LOCATION:
Along the beach from Ashbridges Bay to the Water Treatment Plant up to Kingston Road
EPICENTRE:
Kew Gardens
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES:
The beach, The Boardwalk, The Jazz Festival
DID YOU KNOW?:
Compared to other Toronto neighbourhoods, the Beach is a real standout. It has that one thing that no other neighbourhood has – a huge and widely used beach. It feels more like a seaside town where people wander about in flip flops and giant sunglasses in the warmer months. There’s a style here that you may find in many seaside towns with colourful clapboard exteriors like the Pleasantville portion of the Beach, where townhomes built not too long ago are ocean blue and yellow or other fun, bright colours.
In the 80s, the Beach was a very middle class neighbourhood. There is certainly a sense of friendliness here. People honk less and let you in when you’re driving or trying to cross the street. It has become a more coveted place to live now where houses sell for well above the Toronto average, and most of the school zones are very good.
There are a few downsides. Nimbyism is this area is some of the worst in the city. You will see a lot of resistance to change in this area. Sometimes that can be a good thing when you’re trying to block a careless developers, but it can also leave the neighbourhood a little slow on change. Though there is an excellent strip of shops along Queen East, the Beach has not seen the kind of exciting main street that Leslieville has developed over the past 2o years. Leslieville used to be the neighbourhood you went through to get to the Beach, but it has become the destination, at least as far as new restaurants and businesses go.
What the Beach does have going for it: Amazing housing stock. Beautiful streets. From the grand historic homes to the newly built modern masterpieces, you have an impressive selection. And of course, there’s the beach. It’s very busy in the summer, but still, there’s the best beach in the city a walk away.