The Lowdown on Parkdale

Your Typical Neighbour

Typical doesn’t seem to fit in Parkdale. Largely a working class neighbourhood, both higher and lower income families are present from a diverse demographic that includes new Canadians (Tibetan, West Indian, North African) to growing families, all the way to artists and musicians who exhibit locally.

What We

There is a ton of character in this neighbourhood. Old mansions, Art Deco apartment buildings, towering mature trees, and above all, potential. If you’ve got a few bucks and an open mind, there are still great investments to be made here, whether you’re an end user or not. Also, roti. You can find some DAMNED fine roti in the P-dale.

What We Don't

Some will be put off by the extreme of the diversity here. Not everyone can find the appeal in the remaining gritty pockets of the area.

Property Statistics in Parkdale

Source: TREB Statistics

Character and mature trees are a hallmark of this aged Toronto neighbourhood. If you are a prospective buyer here, a house (as opposed to a condo) is likely what you’re looking for as most of the apartment stock in the area is exclusively rental. While townhouses and condos do exist here, you have to look hard to find them. The influence of numerous apartment buildings, in combination with the many large multi-unit and group homes has left Parkdale as one of the last holdouts for undervalued properties in the city.

Gentrification has been slower here as a result of the lower income-suited properties, and this has been a benefit to a buyer willing to forego move-in ready in favour of attainability and longer term potential. The neighbourhood has a local library and three (count ’em THREE) community centres that serve local residents. It’s one of the few places in the city that TRREB reported as having a lower average price for a fully detached home in 2012 as compared to a semi. Interestingly, current zoning bylaws seem to favour a return to single family dwellings, information that will be valuable to those interested in a Parkdale Purchase.

Area: 2km

Population: 21,245

Demographics

Kids: 12%

Youth: 11%

Seniors: 10%

Visible Minority: 55.5%

Average Family Income: $51,402

Education

Lower Education: 36.9%

Higher Education: 7.7%

Home Ownership

Owned Homes: 9%

Tenanted Homes: 91%

There are a few more public than separate, and it’s important to note that if your youngsters are of a high school age in the Catholic system, they will have a little ways to go to get to the nearest option.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Queen Victoria Public School
Holy Family Catholic School
Garden Avenue Public School
Fern Avenue Public School
Odyssey Montessori School
Parkdale Public School

SENIOR SCHOOLS

Parkdale Collegiate Institute
Mary, Mother of God School

There is an abundance of transit options here. 24-hour streetcars on both King and Queen, as well as the Dufferin St bus all offer easy access to the subway line should you need it. The simplicity with which drivers can access both the Gardiner Expressway and Lake Shore Blvd make Parkdale attractive to anyone working outside the downtown core.

About Parkdale

Welcome to Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood.

Parkdale is a happening part of ‘the six’ that is home to a diverse wealth of ethnicities, incomes brackets, and occupations. The eclectic, artsy, and entrepreneurial, makeup of this area of Toronto has attracted hoards of young professionals, and young families, looking for that ‘village vibe’ in the thick of the big city.

Around the early 1900s, Parkdale was a well-to-do suburb of Toronto that displayed an array of stately homes, mansions, and Victorian-era row housing. Construction of the Gardiner Expressway resulted in the demolition of many key parts of the neighbourhood and created a barrier between what was then considered Parkdale ‘territory’ and the north shores of Lake Ontario. Shortly after, many established and higher-income residents moved out of Parkdale and construction of apartment buildings replaced whole blocks of homes with towering, more modern, structures – once considered ‘architecturally innovative’ in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Yet as we are all familiar…history repeats itself. Today, Parkdale is one of Toronto’s most sought-after area’s of the city and higher-income households have become majority ‘stakeholders’ of some of Parkdale’s finest homes and lots. However, there are still a lot of rentals available, particularly seen in the division of larger, heritage, homes into smaller rental units. Millennials looking to escape the white picket fence nature of other outermost areas of the city have found a home in Parkdale’s culturally-rich, innovative, and off-beat nature. The combination of city grit with village charms is unique to the area. A part of ‘the six’ with real estate prices that continue to rise with perpetually increasing demand.

Parkdale is a place of tight-knit community and shop-local mentality. Residents can be seen strolling in and out of local vintage stores such as Public Butter Vintage with a latte from Capital Espresso in hand on weekends. It is a neighbourhood that takes pride in its surroundings and is consistently on the cutting edge. Real estate in Parkdale is in high demand – click here to see properties for sale.


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