Curious Fish

As has been the case for the past 4-5 years, this September, I’m moving again. Last year’s move was brutal. I previously had a very affordable room in a student housing co-op in Toronto’s Annex neighborhood. But the search for a place outside of the student area proved expensive and annoying. All major channels of apartment hunting (craigslist, newspaper classifieds) produced lots of suboptimal places and very few good ones.

This year, it’s a little bit different. First of all, my area of search has expanded and spread out. Toronto has some interesting new neighborhoods that are worthy of further exploration. Plus, I now have wheels, which lets me be a little bit off the subway grid (which is probably the smallest subway line in the planet).

And, I just discovered a site that gives you a score for your potential new address: Walk Score weighs your address against what’s nearby (groceries, stores, restaurants, parks, etc.) and gives you a score out of a 100. It’s a very good tool, especially to weed out places that sound good, but aren’t. Of course, Walk Score doesn’t account for the type of neighborhood. For example, a spot on Queen/Sherbourne I saw yesterday had a score of 85, though when I walked around the building I saw at least two people walking up the stairs that were stoned.

And, last but not least, I hate moving as much as everyone else, but, to its credit, it’s one of the ways to discover the city you live in and go to areas that are otherwise off your radar.

P.S. Apartment/neighborhood suggestions are welcome.