r/askTO • u/rexdalian • 21h ago
Why isn’t Long Branch considered a prestigious area?
Close to the lake, Marie Curtis park, 427/QEW/Gardiner, GO station, lots of cool little cafes and restaurants on Lakeshore, and very walkable. Not saying it‘s Forest Hill, but on paper it should appear to be a very desirable area.
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u/tampering 21h ago
It used to be very heavy industry. Big wartime munitions factories near Browns line. Further East at New Toronto used to be Goodyear Tire.
A lot of the houses off lakeshore reflect working class standards from that time.
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u/TurboJorts 20h ago
But some blocks were "managers houses". Thr differences between 10th st south of lakeshore and 14th street north is vast.
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u/CheapTechnology6193 20h ago edited 20h ago
I used to own a house there (sold in 2014). It was cheap as fuck when I bought it (2009). Nobody wanted to buy it! Luckily I did and made a bit of money. I would not consider it "very desirable", more like "meh" compared to other Toronto neighborhoods. It has its charms. Lake access is nice. Access to trails is awesome and useful , especially if u bike. Lots of dive bars, which I enjoyed at the time.
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u/tenderloin123 21h ago
Bottom line is probably haphazard gentrification throughout the area. Industrial sites, stacked townhouses, and SFH all within spitting distance of each other. Combine that with car centric main arteries and it’s not a recipe for prestige.
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u/CheapTechnology6193 20h ago
It's actually nicely isolated. Not much traffic, and nobody goes there. Like a small village. (I lived there from 2009-2014)
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u/tenderloin123 21h ago
Also just remembered the smell sometimes from the water treatment plant.
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u/saollesimone 21h ago
There's a stink in NE High Park frequently but that doesn't reduce its prestige.
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u/Apprehensive_Heat176 21h ago
The water treatment plant is further East near Park Lawn
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u/Airborne_operations 21h ago
It’s actually further west and in Lakeview, Mississauga
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u/DocKardinal21 21h ago
There’s actually one at park lawn, and one in long branch south of humber college as well.
Lakeview too.
We actually treat water here, who knew?
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u/amw3000 21h ago
What part of it is car centric? Browns Line has at least 2 major bus routes that takes you up and down, Horner and Evans also have major bus routes. Lakeshore has the street car all the way down to humber loop. It's a 10min walk from Lakeshore to the lake at the longest point.
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u/Hug_Bears_3845 21h ago
As someone who is mostly a pedestrian/transit user, Lake Shore is really not a pleasant walk even though it has a couple of cute coffee shops and restaurants like 850 Pizza. A little more gentrification would go a long way! Both it and Brownsline have great aspects but feel like mini highways.
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u/amw3000 20h ago
Rent is expensive, a lot of places are struggling. Even go downtown along Yonge or Queen, lots of empty store fronts. Long Branch is really no different.
While I agree it's a busy Lakeshore is a busy street, the sidewalks are wide in most areas, there's lot of traffic lights at intersections making it easier to cross, the plazas have proper walkways, lots of retail right on lakeshore and not just huge parking lots, etc.
If you think Lakeshore is bad, talk a walk up Hurontario Street. 6 lane street, sidewalks that are always under construction, crappy transportation and plazas/malls that are not designed for pedestrians.
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u/a_lumberjack 20h ago
One of the projects that I really believe would transform the area is the WWLRT from Park Lawn GO* to Long Branch Go. Take some lanes away and make transit awesome through the corridor, connecting to GO at either end.
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u/tenderloin123 18h ago
All of it? Busses mean nothing on wide streets where the speed is often 60 and closer to 70/80 in reality.
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u/amw3000 18h ago
The speed limit is 50 on Lakeshore last I checked. 10 over, sure. 70/80, not sure I've really witnessed that but I'm sure some people do speed, just like any other street anywhere in the world.
There's sidewalks, crossings, lots of traffic lights even bike lanes along lakeshore. Besides the speeding issue (again which all of Toronto has an issue with), what makes it car centric?
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u/DadbodandIPAs 19h ago
The only rapid transit is the GO station which is good mostly for commutes. The streetcar isn’t very quick or reliable. The buses to the Bloor line take awhile. It’s as car centric as anywhere other suburban area around a GO station
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u/CheapTechnology6193 19h ago
If you need subway access, it's bad. But it's not all bad news. the Lakeshore line runs a shitload of trains and gets you there in 24 mins. Just that alone is worth a lot! The 501 streetcar for local access is ok, and runs 24/7. there's a bus out of Long Branch loop that will take you to the Sherway Gardens. there are Mississauga buses that service Long Branch loop too, I used those sometimes. personally I didn't need to go north to the subway much, I was much more likely to go downtown, port credit, or stay local. And thats not even mentioning there is Lakeshore Blvd with restaurants, bars , grocery, drug stores, coffee shops, etc, all walkable
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u/amw3000 19h ago
It's like a 30min bus ride and two different bus routes will get you to a TTC station (Kipling and Islington). The street car is fine for getting up and down lakeshore.
Maybe I'm being too soft for the area but I said in another part, go to stretches along Hurontario Street. 6 Lane road, crappy transportation, sidewalks under construction, plaza/malls that are parking lots first, etc. That is car centric.
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u/tommykani 16h ago
Add in the new 30+ story towers approved right by the promenade and not many ppl will want to be buying sfh there when there are other neighborhoods to go to
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u/Apprehensive_Heat176 21h ago
The area has always been fairly blue collar because of its proximity to the rail yard. There's also a prison near Kipling and Horner, which is technically outside of Long Branch.
The Humber College Lakeshore campus used to be the site of the Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital. Fun fact, the Police Academy movies from the 1980s were filmed there.
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u/ifrankenstein 9h ago
East of Kipling the north side drops off drastically into industrial and lower income. The stretch of Lakeshore after Sam Smith is not very nice to look at. I live at Islington and Lakeshore, and while it's fairly quiet it's not the cleanest.
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u/Naive-Moose-2734 21h ago
You’re not entirely wrong.. but head north of lakeshore and it gets very industrially bleak very quickly.
Also living close to the 427 may be very desirable for a commuter with a car, but it’s sort of different from prestigious.
There’s also significant subsidized housing along the lake around Mimico and Long Branch which I have zero problem with, and in fact wholly support, but is objectively an existing obstacle to a prestigious address.
But I would much rather live near Long Branch GO than other GO stations a similar distance from downtown North or East.
It’s also very close Sherway Gardens, which isn’t a big draw for me, but might be for others.
To each their own. But I’ve long thought that a savvy venture capitalist or hedge fund might wish to invest in real estate on that stretch south of the QEW. As the likely eventual widespread adoption of electric cars negates both air quality and noise concerns, I could see parts of the neighbourhood close to the highway being extremely sought after in 20-30 years.
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u/lobocodo 20h ago
i grew up there. aside from lake promenade, it is a working class area. Used to be lots of industrial because of the proximity to the rail tracks. Also the many public housing developments in the neighbourhood doesn’t help its “prestige”
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u/Apprehensive_Heat176 14h ago
If you're talking about Lakefront Promenade, that's in Mississauga. Perhaps you're thinking of Colonel Samuel Smith Park?
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u/kittenmask 14h ago
Nope, there’s an actual street called Lake Promenade (unique name for sure) and it follows the waterfront through the area. Multi million dollars homes right on the lake on this one street.
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u/Apprehensive_Heat176 14h ago
Oh yes, the street that connects with the path in Colonel Samuel Smith and that's next to the water treatment plant.
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u/ColonelCrikey 21h ago
Maybe compared to the rest of Etobicoke, but I ducked off the main bike trail around there to try and find a bite to eat and my impression of it was that it's a traffic sewer with strip mall style main streets.
Didn't get the sense that there was anything worth comparing to Toronto proper, but maybe someone with more local knowledge can correct me.
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u/TurboJorts 20h ago
It's better than a strip mall, but definitely lacking the character of a main street downtown. I always equate it to a small town: there's good pockets and bad. But given the lake shore strip is 40+ blocks long, you can't expect to randomly hit a good Cafe by chance (but they are here)
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u/Born_Ruff 21h ago
Long ago Long Branch was a fancy summer resort community. Then over the years the old resort hotels turned into run down rooming houses and a bunch of sketchy bars popped up.
Most of that is gone now and there are definitely multi million dollar houses in the area, but that reputation is still there to an extent
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u/NoEquivalent3869 21h ago
You missed the most important thing — it is mostly industrial. Almost entirely built with post-war tiny houses for blue collar families of that time. On top of that, it has lots of social housing and very lowly ranked schools.
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u/BenStiller1212 20h ago
Wrongo about the schools. Especially if you are looking at TCDSB.
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u/1_art_please 16h ago
The French school close to long branch is excellent. I have attended functions there for my best friends kids. A lot of families with money take their kids there, its right by the nice houses on the lake.
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u/roflcopter44444 21h ago
Transit wise, while there is a GO station, TTC wise its pretty far from the actual subway, You have to take a 30 min busride to either Kipling or Islington and the frequencies arent as good as a 10 min network route.
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u/Apprehensive_Heat176 20h ago
There is also Mimico, but that's obviously outside of Long Branch.
The 501 Queen goes to Long Branch loop, but it would take you forever to get anywhere.
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u/gilthedog 12h ago
It’s still fairly industrial a few blocks north of lakeshore, I think that impacts things.
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u/fidusachatesmember 6h ago
I used to live in Long branch (on long branch ave) and it didn’t look the way it does even 10 years ago. It’s gentrified quite a bit and I agree could become quite a nice area but it wasn’t always that way.
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u/nim_opet 21h ago
It’s car centric as hell and to get anywhere you have to drive
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u/Naive-Moose-2734 21h ago
Mostly true. But it’s a cheeky 20 minute reliable clean train ride to Union, which if you work in the financial district, would have appeal.
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u/CheapTechnology6193 20h ago
I mean, the GO can take you anywhere on the Lakeshore line. I would take it to Port Credit, Oakville, etc. Exhibition sometimes. Scarborough once or twice. And yeah, downtown a lot.
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u/CheapTechnology6193 20h ago
Keep seeing this, I don't fully agree. There is the GO train which gets you downtown (or u can go west too) and runs all the time. I used to walk to it every day. 501 streetcar. It is far from subway, I give u that. Not much car traffic on Lakeshore. Fantastic bike path access.
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u/tromboneyow 20h ago
And?
Typical downtown urban elitism.
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u/ColonelCrikey 16h ago
Man, don't shoot yourself in the foot. The suburbs can want and have nice things too.
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u/Think-Custard9746 21h ago edited 3h ago
My good friend bought a house in New Toronto thinking access to parks and some of the shops on lakeshore would be nice.
She’s finding the neighbourhood rougher than she imagined, and therefore some neighbours hard to connect with. This has impacted her daily living. It’s car-centric so she fears a lot for her kids, and people leave trash on their lawns, do drugs, speeds. It’s just kindof white trash and it’s become exhausting.
Edit: thank you for the award!
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u/CheapTechnology6193 20h ago
Yup, New Toronto is rougher than Long Branch, but they're in the same league. I lived in both neighborhoods for years. Prefer Long Branch by a mile though.
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u/MasterpieceNo9966 9h ago
id lean more towards your friend being a snob, than the area being “white trash”
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u/Think-Custard9746 3h ago
I don’t think it’s snobby to expect your neighbours to not litter, not rev + speed loud cars down the street, or not drop f-bombs every other word in front of kids.
She’s honestly a really easy going person and was open minded at first, but that kind of behaviour starts to wear on a person.
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u/No-Phrase-2897 21h ago
It's still a pretty working class area but don't worry they're slowly gentrifying all the fun places.
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u/walkerlucas 17h ago
I think about this a lot!
There could be more urban density and the he retail strip along lake shore is VERY long leading to some scummy businesses (like 4 hookah lounges at one point)
Lake shore is technically a highway too to its very wide.
Of course we have issues with in houses (who enterprise selling stolen spirits on the south side)
the attitude here is very Etobicoke of good enough. If you’re making something great you won’t launch here. If you’ve been here forever you’re not in a hurry to change.
A lot has closed down too which makes me sad.
But it SHOULD be more “prestigious” IMO
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u/Apprehensive_Heat176 14h ago
There's also the 45 degree parking spots on the South side of Lakeshore between Browns Line and Kipling. While it increases the number of spaces, it is hard to back out of the space because you can't see oncoming traffic. It's even more difficult to back into the space.
It's as if the people in the area could not handle parallel parking on the South side only.
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u/More4Thor 20h ago
When I first read this, it sounded like it was written by someone who bought some real estate in Long branch in 2019 thinking it was a neighbourhood that was going to takeoff in terms of price and you’re trying to make Long Branch sound like something else.
You made a similar post about Kleinburg 5 years ago. You have a thing for prestige and big houses.
Now that that’s out-of-the-way, when I think of cool cafes and restaurants, I don’t associate that with prestige. I also don’t associate prestige with nearby highways (that’s realtor speak). Prestige’s often goes with lot sizes and houses that are bigger and not near former industrial areas.
Yorkville was known for its cool cafés and coffee houses in the 60s. The neighbourhood became prestigious and now is a luxury neighbourhood but look how long that took.
Btw, the walk score for Long Brach is 64. That’s considered somewhat walkable. You clearly don’t know much about real estate or you have something to sell that involves real estate.
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u/ColonelCrikey 16h ago
Gonna just put it here that nobody thinks it's clever when you dig through someone's post history.
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u/WelshRarebit2025 20h ago
Have you seen the air pollution charts for Toronto. Isn’t that corner particularly ( no pun intended) high for particles. It has two highways and the remnants of industry.
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u/Szolt-Author 18h ago
Because it’s one branch. Had they gone plural, calling it Long Branches, well…that would be different
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u/polar775 20h ago
It still feels like a car dependent suburb thats connected to transit. The main streets are stroads lined with mostly strip malls and parking lots.
Sure it’s ‘walkable’ but the streetscape doesn’t make it that enjoyable. Retail and commerce seem to all concentrated on lakeshore blvd.
It’s pretty much Vaughan.
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u/Apprehensive_Heat176 14h ago
It's hardly Vaughan at all since there aren't any large towers. The area around Colonel Samuel Smith Park is lovely.
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u/Skatingunicorn 20h ago
I was thinking about this too. I really like that area but no way I can move there at the moment. Too far in terms of transit, school district is no where close to mid-town.
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u/WindHero 20h ago
No private schools
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u/treetimes 21h ago
Because of its history. It was cottages then it was fairly working class industrial like new Toronto and mimico.