Moving to Toronto!

Well, I got the job with PCL Constructors! So I'll be moving to TO from January to April!

I don't have the info on the job or the location yet. Should be in the city but there's a possibility I could end up in Mississauga. I'll know by tomorrow afternoon.

I hope some of you don't mind helping out a longtime DTT'er by giving me advice on where to rent in the city.

I guess I'll need to rent a parking space to build a bobber over the winter too, eh Noel?

If you work in Mississauga I'd say find an apartment in Mississauga as oppose to Toronto as the rents here are just ridiculous. Like...$900 a month for some shitty basement apartment with 6' ceilings.

Hey that's great!! ;D

I'm sure there are some folks around here that can guide you. I live in the north part of Mississauga. Apartments are expensive around here I understand.

Do you know where the project/office is located?? That would help in figuring out where you might wanna live.

PM Druro, he might have a room to rent! ;D He's outa the country most of the time anyway!! You could probably have the whole house! ;D

Seriously, I'll keep my eyes and ears open. 8)

come on down, the more the merrier ;D

They couldn't tell me if I was working in Toronto on the condos or out in Mississauga yet. Hopefully I'll know soon so I can start looking for a place.

I did request to work with the condos because of the nature of the job, I just hope the pay (workterm = accepting the job before knowing the pay 90% of the time) is good enough to keep a roof over my head and beer, er... food, in the fridge.

If I get the Mississauga job I'll def try to get a place there rather than Toronto.

Thanks for the responses, I'll keep you all posted as I go... And in terms of what I'm looking for sub'ing a room is a definite possibility.

...Does anyone know if any of the college dorms in the city can be rented?

Hey Evan.. Thats awesome!!.. Great to hear!!..
Have you found out where your office is going to be?

I think you should look for a place in the general vicinity since traffic is a total bitch.. unlike anything where you are now..

Sure you'll save a bit of coinage living in mississauga... but you'll quickly be in the red if you have to commute into Toronto every day.. just in time and gas alone!!..

If your office is downtown, find a place downtown, and vice versa..

oh and +1 on what drewski says.. Druro has a nice place + a really nice garage & shop..

locO leoN said:

Hey Evan.. Thats awesome!!.. Great to hear!!..
Have you found out where your office is going to be?

I think you should look for a place in the general vicinity since traffic is a total bitch.. unlike anything where you are now..

Sure you'll save a bit of coinage living in mississauga... but you'll quickly be in the red if you have to commute into Toronto every day.. just in time and gas alone!!..

If your office is downtown, find a place downtown, and vice versa..

oh and +1 on what drewski says.. Druro has a nice place + a really nice garage & shop..

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Hey Noel!
I agree, I'll be getting a place as close to the job site / office as I can.
And you're right, there's next to no traffic here (aside for the usual 8AM and 5PM stuff to-from University).

Everyone seems to want me to move in with Druro, lol, is he lonely or just rich?

Ease said:

Everyone seems to want me to move in with Druro, lol, is he lonely or just rich?

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Both I think!! ;D

Noel is just rich!!

BTW, is this place you need just for you, or is there a "significant other" or 2?? ;D

Haha. It'll be just me living there. Probably an occasional guest.

I got the letter today. I start on January 4th, so it's a crunch now to find a place to live...

The office is 2085 Hurontario St., Mississauga, and the job site is Block 26 West, 2 Spadina Avenue, Toronto.

I believe I'll be spending most of my time at the job site. So I'll probably look for a place closer to there. The two locations are only 21 km's apart... 15 min drive on Google. But I'm sure traffic at 8am will say otherwise.

So now I have to decide if I'm taking my truck (parking/driving) or if I'm flying. Flying would be much cheaper, so I'm wondering if having my truck would be an advantage at all in TO...

Opinions? Rooms to rent? New Years Eve plans? lol

Have ever driven in the GTA? Whatever driving experience you had back home, throw it out the window. You're pretty much starting from scratch. You will be living among some of the worst drivers in North America, I kid you not.

DrJ said:

Have ever driven in the GTA? Whatever driving experience you had back home, throw it out the window. You're pretty much starting from scratch. You will be living among some of the worst drivers in North America, I kid you not.

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Nope, haven't driven there at all... I have only been to Toronto once since I have had my licence (not counting the many days I've spent stuck in the airport), but I also haven't taken the transit system. Worth leaving my truck in NL and busing it around for 4 months?

Speaking of busing it you'll be here just in time for our next transit fare hike. $3 gets you where you want to go, but off course not on time.

2 Spadina is 1.4KM from the 'Garage', which is on Stadium Road. It's where some of us rent parking spaces and work on bikes. Tony is doing a winter storage deal down there that you might get in on, or you can probably rent a whole spot for your bike / truck etc.

Apartments are plentiful in the area but might be hard to find vacant. Kensington Market is a popular spot, just up the road off Spadina and there's a streetcar that runs up/down Spadina. Kensington is less than 2KM from the job site.

A little further north you run into the University crowd going to U of T. Spadina & Bloor is in the heart of the Annex neighborhood, where I first lived when I moved to Toronto 17 years ago. Expensive rents but a great spot to live. Lots of 20 year old students milling about.

Queen West is another popular area - you'll find potentially some good spots to rent in the Western most end, getting into a 'hood called Parkdale. It doesn't have the best reputation, but is quickly being taken over by people buying homes, renovating, and making apartments in them to help pay the mortgage.

Roncesvalles Village, marked on the map, is an awesome area. I'd move there in a heartbeat.

King West has also been overhauled in the last 10 years into tons of condos / townhomes probably with lots of rental opportunities. Liberty Village is one of the newly constructed neighborhoods along King West that is chock full of new construction and all the amenities that go with it - coffee shops, grocery stores, blockbusters etc. and streetcars along King going East/West (horrible service though, just like along Queen - very congested transit).

Here's a map with a boundry drawn around an area I'd be looking in for rentals. Good access to your jobsite, and the Gardiner Expressway which turns into the QEW, which you'd use to get out to Hurontario.

C on the map is the 'Garage'. I live up just West of D on the map. A is Kensington Market.

To get from D to B, your jobsite on transit would take the better part of 30 minutes. If you can stick to the Subway lines, you'll have faster service and it's all underground so it's sheltered. It runs North/South under Spadina Ave, and the other line runs East / West along Bloor St. Transfers from one line to the other happen at Bloor/Spadina and Bloor/Yonge.

Ask lots of questions - we all have our favorite spots in Toronto.

Oh, and the Black Dice Cafe is at Dundas St West & Sheridan - right in the middle (kinda) of the area I've marked off

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Kensington+Ave&daddr=2+Spadina+Ave,+Toronto,+ON,+Canada+to:Stadium+Rd+toarkside+Dr+toundas+St+W+to:43.674328,-79.408751+to:kensington+ave&hl=en&geocode=FZAamgIdbnJE-w%3BFXTjmQIdtI9E-ymtiqbrJzUriDFBsxO90bquUw%3BFRLMmQId3nRE-w%3BFRgAmgIdrpRD-w%3BFQtImgId_HdD-w%3B%3BFcYamgIdV3JE-ynp6bFTwjQriDE-SNrX3QG7tA&mra=dpe&mrcr=3&mrsp=5&sz=14&via=3,5&sll=43.661601,-79.440765&sspn=0.049053,0.104971&ie=UTF8&ll=43.65359,-79.423943&spn=0.04906,0.104971&z=14

You need to decide what your rent budget is going to be, as well as utilities (we have relatively cheap electricity). Check www.viewit.ca to browse some places.

Sooner you buy a place the better - real estate in Toronto is always a good bet. My place has doubled in price over the past 10 years.

whao..+1 on what Tim said..

Is your move to Toronto a permanent one or is it contract?
If Im not mistaken, most rentals are a minimum 1yr..

You should PM Represto.. If I recall, he just moved into a large place and was lookin for some roommates...
You'll just have to put up with all the party chicks that he surrounds himself with... wait.. just like you!!...

Speaking of parrty chicks, you lookin for a place just for you or you and your entourage?

Bahahaha... Man I'm never going to live that pic down. What is it your desktop background? lol

I PM'd Represto about the room... The "party chicks" will not be coming with me. Haha. Hopefully a couple of them will visit. But I'm willing to meet some new ones.

I'm worried about the 1yr thing... My placement is only for 4 months, and then I have to come back to NL to go to school for the spring / summer. I'm really looking for a place from Jan 1st (or a couple of days earlier) to the end of April.



Tim that is a real wealth of information. I'll be studying that tonight when I'm hunting for places. Thanks for the info!

I really have no knowledge of Toronto so anything is a great help.

I'm probably going to bring the S10 (as long as I get parking and the truck runs well when I put it back together), but since I'll be coming back in April / May I'm not going to take the bike...

Ease said:

Bahahaha... Man I'm never going to live that pic down. What is it your desktop background? lol

I PM'd Represto about the room... The "party chicks" will not be coming with me. Haha. Hopefully a couple of them will visit. But I'm willing to meet some new ones.

I'm worried about the 1yr thing... My placement is only for 4 months, and then I have to come back to NL to go to school for the spring / summer. I'm really looking for a place from Jan 1st (or a couple of days earlier) to the end of April.



Tim that is a real wealth of information. I'll be studying that tonight when I'm hunting for places. Thanks for the info! Any further info would be great.

I'm probably going to bring the S10 now (as long as I get parking and the truck runs well when I put it back together), but since I'll be coming back in April / May I'm not going to take the bike...

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No actually.. this is my wallpaper back ground:


;D
Keep us informed...
Also PM Lovehertz.. Since she lives in the Kensington area, she might know of a few places in that area...

Ahahahahahahahahahahaha, that tops the original... And just as hilarious of an expression.

I'm looking at a lot of bachelor / basement apartments in the $700 range online. I'm working as a student so I'm not making a mint, but not too bad... Still want to save as much as I can on rent.

Looking at a couple of places online now. No definite but there is at least one prospect.

What do you guys think about Indian Road?

Or Bloor West Village?

I just found out that my buddy who had a place in Toronto a couple of years ago still has his furniture stored up there so I now have a hookup if I find an unfurnished place...