Niagara

Around the Neighbourhood

Cultural landmarks: Fort York National Historic Site on Garrison Road, the War of 1812 garrison that still runs costumed tours and hosts summer concerts on Garrison Common, plus Stackt Market at 28 Bathurst, the shipping-container market with rotating shops, food vendors and events.

Hot local spots: the King Street West strip just east is the main event for dining and drinks, and Stackt Market covers the casual end closer to home with its vendors and beer hall.

Parks & green space: Stanley Park is the neighbourhood green and dog-walking hub, with Victoria Memorial Square’s small historic green and the wide lawns of Garrison Common at Fort York filling in.

Your Typical Neighbour

Niagara is a young, professional, renter-heavy pocket (50%), the kind of place people land when they want downtown without the full King West volume. Expect couples and singles who work in Liberty Village, King West or the core, plenty of dog owners who know each other from Stanley Park, and a growing number of families who stretched a condo or townhome to make it work rather than leave. Incomes track around and above the city median, and the housing is overwhelmingly condos and townhomes rather than houses.

Source: City of Toronto Neighbourhood Profile, Niagara, 2016 Census 

What We Love

The location does the heavy lifting. You can walk to King West dining, Liberty Village offices, Stackt Market and Fort York’s summer concerts, and still be home in ten minutes. Stanley Park gives the neighbourhood a real centre and a social one, and the newer cafe and dining spots opening west of Bathurst keep adding reasons to stay local instead of crossing the street into King West.

What We Don’t Love

Now that we can’t blame the old smell of the abattoir anymore, we will say it plainly: some of the townhome and condo designs here are just plain boring, a wall of similar grey boxes. And by the time the 504 King streetcar reaches you at rush hour, it is already packed. Build a little patience into the commute.

Real Estate

Niagara is a condo and townhome neighbourhood with a long industrial backstory. The early 2000s flipped the area from business to housing, and most of the rotating inventory is condos in a wide range of sizes and prices, including hard-loft conversions like the Massey Harris Lofts and Gotham Lofts. The old Quality Meat Packers and Toronto Abattoirs lands on Tecumseth, just south of Wellington, are slated for a new mixed-use development, so the supply story here is not finished. Houses on the side streets are scarce and move fast when they appear. New to the market? Start with our First-Time Buyer guide.

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

Schools

There are a small handful. That is to say there are a couple, but not a few. Solid reputations go along with what IS there.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Niagara Street Junior Public School

SECONDARY SCHOOLS

St. Mary’s Catholic Secondary School

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

Transit

King, Queen and Bathurst are all served by streetcars, with the 504 King and 511 Bathurst doing most of the work into the core. Exhibition GO and the Gardiner are close for longer trips, and a good share of residents skip transit entirely and walk to work. The main knock is the same as the rest of the west end: the streetcars are crowded when you need them most.