Real Estate Guide › Central

Bayview Village

Average 2008 sale price:

$416,444

Property crime:

average

Crime against people:

very low

Neighbourhood map:

See map

Nearly a quarter of the space in Bayview Village is green. That includes the children’s havens of Blue Ridge Park and Bayview Village Park. But these (and several other) parkettes pale in comparison to the green giant next door: the western edge of the magnificent East Don Parklands’ richest, widest and wildest portion. The district is nestled on the cusp of where uptown finally starts to get affordable. Not to be confused with the commercial strip of Bayview, which is actually in Leaside–Bennington (page 29), Bayview Village is a homey part of town, with two branches of the East Don running across it. This part of the East Don Parklands looks, from several viewpoints, like untamed greenspace, and none of the relatively affluent residents live more than six blocks away from the thick of it. The area is also full of amenities, such as IKEA, a 20,000-square-foot LCBO, and Bayview Village Shopping Centre, the toniest mall north of Hazelton Lanes. Despite its proximity to high-end communities, the area is decidedly middle class, with the occasional larger tear-down and a few low-income housing developments. St. Gabriel Village, the Shane Baghai development under construction now, could have a gentrifying effect. Advertised as “sustainable luxury” (complete with discreet windmills, solar panels and a hybrid generator), it comprises four towers—two of them 19 storeys.

HOUSING STOCK: Ranch-style bungalows and prototypical suburban villas—garage-fronted, two storeys, brick—dominate the area, with a large-scale tear-down or two creeping in along the river and on the odd corner lot. Condo towers dot the area south of Sheppard.

BARGAIN ZONES: Watch for deals on the streets that connect to the main arteries. Good bets are also found between Sheppard and Highway 401, or on Greenbriar and Dervock Crescent.

THE VERDICT: Bayview Village has an active residents’ association, amenities galore, and easy access to the Sheppard subway line. The parkland makes it perfect for outdoorsy families with dogs, though the latest census shows the area has few kids and a higher than average number of seniors.

NEIGHBOURHOOD HOT SPOTS:
Jerusalem Restaurant This is where Torontonians tasted their first shawarmas in 1971. It remains a favourite. 4777 Leslie St., 416-490-7888.
Oliver & Bonacini Café Grill As upscale a mall restaurant as you’d expect from the consortium that brought us Auberge du Pommier and Canoe, this relaxed restaurant fills up on weekends with locals and diners who come from farther afield for the ably prepared comfort food. 2901 Bayview Ave., 416-590-1300.

Today in Toronto: February 9, 2010

• Hub 14: The postage stamp measurements of the Hub 14 space will ensure close encounters with the performers taking part in the new series Under a Paper Moon
• More things to do tonight
• Something to do this weekend

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