Your city's best-looking suburbs - Page 9

Docere · #**161** Posted **Dec 11, 2016, 8:59 PM**

I guess another thing is you get more for your money in West Van. A "standard" $2.5-$3 million house in West Van is going to be pretty big with a sizable lot, while you'll have a pretty small place on the west side for that price.

Pinion · #**162** Posted **Dec 12, 2016, 12:01 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Docere

A "standard" $2.5-$3 million house in West Van is going to be pretty big with a sizable lot

It's gonna be about the same. The only difference is West Van actually has huge lots to choose from (at much higher prices).

http://www.rew.ca/properties/search/...ce/desc/page/1

dleung · #**163** Posted **Dec 12, 2016, 12:23 AM**

If I have 10-15M for a large west-side house or a sprawling West Van mansion, I'd rather go for a 20-foot sliver of waterfront facing downtown from either side of the inlet.

Docere · #**164** Posted **Dec 12, 2016, 3:46 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pinion

It's gonna be about the same. The only difference is West Van actually has huge lots to choose from (at much higher prices).

http://www.rew.ca/properties/search/...ce/desc/page/1

Those "average" West Van homes in your links have pretty sizable lots.

Can you get a 6000 sq. ft. lot or more for under $3 million on the west side?

shappy · #**165** Posted **Dec 12, 2016, 4:50 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Docere

Port Perry isn't a suburb though.

Yes, you're right - I had "Durham Region" on my mind.

WhipperSnapper · #**166** Posted **Dec 12, 2016, 5:03 AM**

Whitby has a decent core area. Downtown Oshawa has potential. South Oshawa or whatever locals call it is a hole however, both Ajax and Pickering have decent spaces along the lake despite the looming Nuclear Station too.

shappy · #**167** Posted **Dec 12, 2016, 5:19 AM**

Yes, their waterfronts are nice in parts and Pickering Village is tiny but charming (pic below). Not much else to these places though except your typical suburban housing and strip malls.

https://moveuprealty.files.wordpress.com

WhipperSnapper · #**168** Posted **Dec 12, 2016, 9:08 PM**

To my eyes, there isn't a whole lot of difference from the larger York Region. Woodbridge, Unionville, Markham Village are all small points of interests surrounded by tract housing.

Doady · #**169** Posted **Dec 12, 2016, 10:01 PM**

Toronto's streetcar suburbs are quite nice looking. E.g. Parkdale, Beaches, etc.

But seriously, I assume OP was looking for post-war suburbs. So no former small towns and villages like Pickering Village, Port Credit, etc. either.

The Town of Markham strikes me as a little better looking than average suburbia, due to its adherance to New Urbanism, which emphasizes aesthetics. Andres Duany himself has been involved in some of those Town of Markham projects as well. Personally, I'm into all that faux-historic shit, but putting garages and driveways behind houses makes a big difference. Streets look much nicer that way.

And there's also Mississauga, which has received a lot of attention from skyscraper/architecture enthusiasts in recent years, maybe for good reason. Expect even more attention after the LRT is built.

Docere · #**170** Posted **Dec 14, 2016, 8:07 PM**

If a suburb has a little pre-war core but is mostly post-war suburbia does it count? Even "charming" Oakville and Port Credit 1950s housing dwarfs the 19th century stuff.

West Van was a little cottage town until the Lions Gate Bridge was built.

dleung · #**171** Posted **Dec 15, 2016, 1:37 AM**

If it looks good even without the pre-war village then it's a good looking suburb rather than a good looking village inside a suburb.