Parents want the best for their kids, even when they fly the coop for post-secondary success in the big city.

Over the years, we’ve helped countless parents—nervous about their kids’ burgeoning independence in Toronto—find suitable homes in neighbourhoods that cater to this city’s sizeable student population. We’ve also coached mature students moving from a smaller city in their quest for student-friendly housing. We’ve helped incoming profs, administrators, and even self-made business students with enough entrepreneurial capital to stake a personal claim in Toronto real estate while they attend classes.

Mostly, the criteria for being “student-friendly” are the same. We’re looking to tick a few essential boxes:

• Proximity to universities: An obvious criterion, we look for neighbourhoods circling your post-secondary institution of choice, whether that’s the University of Toronto (UofT), Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, formerly Ryerson), York, Humber, OCAD, or another.
• Affordability: Student housing is often (though not always) temporary, with an emphasis on affordability. Let’s find you a deal.
• Safety: For most students, university or college is their first taste of independence. Therefore, safety is a top priority when creating a student-friendly shortlist of neighbourhoods.
• Access to public transportation: If the neighbourhood isn’t walking distance, it should at least be easily accessible via transport – as should all of the student’s essential amenities.
• Nearby amenities: Cafes, libraries, and grocery stores demand most of a student’s non-classroom time. The ideal neighbourhood should have all of these things close at hand.
• A thriving cultural scene: University is a time for expanding your horizons, so we naturally tend to highlight culturally energetic and diverse neighbourhoods.

With these criteria in mind, let’s explore a few of the finest student-friendly spots in the Six.

The Annex

The Annex ticks every single one of the boxes above. It’s a central, safe neighbourhood just a stone’s throw from UofT. It is chock-filled with bohemian cafes, quaint pubs (for the 19+ crowd), restaurants of varying price ranges, libraries, cultural centres, and grocery outlets.

Running right through the Annex’s main drag is the Line 2 subway, which will take you pretty much wherever you need to go in the city (give or take a transfer). Prices were more affordable here back in its 70s hippie heyday; although, it now ranks among the swankiest neighbourhoods in Toronto, you can still find a deal in the Annex—provided you work with the top Toronto real estate agents!

Kensington Market

You’d be hard-pressed to find a neighbourhood in Toronto with as much cultural capital as Kensington Market. It is a living, breathing organism – a network of mostly pedestrianized backstreets with a long history of being the city’s bohemian backbone.

But Kensington Market is more than the sum of its thrift shops. For one, it has all the groceries, amenities, and cheap eats a student could hope for. Its proximity to U of T and two arterial streetcar lines make it effortlessly accessible. And it remains one of the more affordable neighbourhoods in the vaunted West End, currently resting at a roughly balanced real estate market (at the time of writing).

Parkdale

Parkdale might not be the first neighbourhood one thinks of in regards to students. But give this scrappy, up-and-coming corner of the West End a chance.

It’s currently undergoing a seismic change, with a quickly emerging arts scene, new restaurants popping up by the minute, and easy access to green space like High Park and cultural hubs like Queen West. It’s on the western stretch of the Queen and King streetcar lines, making it a suitable choice for campus-goers in Etobicoke (Humber). It’s also easy to travel eastward to TMU.

Best of all, Parkdale is affordable—a price that reflects its promise as one of the up-and-comer neighbourhoods in Toronto.

Cabbagetown

We travel now across the city to historic Cabbagetown. Surrounded by beautiful heritage homes, Cabbagetown features a main drag along Parliament Street that plays all the familiar hits: great eateries, hip bars, affordable supermarkets, pizzerias, coffee shops, and several other student-centric haunts.

It’s a short walk (and an even shorter streetcar ride) to TMU; getting to U of T doesn’t take much more time. On the weekends, students in Cabbagetown can saunter past the lush Victorian houses on their way to Riverdale Park, where they’ll be treated to stunning panorama views of the city.

Little Italy

Who says a student can’t live La Dolce Vita while studying? The Old Country is alive and well in Little Italy, which boasts a rolling mix of nightlife spots, Italian restaurants, frozen-in-time cafes, boutique grocery stores, and green space access.

Follow College Street in Little Italy all the way to U of T (14 minutes by streetcar, 20 minutes walking). The neighbourhood also puts you smack dab in the middle of the action, sandwiched between Kensington Market, Trinity Bellwoods, the Ossington Strip, and Koreatown.

York University Heights/Bathurst Manor

Though it’s often overshadowed by the cultural cache of central campuses like U of T and TMU, the Keele Campus of York University is Canada’s largest schoolground by area. It also ranks as one of the largest in population. That said, there’s a good chance you aren’t staying downtown as a student in the GTA; you’re staying north of the city.

For all the York students out there, consider York University Heights, a neighbourhood adjoining the Keele Campus that has a student-centric vibe. It features a stacked cast of amenities, and is reasonably transit-friendly, connecting with the Line 1 subway to deliver you downtown on weekends and evenings.

If you’re a parent or self-made student looking for the best neighbourhood in Toronto, consider one of the six above. If you’ve still got time before your young one leaves the nest for university, check out Harvey Kalles Real Estate Company’s list of the best schools in Toronto by neighbourhood.

If you need help selecting an area or you want to chat about options in specific neighbourhoods, reach out to one of our knowledgeable agents.