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High Park and Roncesvalles are two of the ten most sought-after neighbourhoods in Toronto, according to livingincanada.com.
High Park North, or often, simply ‘High Park’, named after the park, is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is bounded on the south by Bloor Street, on the west by Runnymede Road, on the north by Annette Street, Quebec Avenue and Humberside Avenue, and on the east by the CNR/CPR railway tracks. It is located in the Parkdale—High Park provincial and federal electoral districts. The area east of Keele Street is also known informally as the “West Bend” neighbourhood.
High Park (The park itself)
High Park spans 400 acres, and is a mixed recreational and natural park, with sporting facilities, cultural facilities, educational facilities, gardens, playgrounds and a zoo. One third of the park remains in a natural state, with a rare oak savannah ecology. High Park was opened to the public in 1876 and is based on a bequest of land from John George Howard to the City of Toronto. It is the largest park entirely within the city.
High Park (The neighbourhood)
High Park is mainly residential, containing many semi-detached homes built in the early 20th century. North of The Park, the neighbourhood has several high-rise apartment buildings, built after the construction of the Bloor-Danforth subway.
Bloor Street is the main east-west thoroughfare. It is a four-lane road and is commercial with storefront-type businesses with residential second and third-storey rentals. North-south roads include Keele Street and Dundas Street. Both are primarily residential within the neighbourhood.
The oldest residential houses in High Park North were built in the late 1800s and early 1900s and are mostly Victorian, Edwardian and Tudor-style. The houses are typically two- and three-storey, built with detached brick. Among remarkable architectural details and ornaments are leaded and stained glass windows, lush wood trims, French doors, hardwood doors, and fireplaces.
There are about half a dozen schools which contribute to the family-oriented feeling of this neighbourhood.
The neighbourhood is served by the Dundas West, Keele and High Park stations of the Bloor-Danforth TTC subway line. The TTC operates local buses out of each station.
Roncesvalles
Roncesvalles is a neighbourhood centred around Roncesvalles Avenue, a north-south street leading from the intersection of King and Queen Streets to the south, north to Dundas Street West, a distance of roughly 1.5 kilometres. It is located east of High Park, north of Lake Ontario, in the Parkdale-High Park provincial and federal ridings and the municipal Ward 14. Originally known as ‘Howard Park’, most of this area was formerly within the boundaries of Parkdale and Brockton villages and was annexed into Toronto in the 1880s.
Culturally, Roncesvalles is known as the centre of the Polish community in Toronto, with prominent Polish institutions, businesses and St Casimir’s Catholic Church located on Roncesvalles Avenue. The businesses along Roncesvalles have formed the Roncesvalles Village Business Improvement Area and hold an annual Polish Festival.
The intersection of Roncesvalles, Queen and King streets has long been a transportation hub of the city of Toronto.
Today, the area is well served with the Dundas West and Keele subway stations to the north at Bloor Street. The 501, 504, 505, 506, and 508streetcars provide frequent service and the Queensway bus provides service along Parkside Avenue from Keele station.
Roncesvalles is so close to Lake Ontario and the park the hug the Lake. The proximity to the water is a huge feature that draws people into Roncesvalles Village.
High Park Real Estate
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