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Living in Toronto

Toronto is a boom town. There’s a tremendous amount of new construction and renovation, all to accommodate the city’s growing economy. Attractively situated on the shores of Lake Ontario, the city is a diverse and exciting place to live. The skyline is marked by the distinctive CN tower, but there are lots of other great attractions — an excellent aquarium, St. Lawrence Market, the Toronto island, and many great museums.

High-rises and hotels populate downtown, but it’s out in the neighborhoods where Toronto’s character shines through. Chinatown has markets that are open to the streets, Queens West is home to galleries and artist run boutiques. Toronto has great transit — a subway system, streetcars, extensive bus service, and Go Transit rail lines serving the outer suburbs.

Nearby Apartments

61 Walk Score of Toronto, CA-ON

Toronto is Somewhat Walkable

Some errands can be accomplished on foot.

Walk Score Map

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Photo of Petview in Toronto

Petview

Photo of PATH in Toronto

PATH

Toronto is the 3rd most walkable large city in Canada with 2,615,060 residents.

Toronto has excellent public transportation and is somewhat bikeable.

Find apartments in Toronto's most walkable neighborhoods: Bay Street Corridor, Mount Pleasant West and Trinity Bellwoods.

Toronto Apartments for Rent

View all Toronto apartments on a map.

Search for homes in Toronto or find a Toronto real estate agent who knows walkable neighborhoods. Links will open on our partner site Redfin.com.

Toronto Neighborhoods

Rank

#

Name

Walk Score

Transit Score

Bike Score

Population

1 Bay Street Corridor 99 100 86 19,454
2 Mount Pleasant West 91 88 65 28,443
3 Trinity Bellwoods 91 97 82 16,827
4 Yonge and Eglinton 87 90 73 10,734
5 Regent Park 87 99 95 9,952
6 Little Portugal 86 97 84 12,078
7 North Riverdale 86 100 78 12,145
8 Blake-Jones 84 93 76 7,801
9 Greenwood-Coxwell 84 86 79 14,088
10 South Parkdale 81 95 71 21,257
11 Mount Pleasant East 81 77 63 15,995
12 The Beaches 81 84 75 21,235
13 Woodbine Corridor 80 87 75 11,670
14 Casa Loma 78 87 72 10,508
15 Willowdale East 77 88 52 45,071
16 Crescent Town 76 90 77 15,613
17 High Park North 74 94 74 21,239
18 Weston 72 79 57 18,152
19 New Toronto 72 78 77 10,901
20 Broadview North 70 80 80 11,660
21 Briar Hill - Belgravia 70 82 76 14,357
22 Forest Hill South 70 80 74 10,945
23 Keelesdale-Eglinton West 69 75 55 10,612
24 Oakwood-Vaughn 69 82 71 20,995
25 Willowdale West 67 86 52 14,944
26 Forest Hill North 67 78 76 12,427
27 Caledonia-Fairbank 66 76 61 9,874
28 Victoria Park Village 65 67 54 16,887
29 Scarborough Village 65 72 50 16,597
30 Long Branch 64 79 72 9,632
31 Oakridge 62 84 60 13,471
32 Mimico 62 76 77 26,270
33 Englemount-Lawrence 60 80 59 22,121
34 Lansing-Westgate 60 79 43 14,940
35 Newtonbrook West 59 80 56 22,967
36 Newtonbrook 59 80 56 22,967
37 Eglinton East 59 83 53 22,809
38 O'Connor - Parkview 59 70 57 18,305
39 Dorset Park 58 70 52 24,312
40 Thorncliffe Park 57 73 56 19,234
41 Etobicoke West Mall 57 67 56 10,898
42 Don Valley Village 56 78 64 26,780
43 York Univeristy Heights 55 80 61 27,676
44 York University Heights 55 80 61 27,676
45 Alderwood 55 62 53 11,849
46 Newtonbrook East 55 85 52 16,298
47 Bayview Village 55 68 53 17,678
48 Bendale 55 77 59 27,889
49 Agincourt South-Malvern West 54 75 48 22,198
50 Steeles 54 67 51 24,889
51 Cliffcrest 54 66 51 15,703
52 Humber Heights-Westmount 54 72 62 10,609
53 L'Amoreaux 53 70 55 44,939
54 Agincourt North 53 70 62 30,230
55 Humbermede 53 67 54 15,862
56 Tam O'Shanter - Sullivan 53 68 48 27,449
57 Mount Dennis 52 78 51 13,142
58 Flemingdon Park 52 72 50 22,166
59 Beechborough-Greenbrook 51 70 48 6,472
60 Henry Farm 51 83 47 11,333
61 Milliken 51 66 59 27,209
62 Hillcrest Village 50 74 57 17,632
63 Stonegate-Queensway 50 70 59 24,759
64 Black Creek 49 78 63 22,033
65 Glenfield-Jane Heights 49 71 50 31,341
66 Rustic 49 74 41 9,927
67 Rockcliffe-Smythe 46 71 55 22,280
68 Markland Wood 46 64 55 10,329
69 Bathurst Manor 45 71 42 15,380
70 Humber Summit 45 67 55 12,604
71 Clanton Park 44 75 49 14,610
72 Pleasant View 44 71 49 16,134
73 Woburn 43 70 46 53,129
74 Maple Leaf 43 68 40 10,131
75 Edenbridge-Humber Valley 41 64 59 14,911
76 Eringate-Centennial-West Deane 39 63 51 18,624
77 Malvern 39 73 40 45,033
78 Bayview Woods - Steeles 36 61 59 13,506
79 West Hill 34 68 44 26,548
80 Guildwood 32 64 40 9,825
81 Morningside 25 70 33 17,573
82 Highland Creek 17 69 36 12,971
83 Rouge 16 67 38 46,063

Eating & Drinking

There are about 19,466 restaurants, bars and coffee shops in Toronto.

People in Toronto can walk to an average of 13 restaurants, bars and coffee shops in 5 minutes.

Photo of Clinton's in Toronto

Clinton's

Photo of The Pie Shack in Toronto

The Pie Shack

Restaurant Choices Map

= More Choices

thumbnail for OCAD UniversityOCAD has some really neat architecture. This is a very popular art school in Toronto.

Stephanie Christian
on OCAD University

78 Transit Score of Toronto, CA-ON

Toronto has Excellent Transit

Transit is convenient for most trips. Find Toronto apartments for rent near public transit.

Public Transit Routes

Toronto has excellent public transportation and about 216 bus, 8 rail, 4 subway and 7 light rail lines.

Transit Time

The map above shows how far you can travel in 30 minutes from Toronto on public transit.

Neighborhood Guides

Thinking of renting an apartment or buying in Toronto? Ask our neighborhood guides a question.

Toronto Condo Team

The Toronto Condo Team has become one of the leading selling teams in downtown Toronto, consistently winning top sales awards including being in the Top 1% of all Agents for Condo Sales in the GTA since 2006.

Ask Toronto about Toronto

http://www.torontocondoteam.ca »

Photo of 55 Stewart St in Toronto

55 Stewart St

Photo of 650 King St W in Toronto

650 King St W

Photo of 75 Portland St in Toronto

75 Portland St

61 Bike Score of Toronto, CA-ON

Toronto is Bikeable

Some bike infrastructure.

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What's It Like to Live in Toronto?

Photo of Gooderham Building in Toronto

Gooderham Building

Photo of SENTINEL RD AT COOK RD in Toronto

SENTINEL RD AT COOK RD

Photo of Mel Lastman Square in Toronto

Mel Lastman Square

Photo of Len Ford Park in Toronto

Len Ford Park

Overview

You can see Toronto growing before your very eyes -- it in the downtown core construction, in the cranes that mark where new high-rises will stand, in the busy crowds on the streets. The city starts at on the shores of Lake Ontario and reaches 46 kilometers along the waterfront. It shares the same climate with Chicago, to the south – cold windy winters, humid (and sometimes rainy) summers, moderate spring and fall seasons.

The city is home to some of Canada’s cornerstone arts and culture institutions – the National Ballet of Canada, the Canadian Opera Company, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, A major production center for film and television, it jostles for first place with Vancouver for the title of Hollywood North. There are dozens of museums, including the world famous Bata Shoe Museum, and the city has acres of public spaces and parks. Toronto is a big sports town too – it’s home to the Hockey Hall of Fame and the Toronto Maple Leafs. There are four major stadiums, plus, a car and a horse racing track.

Toronto is very proud of their diversity – about half the population of Toronto is foreign born. It’s the second most diverse city in North America.

There’s a large Chinese population, and East India, but there’s also a big Caribbean population and the city has a Carnival like annual festival – Caribana – that draws over one million people.

Financial services play a huge role in Toronto’s economy, but there it’s also a hub for telecom, media, and IT. Rogers Communications, CIBC and the Royal Bank of Canada, and Manulife Financial all have major hubs in Toronto. Fairmont Hotels and Resorts operates out of Toronto, and pharmaceutical brands Bayer and Procter & Gamble.

The University of Toronto is Canada’s largest institute of higher learning, but there are more than a dozen other colleges in the city limits alone. The well known Canada Film Center is here, the Glen Gould School of Music, the Toronto School of Art, and the architecturally striking Ontario College of Art and Design.

Photo of Sugar Beach in Toronto

Sugar Beach

Photo of The Rosemont Residences in Toronto

The Rosemont Residences

Getting Around

Toronto covers a lot of ground but that doesn’t mean it’s not a walkers city. For starters, there’s the PATH, 30 kilometers of linked underground pedestrian routes lined with everything you need. Using the PATH in the deep parts of winter or the more oppressive parts of summer will keep you walking even when the weather doesn’t cooperate.

TTC – the Toronto Transit Commission – operates the bus, streetcar, and subway lines that serve the greater Toronto metropolitan area, including Mississauga, Brampton, Markham, Vaughn, and Scarborough. There are 12 streetcar lines and four subway lines, most of them centered around downtown and the waterfront.

GO Transit operates bus and commuter rail around greater Toronto – you can even connect to a line that runs to Niagra Falls.

The rail lines are centered on Union Station in the heart of downtown, as are the subway and many of the street car lines.

Because of the mostly flat topography, Toronto is a great city for cyclists. The city is continually expanding their bike network with a combination of sharrows, dedicated bikeways, and multi-use trails. There are bike lockers at several of the main transit hubs but they’re popular – you may have to get on the waiting list. There’s also a bike share program with 80-plus stations. For those that want a car now and then, Maven, Zipcar, and Enterprise CarShare all operate services in Toronto.

thumbnail for The DistilleryA trip to the distillery is always a treat. Great Restaurants, boutique shops, and independent galleries. Not to mention one of the cities best professional theatre companies (Soulpepper). Visiting in early December gives you the added treat of the Christmas Markets. Trying to recreate the charm and cheer of the German markets, wood stalls, carolers, and oodles of booths with schnitzel and spiced hot wine, all help keep you in the festive mood on cold winter days.

Lenore C L White
on The Distillery

Neighborhoods

With lots of green spaces and parks, and bordered by two subway lines, Rosedale-Moorpark has some status. There are studio to three bedroom apartments in large high rise complexes with lots of amenities – on site gyms and, in some cases, swimming pools and tennis courts. You’ll find shopping right at the street level, sometimes there’s a supermarket right at the base of your building. Most units have balconies, sometimes with a great city view, and floor to ceiling windows are common. There are few older low-rise apartment complexes, and you might find a unit in one in a grand old home that’s been subdivided.

West of downtown, in High Park-Swansea, there are nice older brick buildings in this neighborhood that’s built around High Park and bordered on one side by Lake Ontairo. This neighborhood is popular with successful young families – you can find units with as many as four bedroom that have parquet wooden floors and attractive common areas.

On the opposite side of town, there’s The Beaches, with a big sandy park right on the shores of Lake Ontario. There are some amazing single family homes here, spacious places with built in cabinets, box molding and other architectural details, beautifully renovated kitchens with brand new appliances – but it will be competitive and candidly, pricey, to land one of these because the neighborhood is so desirable.

The Annex, north of downtown and adjacent to the University of Toronto, has seven Metro stations within a five minute walk. There are open floor plan apartments with in-unit laundry, you’ll find everything from a studio to a large three bedroom apartment.

There are also one and two bedroom apartments in subdivided craftsman style home if living in a big complex isn’t your thing. Some of the older 60s and 70s style apartment blocks have been renovated completely, so there’s modern era architecture, but the amenities are all up to date.

Kensington-Chinatown, Queen Street West, and Ossignton all deny their hipster status, a sure sign of hipster presence. This means lots of great shopping at funky independent boutiques, loads of great cafes and restaurants, and plenty of interesting street life. Housing is completely mixed – there are cool smaller apartment buildings with hardwood floors – mostly walk-up units, though you may find an elevator – big high-rises with balconies and views, and the rare single family home with a yard and a garage. There are also some brand new developments – shiny new condo buildings with great views of Lake Ontario, lots of daylight, and loft style units with balconies big enough to hold a dinner party on.

Toronto’s construction boom means there are a lot of new condos and apartment buildings all over the city. Use Walk Score to find a luxury three bedroom apartment with a view or a classic row home that’s close to a subway station. The Church-Yonge corridor has newer studio and one bedroom apartments, as does the University neighborhood.

With so much urban density, single family homes are a little harder to find, but there are some nice restored houses with gardens in suburbs that are walking distance from the commuter train stations. Closer to the city, you’ll find two bedroom apartments in brick buildings with shared gardens.

Photo of Queen's Park in Toronto

Queen's Park

Photo of Queen's Park in Toronto

Queen's Park

Photo of Campbell Avenue Park in Toronto

Campbell Avenue Park

Photo of Campbell Avenue Park in Toronto

Campbell Avenue Park

thumbnail for Historic Campbell House TorontoThis is the oldest remaining house from the original site of the town of York. It's one of the few remaining examples of Georgian architecture left in Toronto. It is quite a pretty site to see while walking along queen st.

Logan Christian
on Historic Campbell House Toronto

Toronto is Talking About...

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Toronto is all about:

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Photo of OCAD University in Toronto

OCAD University

Photo of The Bay in Toronto

The Bay

Photo of The Fashion District in Toronto

The Fashion District

thumbnail for PetviewAn awesome little pet store. Tons of pet food varieties. The shop clerk always gives a treat for your pet if they come in with you!

Logan Christian
on Petview

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