Birchcliffe - Cliffside Toronto Real Estate

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Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
City	Toronto
Community	Scarborough
Changed Municipality	1998 Toronto from Scarborough
Government
- MP	Michelle Simson (Scarborough Southwest)
- MPP	Lorenzo Berardinetti (Scarborough Southwest)
- Councillor	Gary Crawford (Ward 36 Scarborough Southwest

Birch Cliff is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Canada. It is located in the southwest part of the old city of Scarborough running along shore of Lake Ontario atop the eastern part of the Scarborough Bluffs. The area was first developed as the home of the Toronto Hunt Club in 1895 when the region was still mostly farms and woodland. Around the club and number of cottages were erected, and one of these was named "Birch Cliff." This name was also adopted by the local post office, and became the name for the neighbourhood.

As the Beaches neighbourhood was built to the west, the region became the first part of Scarborough to be developed as a suburb to the city of Toronto during the 1920s. Unlike the rest of Toronto, which was developed after the Second World War as automotive based suburbs, Birch Cliff began as a streetcar suburb. With a TTC streetcar line running along Kingston Road to Birchmount Road. As the most populated part of the borough, the Scarborough government met in a building on Kingston Road beginning in 1922. Kingston Road became a busy shopping district.

The post war years saw the streetcar disappear and Kingston Road become a major thoroughfare for those living further east in the newer suburbs. Most of the shops closed. The area by the lake and the ravines remained a wealthy residential district, while further north is a more middle class portion of Scarborough. This area further north is sometimes referred to as Birch Cliff Heights. The westernmost portion of the neighbourhood, west of the Hunt Club, is known as Fallingbrook. It is closely linked to the Beaches.

Quarry Lands

A notable section of the neighbourhood is the former Birch Cliff Quarry. This area is a former quarry that was first used as a quarry by the Toronto Brick Company. It covers a large area south of the railroad tracks, north of Gerrard, and east of Victoria Park. From 1954 to 1960 the old quarry was used as a landfill. In 1960 the landfill was shut down and the site was sold to a development company. At the time the Scarborough Expressway was planned to replace the rail line, and the site would have thus been next to a major interchange. It was thus zoned for high density apartment buildings with 1,450 units. The plan was a tower in a park scheme similar to what was built to the north at Crescent Town. The expense of cleaning up the former landfill delayed to project, and in the interim civic activism stopped the Scarborough Expressway. Modern Jane Jacobs new urbanism also firmly rejects such suburban tower plans, but the area retains the original zoning and under Ontario Municipal Board the city is not allowed to revoke such a zoning. The area currently remains undeveloped, with a driving range on the western edge of the land.

Landmarks

• Toronto Hunt Club
• Rosetta McClain Gardens
• Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute
• St. Nicholas Anglican Church
• Birchcliff Bluffs United Church
• R.C. Harris Filtration Plant

Cliffside is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located along the Scarborough Bluffs in the district of Scarborough. Its boundaries are Kennedy Road to the west (where Kingston and Danforth Road merge), St. Clair Avenue East to the north, Brimley Road to the east, and the Bluffs on the lakeshore to the south. Most of the houses were built in the early to mid 1960's with the baby boom and the mass expansion of the surrounding Toronto suburbs (Scarborough, North York etc.) at the time.

The population consists of a large number of those with ancestral backgrounds from the British Isles: English 19.8% Scottish 14.4% Irish 11.8%, totalling 46% (source: 2001 Census).

Landmarks

• St. Augustine's Seminary
• Scarborough GO Station
• St. Crispin Anglican Church

Real Estate in Birchcliffe-Cliffside Neighbourhood

The most coveted digs in the area are, of course, closest to the lake, where winding streets sprout stately mid-century homes, many with second-storey expanses of glass. Fallingbrook Drive slopes down eastward from Fallingbrook Road, with a thickly wooded ravine on the left. (Units in a new eco-friendly loft proposed for Fallingbrook Road recently sold for $300,000 all the way up to $1 million.) Those with kiddies, doggies or a simple hankering for fresh air appreciate the abundant parkland, which stretches west from the Scarborough Bluffs to Rosetta McClain Gardens. Smaller budgets opt for infill townhouses and condo developments at the northern end of the district. The shopping could be better—the main Kingston Road strip has more tattoo parlours than boutiques—but it’s a trade-off residents accept for the area’s space and privacy. 

HOUSING STOCK: Buyers will discover a mixed bag of Tudor, Elizabethan and post-war standards.

ARGAIN ZONES: The farther north of Kingston and east of Kennedy you go, the friendlier the prices will be. There are plenty of 1930s and ’40s semis and detached houses, as well as a few smaller homes that used to be lakeside getaway cottages for affluent downtowners.  

THE VERDICT: Just east of the Beach but without the bustle, this is one of Toronto’s most charming districts, with dramatic views of Lake Ontario and plenty of property for your dollar.

NEIGHBOURHOOD HOT SPOTS:

 
Birchcliff Village Farmers’ Market On summer and fall Fridays, farmers set up shop at the St. Nicholas Church garden. 1512 Kingston Rd.

Vincent’s Spot The veal Villeroy here is famous, the atmosphere is cozy, and the continental fare satisfies. 2496 Kingston Rd., 416-267-2778.

 Schools - Birchcliffe-Cliffside Neighbourhood

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