Neighbourhood

I took a stroll through the M4V 1J4 neighborhood shortly after moving in and it is quite alright. I posted a Google Map at the end of this page.

The main intersection is Yonge and St. Clair, which gives the neighborhood its name. Here's a quick history from Toronto Life:

Originally known as the Third Concession Line (what is now Queen Street is the first and Bloor Street the second), St. Clair started gaining traction as a neighbhourhood when a water-powered gristmilll opened in the mid-1830s. In 1989, the balance shifted in favour of the residential when Agnes Heath and her children moved onto a 40-acre plot of land, noticed a lot of deer milling about and called it Deer Park. Then, as transportation moved north, more and more people settled in the area. The tide shifted again in 1954, when the Yonge Street subway brought businesses and office towers, such as the Imperial Oil and Mutual Life buildings. Today, there’s a return to the way things once were. In 2011, the Mutual Life building reopened as One12 St. Clair, a high-end condo with suits from $1.6 million to $2.9 million. The Avenue and Churchill Park followed close behind, as did the architecturally acclaimed Imperial Oil building, which was restored by Camrost-Felcorp as the Imperial Plaza—a luxury residence with units maxing out at $8 million. Of course, there’s more to Yonge-St. Clair than just Yonge and St. Clair: 150 Balmoral, at the corner of Avenue and Balmoral, was built in 1929 by S.B. Coon and Son, and stands as one of the stateliest Gothic rental buildings this side of the Atlantic.

BlogTO also has some photos.

Another, more specific and "upscale" name is Rosedale, which is the street on the other side of Yonge, almost continuing Balmoral. Toronto Life rated this neighbourhood first in 2013:

The idea of Rosedale exerts a powerful effect on the city’s psychology—for a certain type of Torontonian, moving into the neighbourhood, perched just above downtown, is an incontrovertible signal that they’ve made it. The average household income is a tidy $386,076, and few detached homes go for less than $1.5 million. But Rosedale is not monolithic. Its winding streets, which seem designed to baffle outsiders, are divided into countless little pockets: there are the secluded mansions of Drumsnab Park, the family-friendly enclave of Nanton Avenue, the remnants of the lieutenant governor’s mansion in Chorley Park. (Then there’s Summerhill and Moore Park, both lovely and part of the same official City of Toronto neighbourhood boundary, but neither is quite Rosedale, if you ask most Rosedalers.) Nearly half the residents are renters, which means there are grad students and artists mixed in with the bankers and trust-funders.

Find it also in Toronto Neighbourhood Guide as well as Wikipedia.

At 26 Balmoral, parallel to 28 Balmoral, there is an almost identical building under the same management and apparently suffering from what appears to be a massive and continuous Bed Bug infestation. Apart from the rental buildings, most houses are well-maintained and have rather expensive cars parked in their driveway. For example, 71 Balmoral was featured in BlogTO not long ago for the princely sum of about 4 million dollars. Leaving the rentals behind and walking toward Yonge St, there is a Fire Station, then right on the corner of Balmoral and Yonge, Capocaccia Trattoria, an Italian restaurant with an 85% rating on UrbanSpoon. At 1 Balmoral Ave you find John & Sons Oyster House, with a 3/5 rating on Yelp. The entire Yonge & St. Clair area is full of nice restaurants, reviewed at BlogTO, TorDine, DineTO and Toronto-Restaurants.

Right across the street, on Yonge, there is a Starbucks, open from 6 am until about 10 pm.

Going South along Yonge, you will find a vintage wines LCBO store #10 (open almost daily 10-10) right at the Summerhill subway station, a Staples store and also Harvest Wagon, an upscale supermarket where you can purchase in style organic bananas at $8/lb.

Going North on Yonge St, there is the St Clair (East) subway station, with an entrance both off St Clair as well as off Pleasant Blvd, a street closer to Balmoral than St Clair. There is a Papery on Yonge and, if you are into buying some nice cards and want more, right across on Pleasant Blvd, there is a smaller store selling about the same fare. Also on Pleasant Blvd there is a paralegal office, where a very nice gentleman with excellent manners, Mel Shear with Legal Assistance For Less, can listen to your problem and usually offer a solution or at least a word of advice.

Walking further North along Yonge, we find the #00112 CIBC in the SW corner of the Yonge and St Clair intersection (1 St Clair W), open 9:30-5 daily except Sunday. Walking further west I discovered what at first I thought to be a previous location for Urban Fresh, but it was only a Bistro:

Apart from the sign above, found on the door, the inside seemed nicely decorated and quite functional. Right next to the notice above there was what looked like a Conditional Pass from Toronto Public Health:

When I first saw this I nearly got a heart attack, because I was looking for "Urban Fresh / Sobeys" and I thought it was the same thing, but on closer inspection, it wasn't. This was not the only business closure - there were quite a few more being closed on Yonge St, but this may be normal for a January 3rd day. Having had enough of "WesSide" I headed back East, where I'm from. On the way to the subway stop there was a building in construction or renovation (if I'm not mistaken, 25 St Clair E, a federal government "Arthur Meighen" building). According to Wikipedia,

Larry A. Glassford, a professor of education at the University of Windsor, concluded, "On any list of Canadian prime ministers ranked according to their achievements while in office, Arthur Meighen would not place very high."

The choice for the name of the building seems rather odd, as if people working there are destined to mediocrity. On the other hand, my definition of effective bureaucracy does not include crack cocaine scandals and drunk "leaders", but rather a quiet, sustainable efficiency.

Right before that monument to non-achievement there is a Thai Express, then a CanadaPost office at 27 (there's one also in St Clair Greetings, at 12), and then finally the subway. There is also a shopping mall, the South District Office location for the Landlord and Tenant Board, at 79 St Clair East. Right across the proper subway entrance, on the North side of St Clair, there is a Subway fast food franchise. On the South side there is a Sobeys St Clair Supermarket at 81 St Clair E, open 24h, where organic bananas are $0.79/lb.

There is also MyStClair with numerous sponsored messages.