe ground in any of the above communities imo. Further you are east the cheaper the property market becomes.

Tony-the-Tigger

Are you aware that there is a Nuclear power station in Pickering? I'm not trying to put you off - just making you aware. I lived in Pickering for a couple of years, loved it. I would say that it has the majority of facilities within the area.

magnumpi

If course. Duhh. I have a friend who works there. It will be closing in a few years. But if it did go boom I don't think it would just effect the few houses close by, do you?

cheesycheese

Thanks for all the responses so far. Looks like we're on the right track.

Funnily enough, Brooklin was mentioned to us by our realtor as well so great minds and all that.

Tony-the-Tigger

If course - ha ha. Classic! Thanks Homer. Thought I was fairly complimentary about the area. Pity you felt compelled to jump in with that nugget.

markan

Bought house in Whitby in Dec as house prices are cheaper being a bit further east. Markham is easily accessible via Taunton Road if you don't fancy the 407 toll.
Don't know much about Ajax or Pickering, but very happy with our choice.

Secam

Why not live 15 minutes from Markham, surrounded by farmland, in one of the top rated cities in Canada. Take a look at Newmarket. Home prices will be comparable to east GTA.

magnumpi

lol, Bloomin smart phones for ya ehh.

Aberdeen_Loon

Williamsburg in North Whitby is a fairly nice area too (I actually live there). The only thing I don't particularly care for is there are no shops within walking distance (although just about everything you need is 5 minutes away by car). It's also pretty accessible to Markham via Taunton or Highway 7.

But most places in Ajax/Whitby are pretty nice. However, I would personally avoid the White Oaks area of Whitby and near Harwood Avenue south of Highway 2 in Ajax (north of Highway 2/Kingston Road it's fine). The south end of Oshawa can be a bit sketchy too, but the north end is newer and much nicer.

Another poster mentioned Newmarket, which isn't too far from Markham. However, I find Newmarket quite a bit more expensive than Whitby, for example. The nice thing about the east side of the GTA along the lakeshore is better and more frequent GO Train service than the north end.

cheesycheese

Lots of really useful advice so far - thank you.

Newmarket appeared on our radar recently but when we looked at available housing, there wasn't much available at the right price. We'll have a drive there on our recce though to check it out.

On the 2012 MoneySense list, Newmarket comes 19th for weather with Whitby, 9th. Is there any noticeable difference in the weather between towns/cities that are on the lake and those that are a distance away from it (I think Newmarket is about 50km from Lake Ontario isn't it)? And a similar question, is there any noticeable difference in the winter with Newmarket being 50km North. I think I've read somewhere that Lake Ontario provides some sort of micro-climate effect that 'protects' the lakeside towns a little?

Secam

Yes the lake does tend to moderate the temperature a couple of degrees. The only noticeable difference is that when it's raining and +2 in Whitby, it's -1 and snowing in Newmarket.

It really depends on what you're looking for. We like the Newmarket, Holland Landing area because it still has the feeling of a town and is surrounded by open space.

Home prices have gotten a bit crazy in the last two years. Bidding wars on most every listing. I'm not sure that the housing market will crash, but most everyone is quite certain that it will pull back a bit. Point being that if you rented for a year or two in order to get the lay of the land, while at the same time searching for the perfect home, I don't think prices would be higher in two years, rather, they may have come down somewhat.