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Downtown Markham

Hi Mark! Welcome to Canada!
From my understanding of what you wrote above, I think the best place for you to move would actually be in Toronto around Yonge between the 401 and Steeles.

Finch and Yonge is a 7km drive from your place of work here, and the area offers a lot more than any area of Markham. The area is called North York City Centre, and is full of bars, restaurants, 2 huge cinemas, gorcery stores and anything you will need. Also, if you wish to go downtown for events, living south of Steeles in Toronto is much easier: the transit is 24/hrs 9vs north of Steeles, which ends wuite early and even then most buses come once every hour, and cost more money).

The area has had a lot of development with highrises, but basically only on Yonge, so the off streets are all older bungalows with large rooms, and a lot of new townhouses have been built on streets like Doris and Kenneth. Living within walking distance of Yonge, South of Steeles will really give you a better quality of life for what you want.
 
I mean downtown Markham probably isn't too bad of a drive ... the problem being you'd be going down the 404, which can suck in that stretch consistently ... maybe if you took streets like Warden it isn't too bad.

Downtown Markham is NOT a 3 or 4 year project, realistically it is a lot longer term (i.e. 10 years or so) so you'd be dealing with construction headaches for a very long time ... but of course there are postives, if it does well, maybe the units appreciate a lot in value !


Transit isn't great, but its not as terrible as some make it, it really depends where you want to go : - ) ... going downtown isn't simple (probably 1.15 -> 1.45) , getting to say Farview mall isn't so bad, one bus trip.


Condos in NYCC actually aren't priced that high, Downtown Markham is not that cheap at all btw ! But townhomes are less.
 
Going downtown is simple from Unionville GO.. 38 minute train ride or a ~30 minute bus ride off peak, with the bus coming every 30 mins. 7 morning trains starting at 5:50 Am and the last departing at 9:15, with 8 return trains leaving Union between 2:18 and 7:18.

There are HOV lanes on the 404 which makes things 1000x easier as well if you can manage to find a way to use them. (Green vehicles get into them without a second passenger, for example, so you could get a prius plug in or something and get free access to them)
 
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Honestly the HOV lanes only help to get to the 401, but that's a good point, if you can get off there, you are set. But getting further south is a huge pain depending on the time of day.
Given where you are working, you could go to the 401 - go east (which is not easy unfortunately ... there is tunel to 401 west, but east, you need to get all the way across). I wouldn't be surprised if you find going west to Leslie is just way faster then going east to Vic Park or wherever you need to get too.

Getting downtown on that bus is OK ... I did it, a lot, the busses of HOV lanes going further down, but it can still be a painful ride, the train is great.
 
New retailers coming to Downtown Markham - Curry's Art Supplies, DECO-it, and Thai Express:

http://www.prlog.org/12310160-remington-group-adds-more-retailers-to-downtown-markham.html

Three new retailers have been signed to The Remington Group’s first phase of development at Downtown Markham. Curry’s Artists’ Materials, Deco-IT and Thaï Express join an already impressive array of retail offerings in the culturally infused mixed-use development. “Downtown Markham will be more than a typical lifestyle centre,†affirms Chris Bratty, President, Land Developments and Investments, The Remington Group. “While we have fantastic food and entertainment options we will also have retailers that inspire the creative class. This month we welcome Curry’s, an artistic staple in the GTA, DECO-it, a popular tech accessory retailer, and Thaï Express, a modern favourite for fast, healthy food.â€
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Nothing too interesting ..

Where as these going ?
 
I would presume the Ciniplex building.

The Curry's is the only semi interesting one, but in general I am liking the retail selections they are making. Its a lot of more specialty stuff, stuff that people are willing to go a distance for, which will do great things for attracting people from around Markham instead of the people just living in the condos around it.
 
I do agree though, better then a bank or what not. I love that artist store : - ) ... I just meant nothing too special, but good nonetheless.
 
This would be amazing:

Markham hopes for home run in York U. pitch

As early as next week, the city plans to make a pitch to York University as to why Markham is the best location for a campus, which could include two site options.

The city is expected to use to its advantage its reputation as the province’s high-tech capital.

“This is an exciting time for Markham,” Councillor Carolina Moretti said. “It seems this plan was written for Markham.”

The established Markham Centre is an obvious choice as development is already under way and the location can be frosh-week ready for a tight five-year timeline.

Markham Centre is already booming with buildings and includes a mix of recreational, entertainment, business, hotel, commercial and residential use.

Within Markham Centre, there is a movie theatre in the works, which can also be used for large early morning classes as is the case with Ryerson University that uses a local Cineplex theatre for large classes.
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http://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/4461190-markham-hopes-for-home-run-in-york-u-pitch/
 
A ton of competition here, I heard Newmarket was pushing really hard for this as well. Will be interesting to see where it ends up.
 
^ I thought it was East Gwillimbury? Doesn't stand too much of a chance quite frankly, students tend not to like being in the middle of nowhere.

having some form of an urban satellite campus at Downtown Markham would bring a lot of life to the area and build a lot of demand for transit. All I can say is that I hope the campus integrates well with Unionville.
 
innsertnamehere said:
^ I thought it was East Gwillimbury? Doesn't stand too much of a chance quite frankly, students tend not to like being in the middle of nowhere.

having some form of an urban satellite campus at Downtown Markham would bring a lot of life to the area and build a lot of demand for transit. All I can say is that I hope the campus integrates well with Unionville.
Click to expand...
East Gwillimbury had a bid and so did Newmarket/Aurora (joint bid). Neither was shortlisted.
 
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