The Boroughs

Although Toronto itself has played a prominent part in the history of our country, existing since well before confederation, the current City is very different from the historical Toronto. In 1998, a historic amalgamation took place that effectively incorporated six different cities into the mega city of Toronto real estate as we know it today.

Three of those communities (East York, York, and Old Toronto) make up what is known as Downtown Toronto. We have information about real estate in this part of the city in a separate section. In this section, we are going to look at the remaining three communities (or boroughs) that were a part of the amalgamation. This include everything from cheaper home options for those willing to do a little daily traveling to more spacious luxury homes don't have the space to offer. Here is a brief overview of those communities.

Etobicoke

Etobicoke real estate makes up the western border of the city of Toronto. Founded in 1795, today the Etobicoke sits on 20% of Toronto's landmass. Despite the large area of land, the roughly 335,000 people living in the community account for only 13% of the total population of the city.

Industrial land is the main real estate feature you will find in Etobicoke, and it is here that a lot of the manufacturing and shipping activities of the city take place, from compression lugs to paper. This is also a part of the reason why the population density is so low; Etobicoke has not been subject to the same high density development as the rest of the city, so high-rise Etobicoke condos numbers are lower than in other districts. If you're looking for homes for sale in Ottawa it's usually still a standalone unit.

That said, Etobicoke does offer more in the way of waterfront real estate than the other six Toronto real estate communities, by virtue of its location on both Lake Ontario and the Humber River. There are many parks and golf courses within the limits of Etobicoke, making it one of the recreational hubs of the city.

Scarborough

The eastern border part of the city of Toronto is the community of Scarborough. Many locals consider this part of the city the most beautiful. Running along the south end of the community is the Lake Ontario coastline, which gives some neighbourhoods in the area a very unique topography as we shall see in some of our articles on the area, mainly with Scarborough Bluffs homes. In addition, many of the creeks and tributaries which run into Lake Ontario go through Scarborough, and the resultant green space has proven very attractive to those looking for homes for sale.

The community itself consists of about 600,000 people. Many areas of Scarborough have proven to be particularly popular among recent immigrants, who tend to settle in homogenous groups which nonetheless contribute to the overall diversity of the borough.

North York

Finally, the community which makes up the northern border of Toronto is North York. This community has an appealing mix of suburbia and modern urban developments, with several family-oriented neighbourhoods built around standalone dwellings as well as high-rise office spaces and condos full of young people working and a building a family together.

The concentration of development in North York is relatively new, although with a population that was the second highest among the six boroughs one wonders how this could be the case. Still, recent efforts have resulted in a transformation of the central part of the community from a suburban neighbourhood to one with a much more metropolitan feel.

We will be taking a look at real estate options in all of these boroughs in further detail in the articles we post in this section. It's close enough to downtown Toronto to provide easy access, but far enough removed to provide some peace of mind for anyone not interested in living full time in the big city.