Wychwood Hillcrest

Around the Neighbourhood

Cultural landmarks: Artscape Wychwood Barns, the restored 1913 streetcar barns now home to studios, galleries and The Stop’s Saturday farmers market, plus the private enclave of Wychwood Park, an 1870s artists’ colony of heritage homes around a pond.

Hot local spots: along St Clair West you have the Wychwood Pub, the long-running Ferro Bar and Cafe, the bistro mainstay The Rushton, and Nodo for Italian up at Hillcrest.

Parks & green space: Hillcrest Park, with one of the best skyline views in the city from the top of the hill, plus the green around the Barns and the ravine edges toward Cedarvale.

Your Typical Neighbour

Wychwood Hillcrest is well-educated and family-leaning. About half of adult residents hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, and roughly three-quarters have some postsecondary education. Families with kids make up around 35% of households, with another fifth couples without children, and about a third are people living alone, mostly in the St Clair West apartments. It is an established, professional crowd: people who bought the house, raised the kids and stayed, layered with younger families trading up from condos. Wychwood Park sits at the wealthier end of that range, with its own private road and upkeep fees.

Source: City of Toronto Neighbourhood Profile, Wychwood, 2021 Census

What We Love

The Barns, more than anything. A community space that runs a farmers market, an art studio and seasonal events in one heritage building gives the neighbourhood a centre most pockets this size do not have. Add Hillcrest Park’s view, the quiet tree-lined streets, and a St Clair strip that has slowly filled with good cafes and restaurants, and you have a neighbourhood that works on foot for daily life. The housing stock is genuinely handsome too, from the grand homes near the park to the solid semis below.

What We Don’t Love

The hill is real, and so is the climb home with groceries. The St Clair West streetcar dispute and dedicated right-of-way construction left some residents wary of the strip’s stop-start retail, and while it has recovered, a few storefronts still turn over. It is also not cheap: the detached homes near the park command serious money, and the well-priced semis disappear fast. If you want a lively night scene, you will be travelling for it.

Real Estate

Wychwood Hillcrest is mostly early-twentieth-century houses: large detached homes on the upper streets near Hillcrest Park, solid brick semis on the blocks below, and a band of apartments and a few condos along St Clair West. Wychwood Park is its own world, a designated heritage conservation district of architecturally significant homes around a private pond, rarely on the market and priced accordingly. Inventory is tight across the board, so the well-kept family houses tend to move quickly and often over ask. Buyers here are usually trading up for space and a school district rather than chasing a deal. New to the market? Start with our First-Time Buyer guide.

Schools

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Mcmurrich Jr Public School
Winona Drive Sr Public School
École élémentaire Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau
Hillcrest Community School

SENIOR SCHOOLS

Oakwood Collegiate Institute
École secondaire Toronto Ouest

CATHOLIC & PRIVATE SCHOOLS

St Bruno Catholic School
Wychwood School
ÉÉC du Sacré-Coeur-Toronto
St. Bruno/St. Raymond Catholic School
St. Alphonsus Catholic School
Saint-Frère-André
Holy Rosary Catholic School
St. Mary of the Angels Catholic Elementary School

For school rankings and Fraser Institute scores, see our interactive Toronto school map

Transit

The 512 St Clair streetcar runs in its own right-of-way along the top of the neighbourhood, feeding the St Clair and St Clair West stations on the Yonge-University line, with the Bathurst bus on the west edge. It is a reliable midtown-to-downtown run, and drivers reach the Allen and the downtown core without much drama outside rush hour.