Nobody moves to the Annex to spend quiet nights at home—endless restos and relaxed nightlife are big draws big draws big draws big draws

• toronto real estate board overview
• located in sector: C02
• average 2012 sale prices
• all homes: $951,361
• detached houses: $1,080,077
• semi-detached houses: $1,135,500
• townhomes: $495,000
• apartments: $824,765
• neighbourhood map: see map

Lined with bookshops, cheap restaurants and the last of the downtown rep theatres, Bloor bustles from morning ’til night, even when U of T students are on summer break. The Annex got its start as one of Toronto’s most fashionable addresses, an alternative to Rosedale for wealthy tycoons. In 1892, booze baron George Gooderham built a Romanesque palace at 135 St. George, which now houses the York Club. Closer to Bloor, many of these former mansions function as frat houses and offices, but when student rentals come onto the market, they’re snapped up and converted back to single-family homes. Combined, the dynamic street scene, heritage properties, proximity to downtown and leafy streets create a premier neighbourhood that doesn’t feel exclusive. Combined, the dynamic street scene, heritage properties, proximity to downtown and leafy streets create a premier neighbourhood that doesn’t feel exclusive.

• NEIGHBOURHOOD MAP

• LIBRARY AND SCHOOLS
• LIBRARIES
• Palmerston
  560 Palmerston Avenue, 393-76890
• Spadina Road
  10 Spadina Road, 393-7666
• SCHOOLS (PUBLIC)
• Palmerston Avenue Junior Public School
  734 Palmerston Avenue, 393-9305
• Huron Street Junior Public School
  541 Huron Street, 393-1570
• North Preparatory Junior Public School
  1100 Spadina Road, 393-9230
• SCHOOLS (PRIVATE)
• Royal St. George’s College
  20 Howland Avenue, 533-9481

• neighbourhood hot spots

Ezra’s Pound
Pretty lattes and gourmet sandwiches draw a loyal following of toddlers and their creative-class parents. 238 Dupont St., 416-929-4400.

Guu
The service at this cacophonous izakaya is insanely friendly and efficient, and the menu of Japanese bar food has a loyal following. 559 Bloor St. W., 647-343-1101.

Sonic Boom
Now housed within the vast Honest Ed’s complex, this cavernous space offers CDs, vinyl, DVDs and even cassettes and is open until midnight, 364 days of the year. 782 Bathurst St., 416-532-0334.