shannon

so i've been accepted to york for grad school. which means i'll be moving to toronto. i'm thinking i'll move somewhere around toronto and then commute to york for classes and such.
so i thought i would ask you fine people... where can a pseudo-broke student look for the best rental situations? what areas should i avoid? are there any really lovely techy companies that xirax should apply to? any hints? fun places to visit?
i'm sort of a small town girl, so any advice would be awesome. i know basic safety info, but any insider info would be great. i trust tfpers.

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highthief

Well, congrats first of all.

There are a lot of student apartments near York U, but I have no real knowledge of them other than that they exist.

It is relatively easy to get to York from the northern suburbs by auto - Vaughn, Woodbridge, Richmond Hill are the closest suburbs. Vaughn and Woodbridge are 99% single family homes, where some people rent out basements. In Richmond Hill you would be more likely to find an actual apartment.

The further away from Toronto you go, the cheaper the housing. I'm in Newmarket, about 35 minutes drive from York, and it is about $400 a month cheaper here on a comparable 2 bedroom apartment than in Toronto (but your vehicle costs are higher).

Tech companies? A fair number in Richmond Hill and Markham in the 404/Highway 7 area but could not point to any one in specific. Waterloo-Kitchener-Guelph, to the west, is where it is really happening also.

Good luck.

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Ritesign

Exactly what kind of tech companies are you talking about? ATI has a location at highway 7 and leslie (along with some other 'tech' companies as highthief mentioned). If money is an issue, you can pretty much rule out living anywhere downtown. Public transit can get you to york very easily from anywhere close to Yonge St. in Thornhill, Richmond Hill, or even Markham, and almost anywhere in Woodbridge. When houses on my street in Richmond Hill rented rooms upstairs (~3800 sq. ft.), I believe they went for $400 a month. If you're a little more specific in what you're looking for (house/apartment, price range, drive/transit, nightlife) I'm sure some locals might be able to tip you off on some great deals.

Charlatan

it depends on the lifestyle you want.

it you are ok with suburban living and have a car, there are plenty of cheap options in York Region, as highthief suggests.

however, if you are looking for a more urban experience I would suggest looking at living in the west end of Toronto. Whether you have a car or not, the commute to York is a bit of a drag. If you are living in the west end you should be able to get to keele station relatively easily and take the bus to york from there (i know plenty who do this).

There are reasonable (by toronto standards) rents to be had in the bloor west village and high park areas of town.

Another area to think about is north and central. When I was going to York I lived at Yonge and Finch. From there it was one bus to york from finch station but it was also one reasonably quick subway ride to the city.

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highthief

It's also about $1600 for a 2 bed apartment/condo rental there now as well!

Simply ridiculous prices now ...

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Daoust

I just wanted to come into this thread to praise your throwback to "Peaches" and "POTUSA" Excellent thread title. Even if I don't have anything to say about the topic.

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Charlatan

i just rented my two bedroom house in riverdale for $1500/month plus utilities.

maybe i should ask for more.


LOOK OUT! (in the spirit of the thread title)

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"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

shannon

haha- thanks daost. i like the office avatar.

i guess it's hard for us to say what we're looking for in terms of price, since xirax wouldn't know his income until he finds work. i have some income through york, and would probably get a part time job, but might not really be as useful. i would guess we might be in the $900/month range for a 2 bedroom apartment...?
xirax has a car, but i don't, so i think we'd be hoping for something where i can use public transit, but i don't mind a long commute. we like the subway over buses, although i know i would need to buss to york, so that's no big thing. i am excited to go out dancing, out to eat, whatever. but i think i maybe need to strike a balance with being in the middle of all the action, because i'm not used to being in a really big city. i'm pretty open to a variety of locations, though. i'm mainly concerned that i might end up in some sort of awful neighborhood without realizing.
and xirax is looking for linux-related work, and/or system administration/networking jobs. being from pei, he's done a lot of varied work with computers, because there aren't a lot of jobs available here, but i think that works to his advantage because it shows he's really flexible. he's only 24, and so has about 5 years experience, having worked through school. he knows there are a lot more jobs in toronto in his field, but isn't sure of the competition vs. demand.
oh, and xirax just mentioned to me: maybe another thing would be a high south-facing building...something that could see the lake
he's wanting to see if we can't pick up hdtv from buffalo, i guess.

thanks for all the help, folks. it's so much more meaningful to hear from you all, rather than to hear about things from people trying to sell things or whatever.

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"When I look down I just miss all the good stuff. And when I look up I just trip over things"

fresnelly

I'd definitely stick to the West side as traffic crossing the City East to West and vice versa is a soul destroyer, especially across the north end.

While some of the neighbourhoods in the immediate area get bad press (i.e. Jane/Finch) it's never as bad as the media tends to portray it. Living in a good building will make all the difference.

If you want to actually see the lake, you will have to live a lot further south. I doubt you could see it from nearby York.

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Leto

Or live atop a very tall building...


Shannon, where do you live now?

highthief

I'll chime in and say while there are some OK buildings near Jane/Finch, the majority are not good buildings - crime aside, serious roach and maintenance problems in many of those high rises.

And yeah, you'll need to be considerably south of there to see the lake. No idea what prices are like in the Annex but it is a trendy little place in the city that the "young people" do like.

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shannon

i live in charlottetown, pe right now, which means that i can live as downtown as humanly possibly, and i would never encounter any real crime, or even many people, which is why i thought to look here, mainly. i've been to toronto a couple of times, but as a tourist.
i think that the living by the water thing was a bonus- if we found a good place otherwise we'd go with it.
and i don't mind if i have a really long commute to york. i think i would maybe rather be in a nice neighborhood and travel to york. and by nice, i mean charming in any way. so if it's really quaint and quiet, or if there are a lot of cute shops nearby, or if the apartments are a great value and clean and spacious or something... i'm really quite easy to please.

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"When I look down I just miss all the good stuff. And when I look up I just trip over things"

Leto

hmmm, there's a co-op neighbourhood right on the lake by the Island airport (my fav airport by the way). I think it is called Little Norway. Costs maybe reasonable. This is the Bathurst/Lakeshore area.

Another affordable lakeside option may be further west in New Toronto area (Lakeshore & Islington) where you would have better access to TTC.

pornclerk

Just a little tip. Do not live near Jane and Finch. It's located near the university. It is a pretty rough and dangerous area to live in.

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Leto

yes, high concentration of low-income or gov't assisted h ousing projects. It's a teenage wasteland - gangs battling turf, single mothers trying their hardest. It's sad.

shannon

i never would have even thought to look into a coop! that would be phenomenal! it's like you've opened up a while new world to me. wow, i am a dork. hehe.


oh, and thanks, folks, for the heads up on neighborhoods. this is the kind of thing that i figured people could tell me more from living in the city, as someone trying to advertise an apartment for rent is obviously not going to say "oh, yeah, it's totally shady around here"

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"When I look down I just miss all the good stuff. And when I look up I just trip over things"

Leto

cool, okay, here is the URL for the area I was talking about:

http://www.bqna.org/contactus.htm

http://www.coophousing.com/members/m..._waitalpha.asp

it may have some links to other co-ops as well.

shannon

hey,
we saw a nice looking cooperative on perth ave, but then noted that we'd maybe almost be living in a train (junction triangle- named as it is a triangle made of train tracks...?). then there are nice and affordable places we saw on scadding avenue as well. do any of you have any opinions about either of these spots?

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"When I look down I just miss all the good stuff. And when I look up I just trip over things"

Charlatan

The junction is a real up and coming area from what I've been reading. However, being an east end guy, it's always been an area that's just off my mental map of Toronto.

Scadding Court always seemed nice to me. As far as location, you are close to everything.

You can walk to the Distillery District. You can take one bus to Cherry Street and the Docks. That same bus will take you to the Danforth. You are in walking distance of Queen and King East. And you can even walk to the Eaton Centre (though it's a bit of a hike).

You are close to everything except York U. But then, nothing is really close to York U.

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"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

blizzak

You know, as true as that might be for Jane & Finch(even though I have been through there a lot of times in the past year and not noticed it), there are nicer areas close to the university. My girlfriend just finished an 8 month term at York and lived in a very nice shared house just south of the university. Very nice, new townhouse complex and she grew very good friends with the landlord and other housemates. The area is safe, and as strange as it is, the developers were trying to make the townhouses geared more towards families so it is an interesting mix of different demographics there.

Granted, there are still some university stereotypes associated with the neighbourhood. Regardless, I remember some families renting out whole houses for decent prices, and if you wouldn't mind a shared place, there are a lot of good options well priced within walking distance of the university. PM me if you want more details...my girlfriend and her friends are actually moving out of that place cause their time there is done, so I could actually give you the landlord's contact number if you were really interested. But believe me when I say it's a nice, safe region, despite some of the surrounding area.

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