Why Toronto is the City in the Park

When browsing for your ideal property, there is most likely an entire list of many different priorities and preferences that you would like in your new home. Unless you are someone who is entirely home-based, one of those priorities to focus on is location. Living in the city of Toronto means that you will be surrounded by various types of condos and buildings and that may be your preference. But that doesn’t mean Toronto isn’t surrounded by nature; one of Toronto’s famous motto’s is that it is a “City in a Park.” What this means is that although there may not be many parks inside of the city, the city itself resides in nature, you just need to know where to find it! This can be quite beneficial if you love nature and the outdoors, living in the city may actually also satisfy your adventurous needs. We have the perfect solution for you. Thankfully, there are specific services that exist that allow for you to become much closer to nature than you ever expected while living in one of North America’s largest city metropolis’. 

There is a service called “Park Bus” that connects residents of the city of Toronto with nature through accessible transit options. Park Bus was first created in 2010 and since then they have helped thousands of Downtown Toronto residents access the beauty of the great outdoors. They offer a variety of different options as well; whether you’d like to go on a day trip, a weekend of camping, or even a wilderness adventure, Park Bus is able to get you there. They have a variety of different activities that you can discover as well such as hiking or kayaking. They offer bus trips to both National and Provincial Parks absolutely free! Park Bus is extremely accommodating and allows passengers a free trip to their favourite outdoors retreat; why wouldn’t you take advantage of this amazing opportunity?

If you’re the type that would prefer to spend a weekend out of the city, then you would truly want to take advantage of the overnight destinations that are available from Toronto. For instance, you can visit Algonquin Provincial Park, Bruce Peninsula, Killarney Provincial Park, Grundy Lake Provincial Park, Georgian Bay Islands National Park, or Six Mile Lake Provincial Park. On the other hand, if you have work commitments that prevent you from staying overnight, then you would highly benefit from taking the day trip destinations from Toronto, such as travelling to Elora Gorge, Christie Lake, Rockwood Conversation Area, Rattlesnake Point Conservation Area, Kelso Conservation Area, or Rouge National Urban Park.

The one park that you have to visit, if you live in the city core of Toronto, is Rouge National Urban Park. This park is actually Canada’s first National Urban Park and, most importantly, the largest urban park in North America. Luckily, this magnificent park is only 45 minutes away from Downtown Toronto! It encompasses most of a nature-loving person’s wildest dreams including farmland, green space, wetlands, and rivers. Keep in mind, all of these wonderful things are just minutes away from urban development, roads and highways. Can you believe it? If you’ve ever been to Rouge National Urban Park, tag us on our social media outlets and include the hashtag #RougeNationalUrbanPark.

Furthermore, it’s important to remember that Park Bus is available for residents of Toronto. So, if you’re looking for Real Estate in the city of Toronto, this doesn’t mean that you should sacrifice green space and living near nature; you can have both with the help of a great real estate agent. A great real estate agent will be able to find your ideal home while still taking into consideration the proximity to greenery, and, most importantly, a gorgeous condo that’s within your budget.

One of the first things to focus on when searching for a condo in Toronto is the idea that you are going to find a price difference from option to option based on the number of bedrooms that you desire. This may seem obvious, but it's something to know about if you're on the hunt for a place to live within Toronto's bustling neighbourhoods. 

In the bigger scheme of things and based on statistics provided by Zoocasa, condo price appreciation saw the biggest jump for two-bedroom condos.  Regardless of the neighbourhood, their appreciation shot up by approximately 7% from last year's numbers in comparison to the one-bedroom units within the same neighbourhoods that appreciated approximately 11% from last year's sold data.  The most popular neighbourhoods for appreciation, and, therefore, living were L’Amoreaux, Scarborough, Forest Hill, Midtown Toronto, Richmond Gardens, North Etobicoke, Wychwood, Little Italy and Lawrence Park, Uptown Toronto. For more information on these specific neighbourhoods, contact any of our real estate agents for a more comprehensive report.

Some of these neighbourhoods are more affordable than others, but experts in the industry were surprised at the way that there was no specific pattern to the neighbourhoods that experienced such a fast appreciation.  It simply came down to the idea that most neighbourhoods in Toronto experienced this growth.  This also means that since the growth is not limited to one area, it means that all throughout the popular neighbourhoods within the city, there will be options for purchasing worthwhile real estate if you're on the hunt.

If you're on the hunt for a one-bedroom or two-bedroom condo and you want to get in on it before the prices increase, you'll find that the most popular neighbourhoods listed above make a great place to start your search.  Since they're so focused on growth and providing quality living situations for all those that want it, you'll be able to get in “while the getting is good” when it comes to a Toronto condo.

Allow Envision Realty Inc. Brokerage to help you find your perfect condo – whether it’s a one- or two-bedroom condo – so that you can see the profit in the real estate market in one of these hot ticket neighbourhoods.  Whether it's the price jump from $187,000 to $268,000 or $342,923 to $496,222 from 2017 to 2018 for these condos, or the idea that you're searching to buy, we invite you to take a look around.  This will surely be an investment that will return in a big way down the road. Condo appreciation is expected to shoot up again this year as more and more people start to snap up what's out there on the market.  Will you be one of them?