Real Estate Guide › Central

Don Valley Village

Average 2008 sale price:

$352,770

Property crime:

average

Crime against people:

very low

Neighbourhood map:

See map

Though it’s home to one of the nation’s biggest shopping malls (Fairview), this suburban neighbourhood’s heart is The Peanut, a legume-shaped bit of property between the north- and southbound lanes of Don Mills Road, north of Sheppard. Along with Georges Vanier Secondary School and the Oriole Community Resource Centre, it is home to Peanut Plaza, a 40-year-old strip mall full of independent businesses. The density of high-rise apartments creates a T shape along Finch and down Don Mills, discouraging street life, though the houses off the main strip are comely and most are detached. With a dozen or so small parks and streets that wind around in that planned community kind of way, the general feel is of somnolence in the shadow of the towers that house much of the area’s immigrant population.

HOUSING STOCK: The land remaining after the vigorous verticality of the housing at Finch and Don Mills is given over to bungalows, backsplits and two-storey homes with a distinct predilection for Tudor detailing. There are a few ’80s-style mini-McMansions on Brian Village, and some split-levels on Old Sheppard.

BARGAIN ZONES: The best bets are close to the DVP, behind Fairview Mall and near public housing on Kingslake, where a detached semi can be had for $450,000.

THE VERDICT: The restaurants are largely takeout, and most of the commercial and social life is lived in strip malls, but this is no soulless development hangover from the ’60s. Shopkeepers are friendly and lawns are well kept, giving the whole place a sense of friendly urban community.

NEIGHBOURHOOD HOT SPOTS:
Tone Tai Supermarket This full-service Chinese grocery store carries such rare items as peanut soup in a can. 3030 Don Mills Rd., 416-756-1668.