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Regent Park

Ryan999

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hello;
i am considering purchasing a home in the area west of parliament, between dundas and shuter.
i know it's an up an coming area, as the new condos have just went up at dundas/parliament, and on streets like berkely there are beautiful upscale houses.

does anyone have any insight into how the area will be changing? perhaps the shops along parliament, or on shuter/dundas.

thanks!
r
 
I've lived on Seaton St between Dundas and Shuter for almost three years. I'm moving in July (bought a place in Corktown). Living here is definitely interesting. You will see drug use, prostitution, homeless guys fighting one another, etc, etc. If the area is up-and-coming, it's in the very very early stages. The Moss Park apartments and the Meighen shelter require some serious redevelopment - as they are, they're not helping anybody.

That said, I don't regret living here. The houses on Seaton, Ontario, Berkeley, etc. are beautiful, as you said, and the neighbours are nice. You can walk most everywhere. Way more upside than downside for us, but then we're two twenty-somethings who don't scare easy. Aside from someone shattering my car window once a couple of years ago, we've had zero issues with crime.

As for redevelopment, I think Regent Park will have a positive effect - it's too bad I won't be around when the Sobey's opens. The best Thai food in the city (Sukhothai) is also on Parliament, smack in between Dundas and Shuter, so it's bringing some crowds to the area that wouldn't show up otherwise.
 
I just bought on Milan St. in mid-January.

As GraphicMatt said, you'll see some unpleasant things, but it's probably worth it. I was looking at homes near woodbine and danforth, and never thought I would be able to afford to live so close to the core. Luckily, a lot of people seem adverse to living in this area, so there are deals to be had. If you're planning on sticking around a while, I think this area is going to be a lot different in 10-15 years. A lot.
 
I had friends who lived in houses on Seaton, both north and south of Dundas, in the late '70s/early '80s when it was a dowdy working class neighbourhood. It's safe to say that most of us thought that by now it would be as renovated and revived as prime Cabbagetown has become, given the gentrification that was happening to the downtown east side even then. But, if anything, things went in the opposite direction.
 
There are certainly no guarantees in life. The redevelopment of Regent Park will have a huge impact on the area, but it's certainly not the only trouble spot around. At the same time the gentrification of Lower Sherbourne is continuing northward (The Modern, Kormann House). Queen and Parliament is better than it was 5 years ago, the suburban hideousness of the Shoppers Drug Mart notwithstanding.

Even if all this doesn't come to pass (although, pending some disaster, Regent Park being remade seems a shoo-in), one can snag a house which would have only cost the same were it kilometers away from the city centre. It doesn't bother me to live in (to borrow from the Simpsons) "Crackton", as I'm also close to everything else.
 
thanks!

thanks to you all for your responses.

right now i live near the spot someone mentioned as "lower sherbourne". i bought a condo at richmond/sherbourne in '03 and it was sketchier then than it is now..you can just tell by the pedestrian traffic. there are some homeless who hang outside the tim horton's but i've never ever had a problem. i made a pretty good profit from what i paid for it then (i just sold it), so i'm used to things being a little rough around the edges. i do want some kind of house but don't want to go to the 'burbs, so to get that in the city, you need to be close to some questionable spots..unless of course your budget is much higher than mine.

just yesterday i did a walkthrough around dundas parliament and a few of the streets (berkely/poulett, seaton), and that new condo on its own is changing the look and feel of the immediate area.

anyway, thanks again folks.
r
 
I think you've got the right attitude, and I'd back your decision. I think it's terribly depressing when people write off whole sections of the city as 'bad areas' as if there's something innately wrong with the buildings or the people there.
 
I know this thread is a couple of weeks old now, but since I live on Seaton St. in the block you describe, I thought I should pipe up. My wife & I bought a home here in 2007, after initially looking (like you!) in the East York (East Danforth) area. Given our price range at the time, we thought that East York was our best bet, but when we saw a possibility on Seaton (although slightly more expensive than the places in East York we were looking at) the possibility of living downtown, walking to work, not being chained to the TTC, and living in a house rather than a condo became a reality. We had looked at many, many places back then (going to open houses, etc. for over a year) and really thought hard about our options.
We were familiar with the South Cabbagetown area (having already looked at a place on Berkeley and frequented some of the restaurants in the area) and knew it was a somewhat colourful area. But in the end, we thought the area was tremendous value (in our opinion moreso than the other areas we had considered like East York & Leslieville) so we bought.
Three years later we are both extremely happy with our decision. We have loved living in the area, within short walking distance to the Distillery, Riverdale Park/Farm, St. Lawrence Market & the Rainbow Cinemas, Allen Gardens, restaurants/bars/stores on Parliament, many grocery options, all kinds of interesting/changing options in Corktown.

Some changes that we've seen in the last few years (apart from the obvious Regent Park revitalization):
-3 new banks have opened in the area and two large grocery stores. If this is not a good sign, I don't know what is.
-Several major condo developments stretching from the Sherbourne/Adelaide northward and Eastward.
-Eclectic retail opening from Queen/Sherbourne going east along Queen & many more restaurant options along here.
-The Shoppers Drug Mart at Queen & Parliament (although hideously suburban looking, I agree) is very convenient for purchasing staples (good deals on milk and frozen baguettes!)

You are living downtown and of course, you are going to see unsightly things. Hookers & johns do utilize the alleyways (as they do other alleyways in the city). Seeing an old bike messenger's penis while I was trying to retrieve my bike from the garage one morning was not something I wanted to wake up to. But I would say that the type of activity has steadily gone down over the last three years. And we feel really safe walking about. My wife frequently goes jogging in the area and isn't bothered.

There aren't a lot of families with kids in the area. I hope that will change. There are two demographics we're really seeing move into the area lately: professional 20-30 somethings (w/o kids) -- we fall into this group -- and more established same-sex couples.

The best thing about the area has been the community. The Cabbagetown South association is active in the area and the people who live in the area are always out working on their yards, etc. and up for a chat. They have helped us settle in and everyone looks out for each other. I haven't owned a condo but I have lived in several apartment high-rises and have never had this type of community experience in a tower. I can only imagine that within a few years many of those moving into the nearby condo developments will outgrow those digs and a good fraction of them will look for single-family housing nearby (which is in very short supply).

So of course, by no means is my opinion unbiased, but I feel very positively about the South Cabbagetown area. It's been a great few years here for us, and hopefully many more. Best of luck to you in your search.
 
Seeing an old bike messenger's penis while I was trying to retrieve my bike from the garage one morning was not something I wanted to wake up to.

Reading that weirded me out, because I immediately thought in terms of "severed"...
 
Questions re: Regent Park and OnePark West

Yesterday, I came across an ad for OnePark West, which (if I understand correctly) is phase 2 of the Daniels development project in Regent Park.

As someone who's a wannabe first-time buyer (and exploring all options), I wondered if anyone out there can answer the following questions:

(1) Is there any info out there about OnePark West? I've gone to the URL and right now, they're in the registration phase, so there's absolutely zip there.

(2) I realize that as a multi-year redevelopment, it's going to be quite awhile before any of the intended changes/benefits of the redevelopment will be apparent. But HAVE there been any changes in the neighbourhood in recent years? If anyone reading this lives in the area (whether at OneCole or elsewhere), I'd appreciate your candid answers.

Apologies if this is stupid or repetitive - I'm brand-new to Urban Toronto, so if this information is actually mentioned in another forum thread, point me in the right direction. Thanks!
 
DC33:

Welcome to the forum. There are a few members who live close by who could give you a better picture, but I think the issue of serious crimes have receded - RP used to be more of a trouble spot but it has more of less dropped off as an issue over the past decade (esp. the last 5 years).

Here are the threads with more info on the projects:

http://urbantoronto.ca/showthread.php?488-Regent-Park-Phase-1-(Daniels-various)
http://urbantoronto.ca/showthread.php?9102-Regent-Park-Phase-2-(Daniels-various)

AoD
 
While this is up, does anyone know what's holding up the Sobey's at Dundas? I see they've applied for a variance, but I believe it's for the parking lot, could that be the issue?
 

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