moving from us to Toronto
 

we are just beginning our search to move. my husband will have an office in toronto. we will need to be in a good elementary school district for our two kids who are 4 & 6 right now. we are looking to move in the summer. we would like a safe neighborhood and would like his commute to be minimal. we are open to any type of housing. would like a 3 bedroom and 2 bath. i have no idea what neighborhoods to look in. i do plan on making several trips to look around. any advice and websites to look at is appreciated.

any advice on schools? i would like to tour them in my next trips.

thx!

Hi A2B - Toronto is a large city. Can you be more specific? You said your husband will have an office in Toronto. Do you know where that will be? It seems that would be the starting point.

They are opening a new office and they are in search of it. but we definitely want to be near a good school.

Do you need a car living in toronto?

How would you take kids to school if its 5 miles away?

I have never been to Toronto so I don't know anything about it.

He might be in downtown. Not too sure.

Are you thinking of buying or renting a house? Or will your husband's company be leasing something for you?

House prices in Toronto are VERY high so unless you're coming from LA or Manhattan or someplace similar, be prepared to be house-poor.

I live in a very nice, family-oriented neighbourhood (big trees, kids playing in the street, block street fairs in the summer), near several good public schools and reasonably close to public transportation. My house is an 87 year old mid-sized three-bedroom house with a family room in the basement. We bought it for $150K 35 years ago but it would cost over a million now.

If you want to look at up our neighbourhood, it's called North York. The two schools I mentioned above are John Ross Robertson and Allenby.

Summer is coming up soon. I'd strongly suggest hooking up with a good real estate agent (maybe your husband's company can suggest someone) and coming up here for a visit. I know moving is a pain in the neck and you'd probably prefer to do it only once, but maybe you should consider renting for a year or so before you buy something more permanent.

If your husband will be paid in US $ that will be a big plus. The Canadian $ is low right now, so $1 US = about $1.40 CDN.

In general Toronto is very safe compared to large US cities. The transit system is pretty good, but vehicle traffic can be very congested.

Once you know where your husband will be working it will be much easier to give you advice. In the meantime, enjoy your explorations.

True, eliz. I hadn't though that he might be paid in US$ and that would be great. On the other hand (and I don't know about this), would he have to pay both US and Canadian income tax on that income?

US citizens are taxed on world wide income (almost the ONLY country to do so) but there is a foreign earned income exclusion. Not sure how that works if you're employed by a US company. There is almost certainly a tax treaty with Canada so you won't be subject to double taxation.

Is your husband's company not providing moving assistance? Normally includes both real estate and tax advice.

HI,Thanks for all the advice. I'm on my way up to look around. I heard about North York. . .that area seems to have the top public schools. . I believe 3 was mentioned. We are still in the discovery stage of what the move stipend would be. I'm hoping at least a year of housing. But we would need a say in the area so we find the right public school. It is a US company so we would be paid in dollars. and someone was right. . when i looked into tax issues. . we get x dollars excluded for double taxation and i think housing is deducted.. . not too sure. . we will definitely talk to a tax advsior so we have a clear idea.

It seems like you could get something decent for $2400 CAD. . .so that is $2000 USD (approx). The exchange rate is really beneficial for us right now. We definitely just want to rent.

Looking forward to exploring Toronto! I love the diversity in the area.

I did contact a realtor to speak to. I was hoping she would give a tour of different area's but I guess I need to do that on my own.

You ought to know that North York is not a neighbourhood but a former city which was amalgamated with five others to form the new City of Toronto about 20 years ago. It is a very large and populous area with some of the wealthiest areas such as the Bridle Path and York Mills, and some of the very poorest such as the Jane/Finch neighbourhood. Toronto has one of the most diverse populations in Canada, and there are many ethnic enclaves throughout the city and North York in particular.

Your should also know that the city is surrounded by other large suburban cities, (Mississauga, Vaughan, Markham and Pickering are the largest) where you might find an affordable place to live with the kind of school you want.

However, as others have noted, the most important factor is where your husband's office will be. Then you can start narrowing down your choices of neighbourhoods. Another factor on location is whether or not he will travel to work by car or public transit.

I'm not really up on rental costs and can only go by my friend's rentals but while $2400 is decent, it's not huge. That said, my friend rents a 4-bedroom apartment on the top floor of a duplex in the Eglinton/Avenue Road area and it's pretty nice. One large bedroom, two smaller ones that would be OK for kids, and one very small one they use as a closet. But only one bathroom. It's in what I would call the central part of North York and close to the schools I mentioned. There are a row of similar duplexes on the street and I occasionally see rental signs and some of those may have two bathrooms. I think the unit downstairs from my friend does.

Another very nice area is Leaside but also pricey.

A lot depends on what you're used to in terms of location. To me, living in the city means no farther north than midtown where I live now. In fact, I'd love to live farther south in the city like the Annex or the Market area. If you're used to living in the suburbs and having more space or living in a suburban city like the ones lavendrye mentioned, you might get more bang for your buck. You'd likely get more bathrooms but I'm not sure you'd get the diversity.

Are you looking at renting condos as well as apartments?

A2B, where are you coming from? And can you describe your current living situation now? It might help us suggest some more specific neighbourhoods.

I would argue that North York is not Toronto, but then again, until I moved to where I live no, I thought anything east of Yonge, West of Bathurst and north of Bloor is not Toronto :)

Anyway, I live in Riverdale, an east-end neighbourhood with good access to transit (if you don't have a car), great schools, two large parks, lots of families and easy access to downtown (if that's where your husband ends up working). Another plus (esp. if you are a stay-at-home mom) is that you can easily walk to two areas with lots of restaurants, shops and caffes - the Danforth and Leslieville (Queen east). I know this is what saved my sanity while I was off work with my baby :) Houses are not cheap to buy here and I'm not sure what it would be to rent - but I imagine more than $2400 (that's how much our 2 BR condo was renting for). Anyway, other good neighbourhoods (IMHO) in "Toronto proper" to look into would be (from east to west): The Beach, Leaside, Bayview Village, Yonge and Eglinton, Rosedale and Davisville (if you have money to burn :)), St. Clair, Bloor West.

If your husband's company is not in downtown Toronto, then I would look outside of the city (to save lots of $$$) - Missisauga, Oakville, Burlington, Markham, Brampton, depending on his location. Come back to us once you have more info.
We look forward to welcoming you to Toronto :)!

I forgot to mention, if you want to look at school rankings, I've used this website:
http://ontario.compareschoolrankings...ationName.aspx

I wouldn't put too much stock into these ratings, but if a school is chronically underperforming, maybe it's not the best. Keep in mind though that a lot of neighbourhoods are "gentrifying" quickly and that more money is put into schools in need, so that a school that did not perform well in the past could be coming up in ratings.

I forgot to mention, if you want to look at school rankings, I've used this website:
http://ontario.compareschoolrankings...ationName.aspx

I wouldn't put too much stock into these ratings, but if a school is chronically underperforming, maybe it's not the best. Keep in mind though that a lot of neighbourhoods are "gentrifying" quickly and that more money is put into schools in need, so that a school that did not perform well in the past could be coming up in ratings.

Thanks so much for all the replies. I went to see High Park and Forest Hill while I was there because the realtor I talked to mentioned those areas. . . I was able to see some open houses to see the condos. We like Forest Hill area better than High Park. Plus you can get more space for your money in Forest Hill vs High park.

I was also looking on condos.ca and saw a place in Mimico area. . does anyone have any information on that area? How are the schools?

Looks like if you live outside of downtown you will need a car.. at least one.

Thanks!

High Park is a very nice area but a little too far from the centre of the city for me. (I count by subway stops.) Very pretty and good shopping and restaurants, though, and right on the subway line. I don't know about the schools there.

Forest Hill is closer to where I live but the main part of it (at least the part I think of) is very high end. We used to live in a great apartment in the little crossroads of Forest Hill Village.

Mimico is far, far, far from downtown.