Quote:
Originally Posted by shappy
Interesting take, and curious why you guys think this.
Perhaps not my top 5, but it'll make my top 10. It's a bit British-expat-boomer which is pretty much the antithesis of "cool" (no offense if anyone happens to fall in that demographic... hehe), but the neighbourhood is beautiful, charming and unique in the city.
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Visiting as a tourist might be different but, as a local, the Beaches was never on my list of neighbourhoods to move to.
Since I first moved to Toronto at 22, none of my friends or associates have ever lived in the Beaches, and the few people I knew who grew up in the Beaches all moved away at a fairly early age and rented apartments elsewhere. I thought that as I grew older more people I knew might come into money and choose to move there, but nobody has over twenty years later.
I think you hit the nail on the head: this is an area defined by wealthy boomers who first moved in there with their families in the 80s and 90s and never left. It's an area where the locals resist change and, frankly, don't really want to have much to do with the city. If at all possible, they'd rather be at their cottage. And it shows: the Beaches has bad restaurants, no interesting coffee shops or bars, lousy grocery options, dated stores, and terrible public transit. The summertime beach town vibe where guys cruise around slowly on their Harley Davidsons holding up streetcars is not what I originally moved to the city for.
I will admit that the area is pretty, and the beach and boardwalk are definitely great public assets.
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