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Wealthiest Neighborhood?

soph said:
Hi Eug, although this is out of date do you know how to get on the top of the Bluffs, overlooking the beach? Thanks
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Go to Scarborough Bluffs Park

Postal code is M1M 1A4 - Search on Google Maps.

Basically, turn south from Kingston Road to Midland Avenue, and when you get near the end, turn east on Romana Drive. You'll see it there, just off Cecil Drive. You can park around there on the street, although I don't recall exactly which spot since I just walk there since I live close to it.

If you go near the fence near the cliff, there is a hiking path going northeastwards, all the way to Brimley, and it's part of the Scarborough Bluffs Trail. However, after the recent huge rains, it's probably quite muddy.
 
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That's not the nicest spot. The nicest spot is in Cathedral Bluffs park, which is really just a big open field (its the back field of Fairmount PS). Jump the chain/fence and there are some walking trails that take you to some great views and places to sit. The Bluffs in this part have eroded into really interesting looking spires, and the views to the beach and marina are ideal. Easier to get to by bus as well - its a short walk down from Kingston rd (less than 10 minutes)

http://www.toronto.ca/parks/prd/facilities/complex/1432/index.htm
 
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bobbob911 said:
That's not the nicest spot. The nicest spot is in Cathedral Bluffs park, which is really just a big open field (its the back field of Fairmount PS). Jump the chain/fence and there are some walking trails that take you to some great views and places to sit. The Bluffs in this part have eroded into really interesting looking spires, and the views to the beach and marina are ideal.
http://www.toronto.ca/parks/prd/facilities/complex/1432/index.htm
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Huh? There are no spires on the east side, unless you want to count the one that sort of looks like a butte with grass on top. All the spires are where Eug mentioned, on the west side.
 

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Hmm, I may be mistaken then - I'll have to take a look tonight.

Speaking of which, I've always wondered where this picture was taken:

tumblr_lj9j8nTBfP1qihd1to1_500.jpg
 
bob - with the way those things eroded until the 70's, impossible to guess.

If I had to, I'd guess the western side, because it appears to be clay (steep sides). As you go east they get more sandy.

then again it's a b/w picture too, so who knows.

Have fun walking the path in Cathedral. The brush is 3 ft high and you can barely make it though. I went there yesterday morning and got soaked from the dew on them.
 
2011 census data for income comes out in August (though it's the NHS which may require a "warning label") though I don't expect the very wealthiest neighborhoods list to change much. In fact it hasn't changed much since 1960.
 
It's too bad politicians meddled in the census data collection.

I read somewhere that NHS data may be inaccurate in neighbourhoods with less than 25000 people. Also that it is inaccurate with regards to ethnic mix, for relatively recent immigrants, which would be of interest in this thread for certain neighbourhoods, wealthy and not-so-wealthy.
 
I agree. The NHS isn't as reliable as the long form census though I have to say from the data that has come out so far it doesn't seem that far off, fortunately. I don't expect the list to change much. Also the data I shared was at the tract level all of which have far less than 25,000 people.
 
I dont know about #1 wealthy, but Bloor West has, in my opinion the most upscale feel of any Toronto neighborhood. The houses around Royal York & Bloor have amazing style, along with old trees that droop into the street and people who have class. The nearby Humber River has some great spots as well.

Better bring $$ cause this neck of the woods aint cheap.
 
It's no match for Rosedale. You see things in Rosedale that you don't see in most Toronto neighbourhoods like granite block driveways (even though any upper middle class individual could have that), urban mansions from the 19th and 20th centuries and the finest contemporary architecture. It has a compact, urban character. The Bridle Path, on the other hand, has a pseudo-aristocratic character since most of the homes are mansions on huge lots. But the architecture is often faux-historicism, pretending to be aristocratic, and for this reason Rosedale and Lawrence Park still seem like the true elite neighbourhoods for being "old money".
 
I agree. Bloor West is not even in the same league as Rosedale.

Bloor West is nice, as are a lot of neighbourhoods in Toronto, and I would be very happy to own a home in Bloor West, but Rosedale just feels like money.

BTW, that reminds me of a tangent. A colleague of mine several years ago complained that his portfolio tanked after a stock market crash, and he was thus crying poor. I was sympathetic, but then reminded him that since he owned his home in Rosedale outright (with no mortgage), and because he had not much other debt either, he definitely wasn't poor. He still had a stock portfolio (just less than before) and if he sold his house in Rosedale and bought in a more middle-class neighbourhood (even like in much of Bloor West), in terms of his nest egg, he'd still be better off the vast majority of the Toronto population, in the top few %.

It didn't make him feel any better, and I wasn't actually suggesting he sell his home, but I just thought I'd put things in perspective for him given that I was living in a cheap crappy apt. at the time. ;)
 
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In terms of just wealth, Cabbagetown isn't going to stack up either in terms of household income or property values. Lots are small and houses generally very modest or standard Bay'n Gables.

But in terms of character, it certainly ranks up there. What's held it back is not the enclave itself, which is very pretty, but the fact that it is somewhat of an island surrounded by the seedy east side. This is obviously changing, so I see values spiking again in Cabbagetown.


As interesting wealthy enclaves go, I quite like Hoggs Hollow. I lived there for a while as a young boy.
 
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