Urban Parenting: Changing the Face of Real Estate in Toronto

It used to be that when it came to where you were going to live, things were pretty simple. Downtown (the core) was for the young and the restless and the 'burbs were where you went once you decided to pop out a couple younglings and make a nest. Not so anymore. A new generation of urban parents are emerging that are bucking the trend.

Cue the invasion of the yummy mummys and the station wagons because the secret is out: downtown is the place to be-kids or no kids. (And this might be why it is so hard to get a semi in Leslieville these days.)

With interest rates at all time lows for the past few years, and gentrification rapidly changing nearly every neighbourhood in the city, thousands of parents are choosing to stay in the city and raise their kids here.

Living in the core certainly has its advantages. Enrollment levels are so low in most schools that parents pretty much have their pick of whatever school they want to send their kids to. Being close to everything means less time in the car driving from soccer practice to the karate lesson, and last time I checked, Mississauga wasn't planning a Nuit Blanche any time soon.

Anecdotally, I know that many of my clients who are new parents or who have child-rearing on their radar screens are considering the 'burbs only as a last resort if they can't find something moderately decent in the core in their price range. Buyers are foregoing the extra space and the yard for the convenience and quality of life that comes with living in the core.

What about you blogTO? I suspect that the average blogTO reader is 18-34 and childless, but for those of you with kids or planning on having them soon, where do you think you will be when you have them?

Photo by anya_galkina.