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It's time to test your knowledge of Toronto's residential
neighbourhoods. Here's the quiz. Answer true or false to each of the
following nine statements:
1. The
neighbourhood north of Bloor West Village is known as Bloor West
Village North.
2. The new Forest
Hill Lofts development on Roselawn Ave. near Dufferin St. is within
the boundaries of the former Village of Forest Hill.
3. The area north
of the lake between Woodbine Ave. and Victoria Park Ave. is properly
known as The Beaches.
4. The area known
as the Upper Beaches extends north to the Danforth.
5. There are no
Toronto neighbourhoods named Elia, Emery, Parkwoods, Bendale or
L'Amoreaux.
6. The new Cricket
Club Homes development is in the Cricket Club area between Avenue
Rd. and Yonge St., south of Wilson Ave.
7. It is not
correct to pronounce Baby Point as "Bobby."
8. Grace St. is
the west limit of both the Annex and the South Annex.
9. A community
newspaper was correct last month in referring to a playground on
Wells Hill Ave., south of St. Clair Ave. W. at Bathurst St., as
being in lower Forest Hill Village.
Now let's test your
score.
If you answered "true" to
any of these questions, you were wrong. All of them are false.
Here's why:
1. The community
north of Bloor West Village is called Runnymede. There is no Bloor
West Village North.
2. Forest Hill
Lofts is in the Fairbank area of the old City of York.
3. The
"politically correct" term for the Beaches is "The Beach."
4. Unofficially
the area north of Kingston Rd., extending only to the railway line,
is known as The Upper Beach. North of that, the area is called
Danforth Village.
5. All five
neighbourhood names really do exist. Elia, Emery and Parkwoods are
all in the former North York. L'Amoreaux and Bendale are in
Scarborough.
6. Cricket Club
Homes is in Hogg's Hollow.
7. Baby Point is
properly pronounced "Bobby," which is the French pronunciation of
the surname of the original French settler, James Baby.
8. The South Annex
extends west to Grace St. The Annex itself stops at Bathurst St.
9. And finally,
the Wells Hill playground is in the Casa Loma district.
My source for this
fascinating information is the latest edition of Your Guide to
Toronto Neighbourhoods, by David Dunkelman. It's published by
Maple Tree Publishing and available from major bookstores and the
Toronto Real Estate Board for $24.95.
It's a must-buy for
realtors, appraisers, historians, surveyors, and mortgage lenders,
along with those of us who just love this wonderful city.
This new book describes
in detail 158 distinct Toronto residential neighbourhoods, and
includes maps, price ranges of local homes, sketches and
descriptions of typical houses, along with information on shopping,
transit, schools, libraries, theatres, recreation trails and
libraries.
Real estate lawyers and
surveyors are trained to be very precise in dealing with land
descriptions, but I've noticed over the years that descriptions of
Toronto neighbourhoods in real estate advertising and in newspaper
articles have become somewhat fluid and imprecise. I call this
"creeping boundary syndrome", where the description attached to any
given property may borrow the name of an adjacent neighbourhood to
improve its value or image.
I am hoping that
Dunkelman's book will put an end to this "neighbourhood envy" habit
by publicizing and clarifying the precise names and boundaries of
the areas where each of the 2 million Torontonians live, work and
play.
As well, it should put an
end to the habit of using place names that do not exist, such as
Upper Bloor West Village. It may also help Torontonians use the
proper names and pronunciations for our neighbourhoods like The
Beach, and Baby ("Bobby") Point.
Heritage Toronto has
given David Dunkelman's book a Certificate of Commendation for the
years of research that went into the creation of this labour of
love.
Dunkelman, who is the
grandson of the Tip Top Tailors' founder of the same name, is a real
estate broker who owns Maple Tree Realty in Toronto (http://www.mapletreerealty.com).
"While each Toronto
neighbourhood has forged its own distinct identity," he says,
"collectively they have helped make Toronto one of the very best
cities in the world in which to live."
In a city of this size,
it's nice to have so many neighbourhoods to call home. |
