Moving to Toronto

[Eimichan]

Hello people, my little family is moving to toronto in a couple of months and I'm looking for advice/hoping to make some friends!

For the advice part, is there anywhere in the city you would recommend to live? Currently we're thinking High Park. We need a place that's pretty affordable, but safe. We also want to be in a place that's pretty accesible to downtown. We're a mixed race family (I'm white, hubby's asian/latino, little boo looks more like him than me) so multi-cultural is also good. We love nature/greenery, funky little shops/cafes, bookstores, etc. I really didn't want to live in a high-rise building, but it's looking like that might be our only option in terms of price/security.

For anyone looking for some new friends, my man and I are both 27 and our baby is 6 months. I'm a big fan of attachement parenting and practice breastfeeding,babywearing, co-sleeping, gentle discipline, delayed/selective vax, etc. I'm easy-going and friendly, laugh a lot...a little shy. We're Taoist, and very open-minded. We like Yoga, Qigong, Meditation, etc. I have a couple of tattoos that are meaningful to me...love animals and have a hamster and lop. Anyway, send me a msg/add me if you like!

[Cujobunny]

My favourite neighbourhood in Toronto is the Beaches, but alas, too expensive for us! (Maybe someday) so we live in Southwest Scarborough, just north of the bluffs.

Leslieville is nice, trendy, getting more expensive though. Riverdale is nice, Danforth, High Park is quite nice... the thing about all the really nice, trendy areas with all the shops and cafes is that they are the most expensive, of course. But there are lots of areas that are nice and safe and still affordable. Are you looking to buy or rent?

[Mirrormonkey]

I think one of the last affordable areas is St Clair and Dufferin-Landsdowne. With the new streetcar dedicated track going in, travel dt will be super quick. Also there are lots of young families in the area, a great rec center with a huge park, pool and gym. Not to mention all the food and La Paloma which has the best gelato in town!

Or you cuold try Parkdale, it is way safer than when I lived there many years ago and that end of queen west is filling up with lots of fun little shops. Plus you get this wonder cultural mix, along queen is all jamaican-sri lanken etc and then head north up roncesvales and you get all the fantastic eastern european delis and restaurants.

High Park-bloor west has become crazy expensive... There are some slightly more affordable places on the south end of windermere ave, butt hen you are getting closer to the mews which are kinda sketchy.

[Mirrormonkey]

Oh just avoid the whole jane-finch corridor...

[lunachick1976]

The Junction is also a great area of Toronto, and very close to High Park. We've been living here for almost 4 years now and we love it. There are a lot of young families, it has a community-feel to it, lots of parks. We're currently paying $1500/month to rent a whole 3 floor house, so while it's not cheap, it certainly isn't crazy expensive either. The area is very family-friendly and culturally diverse. You can email me at [e-mail] if you have any questions and I'll definitely try to help you out!
Julie

[Eimichan]

Thanks so much for all the great advice! I'll definitly look into all those areas =) We are looking to rent, and can't afford anything too pricey.

[mtm]

high park/roncesvalles is fantastic for attachment parenting but its hard to find affordable rentals.

[Aubergine68]

Originally Posted by Mirrormonkey

I think one of the last affordable areas is St Clair and Dufferin-Landsdowne. With the new streetcar dedicated track going in, travel dt will be super quick. Also there are lots of young families in the area, a great rec center with a huge park, pool and gym. Not to mention all the food and La Paloma which has the best gelato in town!
.

This.

[terranova]

I live in upper bloor west, and have a rental that's not crazy expensive. I'd recommend the Junction (affordable, artsy, good transit, shopping, lots of babies etc) as well although High park in general is not that multicultural compared to other areas. Other neighbourhoods I like include Roncesvalles, Parkdale (possibly still a bit more affordable) and Dufferin Grove (near Bloor/College), although Dufferin at other points like St Claire, Dupont or more south can also be nice. Also like the Annex but it's expensive-ish.

Near here, besides High Park there is also the Humber River.

Amy

[spiralsylph]

We live in The Beaches!

Hey, there!

Looks like there are some cool attachment families here! We just moved to The Beaches in September, and happened to have found a cheap 2 bedroom, right across the street from the lakeshore. I have kids ages 17, 14, and 16 months, and we are unschoolers.

I have found it hard to meet other attachment parents in this part of town, since it is a wealthier area, and most of the moms I meet are on mat leave, and will soon be going back to work to support their upscale lifestyle. What I meet most here are a lot of nannies with babies they are taking care of for busy parents who are out making money!

I am looking for other stay-at-home moms with toddlers, who would like to get together in the afternoons or evenings. We'd love to find some others of like mind in our area, but are willing to meet someone half-way, if they live farther away from us and want to get together.

I can be reached by e-mail or by phone and afternoon or evening. Hope to hear from some other moms soon...

--
Spiral out!!!
Sylph and baby Ever
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