Anyone on a tighter budget can find great bargains just outside of the city center but still put themselves within walking distance to great public transportation. As a renter, follow the university students and start hunting in the neighborhoods off Dufferin. Charming Victorians are divided into 4 separate units making the rents affordable and keeping you in the inner circle of the city. If you're someone who likes to be a little more pampered and needs a bit more space, head to the suburb of Mississauga, where apartments and brand new condos abound. It's close enough to the city that you can jump on the Islington subway line and be on Yonge street in thirty minutes. A 700 square foot, one bedroom condo in Mississauga can be purchased for as low as $200,000. For a major metropolitan center, that's a very reasonable price.

 

 

A family interested in buying a house can find the best deals in the suburb of Brampton. It's culturally eclectic style attracts many families from India, Jamaica and Pakistan. Houses are East Coast style, with large basements turned into living areas with an additional bathroom. A typical Brampton house has three levels, a minimum of three bedrooms and two baths with the additional basement area that can function as a home office or separate living space. The lot sizes range from 5000 square feet to places with gigantic backyards up to 10,000 square feet. Houses of this size can sell for less than $400,000 for a place that was built twenty to thirty years ago. A new house can be bought for as little as $500,000. That's an amazing deal that can house a large family comfortably.

 

 

If you have a larger budget, the high end neighborhood to head for is The Kingsway. One of The GTO's older neighborhoods, The Kingsway has sprawling estates mixed in with smaller, refurbished homes that have been taken over by talented flippers hoping to step up in the world. Stone built manors sit next to contemporary, open spaced houses with built in plasma televisions and sound systems. The school district is one of the best in Toronto and the local eateries are diverse, from a fabulous Spanish restaurant that dishes up delicious tapas to three different sushi bars all within walking distance of each other. Amazingly, the subway is right around the corner from the local Second Cup, one of Canada's largest coffee chains. You don't even need a gas guzzling SUV to live at The Kingsway but you might want one to keep up with The Jones. You're also going to need at least a million to grab a fixer and easily two million dollars and up if you want to move into a turn key house.

Toronto is one of the most culturally impressive cities in the world; managing to stay reasonable enough for college students to live in yet sophisticated enough to attract the Hollywood film community.