Loading...Since Toronto’s establishment as early as 1834, monumental changes have followed creating a city that stands today as the most populated city in the entire country! Currently, over 2.8 million people reside in our city with no signs of slowing down. Chief Planner Jennifer Keesmaat projects the downtown population to double over the next 25 years! This number will go from the current 250,000 dwellers of downtown Toronto to an upwards of roughly 475,000 dwellers by 2041.
Researchers, the Government of Toronto & city planners all anticipate their future projection to encompass greater growth.
“We have been building out a planning framework that has been in place for about 40 years – it has been very successful – and now we are at a point where we need the next layer of thinking. We have been so successful in attracting growth to the downtown that we need the layer that looks at long-term infrastructure…” – Keesmaat tells CP24
The goal for Toronto is simply expansion. As a plots of land get over populated, the land gets stretched to account for such change. Similarly, as Toronto overcrowds, many look outwards of the boarder hoping to reside in a community with the convenience of a central hub but also the comfort of suburban lifestyle. Millennials looking to build the “modern family” begin their search for neighbourhoods that are:
- Walkable
- Close proximity to schools/parks
- Transit
This is completely contrary to previous generations who would pursue real estate transactions based on personal transportation i.e. driver’s license, large lot sized homes, spacious suburban living & the ability to travel to such amenities on foot… Though still attainable, millennial’s and families are being filtered out simply due to increase in pricing. In the last 15 years, Toronto has seen a population growth four times larger than the city as a whole! While much of Toronto’s downtown core has witnessed a vertical increase in residential buildings, a horizontal stretch has also been apparent when observing Toronto’s east and west boundaries. We can see expansion in the east with the redevelopment along Harbourfront Toronto as well as the west with high-rises growing along Park Lawn & stretching westward towards Etobicoke… This allows much mobility in development for large corporations and private business owners in constructing the future growth of a new city with more freedom than that of a dense city with much constraints.
West of Toronto’s scenic Park Lawn community neighbours a city in the limelight of developer’s interest. The city of Etobicoke shares all the benefits from its east neighbour from urban living, nightlife, dining, entertainment and more attractively, the mass transit/commute options! Etobicoke is connected to Toronto and stretches its arms to any city through the Queen Elizabeth Way, Gardiner Expressway, Ontario Highway 401, Ontario Highway 409 with transit connecting through Bloor-Danforth subway with western terminals stretching to Kipling Avenue as well as four GO stations! As connectivity increases, developers move away from the over-crowd, expensive costs of downtown development and relocate their funds into cities like Etobicoke that are premature in development, cheap & flexible with architectural design and construction while fully loaded with the amenities, services and attractions of downtown Toronto only moments away! The fate of Etobicoke is sealed for forthcoming years as we witness investors nesting their funds and building their returns while the city grows to mirror the identical growth of Toronto…
The below images are visual examples of the growth we are currently under-going in the city of Etobicoke…
**Etobicoke 2007 (roughly)**
**Etobicoke 2017**
With such great arterial value, the Etobicoke-Lakeshore community cannot be ignored. It is suburban, it is modern, it is amenity-filled, and there is a huge demographic opportunity for newcomers: millennials, professional couples with kids, families looking for an urban lifestyle with more space than downtown Toronto and anyone looking to invest!