king west: where is the good, the bad and the ugly

[just1time]

i have been looking at king west area and liberty village area for a while now.
I believe these two places(even though i think they are 1) are not going to be the same in the next 5 yrs.
They havegreat potential and with the vibrant mood in these areas, one can tell it is very prospective.
In as much as i love the area, am still a bit skeptical about condo ownerships (bad experience in past) but i am looking at owning two properties in this area in the nearest future. One has to be a pre-constructed condo slated for end of next year or later , and the other has to be by the end of the year.
I like townhouses and have been looking at those avalable in these areas. They is not a lot at all.
basically, townhouses on laidlaw, sudbury st and western battery/niagara and thats it.
Can someone with some experience(residents/real estate agents/workers/commuters) in this area tell me where the good part of king west ends.
i heard the end part of king st is pretty "ghetto" or so. where on king st would you draw the line? Is King/Dufferin a dangerous area?
What are the opinions on the townhomes on sudbury st and laidlaw.
I noticed the townhomes in the streets closer to bathurst ad liberty village seem to sell faster than those on sudbury and laidlaw.
Are there any future or current townhome constructions going on or coming up in king west/liberty village area?


thanks
just1time

 

[Eug]

i have been looking at king west area and liberty village area for a while now.
I believe these two places(even though i think they are 1) are not going to be the same in the next 5 yrs.
They havegreat potential and with the vibrant mood in these areas, one can tell it is very prospective.
In as much as i love the area, am still a bit skeptical about condo ownerships (bad experience in past) but i am looking at owning two properties in this area in the nearest future. One has to be a pre-constructed condo slated for end of next year or later , and the other has to be by the end of the year.
I like townhouses and have been looking at those avalable in these areas. They is not a lot at all.
basically, townhouses on laidlaw, sudbury st and western battery/niagara and thats it.
Can someone with some experience(residents/real estate agents/workers/commuters) in this area tell me where the good part of king west ends.
i heard the end part of king st is pretty "ghetto" or so. where on king st would you draw the line? Is King/Dufferin a dangerous area?
What are the opinions on the townhomes on sudbury st and laidlaw.
I noticed the townhomes in the streets closer to bathurst ad liberty village seem to sell faster than those on sudbury and laidlaw.
Are there any future or current townhome constructions going on or coming up in king west/liberty village area?

I used to live near King and Bathurst, and that area is definitely more interesting than Sudbury IMO, and even more interesting than King and Dufferin. I don't find King and Dufferin dangerous, but if you like gentrification like most downtown condo-ers, King and Bathurst is more appealing. Not a big surprise as it's quite easy to walk from King and Bathurst to Queen and Spadina, but it's significantly more of a jaunt from King and Dufferin. Maybe I'm just lazy, but I don't think I would ever consistently walk from King and Dufferin to Queen and Spadina, but not infrequently walked to there from King and Bathurst.

It depends on what you like to do and where you want to go though of course. Some benefits of being a bit more west are for example a nice brunch place like Mildred's Temple Kitchen, or maybe if you're a recreational climber you could walk down to Joe Rockhead's climbing gym.

Also, it depends on what kind of time you have. When I bought in the King/Bathurst area in the 1990s, some people wondered why because it was a bit ghetto. That changed very quickly. I'm not suggesting that King/Dufferin will change anywhere near as quickly, but I do suspect it will change with time.