Real Estate Guide › Central

Kensington - Chinatown

Average 2007 sale price:: $600,000
Property crime:: very high
Crime against people:: high
Neighbourhood map:: See map

There are few parts of downtown more storied than Chinatown and Kensington Market. Everyone in the city has their favourite restaurant, and citizens of all ages enjoy a leisurely Saturday wandering the fish stalls on Baldwin, the used clothing stores on Kensington and Augusta, or the fruit vendors on most corners. And, few neighbourhoods are as starkly dichotomous, with the distinct cultures of Chinatown and the market mixing only as much as geography requires. The neo-hippies drawn to the market typically live and wander west of Spadina; the few Chinese families that are left after the various exoduses tended to congregate east of Spadina, where family-name social clubs are still a common sight among the old houses on D’Arcy and Cecil. Today, Caribbean and South American stores spice up the area. Baldwin Street, chockablock with restaurants, has a social scene all its own. To the south sits Alexandra Park, whose Victorian-style houses, built in the 1880s and ’90s, share the area with a mass of social housing from the 1960s. The residential aspects of the neighbourhood vary widely, as do the people who choose to live here: arts professionals on Sullivan Street and in the Grange; business folk in the gracious townhouses on Phoebe; condo dwellers in the Kensington Market Lofts; students tucked into whatever ramshackle cubbyholes are available.

HOUSING STOCK: There’s a veritable mixed bag of late Victorian piles here, with a lot of places in dire need of structural assistance, especially around the market. The sturdiest stock, also mostly Victorian, is to be found in the southwest and in the immediate vicinity of Baldwin Village. East of Alexandra Park is the old neighbourhood of Grange Park, its narrow streets lined with Victorian row houses that were built between 1870 and the 1890s.

BARGAIN ZONES: The northeast sector of the neighbourhood tends to have the best buys, as does the area immediately surrounding Alexandra Park.

THE VERDICT: There’s more character and life here than most major Canadian cities have in their entire greater metropolitan areas, but this character comes with a price—cockroaches and drunken 3 a.m. yodelling are not uncommon.

NEIGHBOURHOOD HOT SPOTS:
Bellevue Diner A little west of the market, this bistro is a bit higher end than you might expect, and a perfect spot for wine and post-meal people-watching. 61 Bellevue Ave., 416-597-6912.
Tap Phong Trading Company Despite its huge sign, this general store with deals galore is still an undiscovered wonder, even for many Chinatown habitués. 360 Spadina Ave., 416-977-6364.

Nearby Restaurants

Flourish BBQ Restaurant

This basic, clean barbecue house features a broad selection of traditional Chinese barbecue: pork, chicken, ... (0.03 km away)

Asian Legend

Banquettes and fabric-swathed walls provide a refreshingly refined setting for northern Chinese fare (majoring in ... (0.08 km away)

House of Gourmet

With a menu of more than 400 items and hours of operation that span 20 ... (0.10 km away)

Swatow

It’s a good thing this shockingly bright room is jammed with tables: Toronto’s hungry in-the-knows ... (0.17 km away)

Xam Yu

Serious Chinatown regulars will be delighted to forgo the ubiquitous General Tso’s chicken in favour ... (0.20 km away)

Rol Son

A large dining room with family-accommodating tables—lazy Susans built-in—and a generous dim sum menu draw ... (0.21 km away)

Pho Hung Vietnamese

Beneath the beatifically smiling effigy of a scarlet cow, this restaurant’s bright and utilitarian dining ... (0.21 km away)

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Commuting

King and Bay:: 1.4 km
401 and 400:: 12.0 km
Gardiner and 427:: 13.0 km
Subways:: St. Patrick Station 0.6 km; Queen's Park Station 0.8 km; Osgoode Station 0.8 km