High Park, Toronto

Around the Neighbourhood

Cultural landmarks: High Park itself anchors everything, with Colborne Lodge, the 1837 Regency cottage now run as a city museum, near the south end, and the High Park Amphitheatre that hosts Canadian Stage’s Dream in High Park every summer (the 2026 run is Twelfth Night).

Hot local spots: the Grenadier Cafe inside the park has done all-day breakfast for more than 40 years, while the Bloor strip keeps the coffee and wine flowing at the long-running Coffee Tree and the newer Lyla’s House.

Parks & green space: this is the easy one. High Park, Toronto’s largest, brings 400 acres, the spring cherry blossoms, a free zoo (ask about the capybaras), the Grenadier Pond and miles of trail.

Your Typical Neighbour

The official City profile for this area (High Park North) puts the population around 22,000, and the household mix tells the story: a large share of one-person households (roughly 43%) alongside a solid core of families with kids (around 34%). It reads as two overlapping crowds… established, higher-income families in the houses, and singles and couples in the apartments and newer condos along Bloor, drawn by the park and the subway. Incomes sit at the Toronto median (about $84,000 for households in 2020). The common thread is people who chose the address for the green space.

Source: City of Toronto Neighbourhood Profile, High Park North, 2021 Census

What We Love

The park, full stop, and the fact that you can live beside it without giving up a subway commute. Cyclists can cut through to the waterfront Martin Goodman Trail and ride downtown without fighting traffic. Summer here has its own rhythm: the cherry blossoms in spring, Shakespeare under the stars at the amphitheatre, the zoo and the pond. And the housing stock is genuinely lovely… leaded glass, hardwood, fireplaces, the kind of character you can’t fake in a new build.

What We Don’t Love

Money. To own a house here you need a lot of it, and bidding wars are normal. The park’s popularity cuts both ways, too: cherry blossom season turns the south end and Parkside into gridlock, and weekend parking near the park is a contact sport. Lovely problems to have, but real ones.

Real Estate

Mature trees over streets of large single-family homes, most of them Tudor, Edwardian and Victorian from the late 1800s and early 1900s, many still carrying their leaded glass, hardwood trim and fireplaces. Some of the grander houses have been carved into multiplexes. Along Bloor there’s a layer of high-rise rental buildings and a growing number of newer condos, which have broadened who can buy in… they’re popular with downsizers chasing park views and a lock-and-leave lifestyle. Detached freeholds rarely sell below seven figures and bidding wars are the rule, so come with your homework done and your best offer ready. New to all this? Start with our First-Time Buyer guide.

(Current prices and days on market appear in the live statistics block below, updated quarterly.)

Schools

This is a haven for community-engaged families. The schools are respected, in demand, and the families whose children attend them tend to be actively involved.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Runnymede Junior & Senior Public School
Annette Street Public School
Garden Avenue Public School
Howard Public School
Keele Street Public School
High Park Alternative Junior School
Swansea Public School

SENIOR SCHOOLS

Humberside Collegiate Institute

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

St. Pius X Catholic School
St. Cecilia Catholic School

PRIVATE SCHOOLS

High Park Gardens Montessori
Humberside Montessori School

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

Transit

The Bloor-Danforth subway is the workhorse, with High Park, Keele and Runnymede stations along the northern edge and a straight, no-transfer run into downtown. Buses fill in along Dundas, streetcars serve the southern jog toward the Queensway, and drivers reach the Gardiner quickly via Parkside Drive. For a house neighbourhood this well connected to rapid transit, it’s a rare combination.