Edenbridge - Humber Valley Toronto Real Estate

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Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
City	Toronto
Community	Etobicoke-York
Changed Municipality	1998 Toronto from Etobicoke
Government
- MP	Ted Opitz (Etobicoke Centre)
- MPP	Donna Cansfield (Etobicoke Centre)
- Councillor	Gloria Lindsay Luby (Ward 4 Etobicoke Centre)

Average Sale Price for W08 in June 2011: $641,180
Property crime:high
Crime against people:low

Nestled between two golf clubs—St. George’s in the northwest and Lambton Golf and Country Club just across the Humber River—this is a country club–like area, with large lots, spacious homes and tree-lined streets, many of them still without sidewalks. The prices match the surroundings. Two decades ago, a nice little three-bedroom in Humber Valley Village was less than half a million. Now it will cost at least three times as much, and lots with river or golf-course views fetch even more. The luxury houses on Edenbridge Drive, which skirts James Gardens and the Humber River parklands, average $2.5 to $3 million. The region’s many affluent families love the area for its shops (Humbertown Shopping Centre), one-stop schooling (junior kindergarten to Grade 8 at Humber Valley Village Junior Middle School) and tranquility.

HOUSING STOCK: Some of the area was developed as early as the 1930s, but the dominant look is classic 1950s and 1960s. There are bungalows and backsplits in the north, and monster homes everywhere from Chestnut Hills Parkway to the gracious heights of North Drive.

BARGAIN ZONES: Expect to spend big everywhere, though houses farther from the golf courses are somewhat more reasonable.

THE VERDICT: Next to The Kingsway and Princess–Rosethorn, this is Etobicoke’s most affluent and desirable area. It’s highly polished suburbia, but there’s next to no entertainment and very little decent dining. However, the park-size lots more than compensate.

Humber Valley Village is a neighbourhood located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is within the former City of Etobicoke and is a relatively affluent community. The boundaries are from Dundas Street on the south to Islington Avenue to the west, Eglinton Avenue to the north, and the Humber River in the east. The neighbourhood is in the political riding of Etobicoke Centre.

Character

This neighbourhood can be further broken down into smaller communities. The triangular quadrant north of Dundas from Islington to Royal York, but south of Reigate is known as Chestnut Hills. The area surrounding Edenbridge, on the west side of Royal York is known as Lincoln Woods. Finally, the northern corner of Islington and Eglinton is sometimes referred to as The Greens of St. George's. Sometimes streets in the neighbourhood become their own little community as well, for example people tend to connect to names like Valecrest, North Dr, Chestnut Hills, all of which are streets in this neighbourhood.

This neighbourhood is the wealthiest part of Etobicoke, and considered at par with the exclusive neighbourhoods that developed along Avenue Rd, and Yonge St, between Bloor and Highway 401. This wealth is evident in the schools. Catchment areas for schools such as Lambton-Kingsway, Humber Valley Village, Our Lady of Sorrows Elementary School, Etobicoke Collegiate Institute, and Richview Collegiate Institute are very defined. In some cases, those who do not live in the boundaries must apply with a lottery system to gain acceptance. There is also an independent elementary school, Kingsway College School, in the area, located on Dundas St.

History

Early Development

Although laid-out in farm lots by 1805, most of the lots were purchased by some of Etobicoke's early great land owners who lived elsewhere in the township leaving this part of the Humber Valley little developed with no homes along what became Royal York Road from Dundas north to Eglinton. The Iroquois shorline, remnant of the ancient Lake Iroquois, which forms an escarpment along Dundas in Etobicoke, turns far to the north in this area, cut away by the Humber River creating the Humber Valley. The western extension of St. Clair Avenue (now called Rathburn in Etobicoke) ran through the centre of the area and it was near this point the local developer Robert Home Smith built his home 'Edenbridge' (named after a village in southern England) overlooking the Humber Valley, at the turn of the century, after purchasing much of the surrounding land. To the west of Royal York another early resident, Frederick James, in 1908 developed his 'Red Gables' estate as a large landscaped park which, as the 'James Garden' landscaped park, remains today.While Robert Home Smith developed land in The Kingsway neighbourhood to the south, the new 'Edenbridge' area was resuveyed and subdivided for development by Smith's company more slowly as the 'Humber Valley Surveys'; construction starting in the mid 1930s and continuing after Smith's death in 1935, until the 1960s.This 30 year span produced many different styles of luxury home as fashions changed, leading to a very different style of development than originally invisioned by Robert Home Smith. The designs include: Georgian, Colonial, Tudor, English Cottage, Cape Cod, ranch bungalows, split-level, contemporary and modernist.

Later Development

The neighbourhood was planned as a wealthy suburb like 'the Kingsway' to the south, which it has largely remained despite the later development of many apartments immediately to the west along an extended 'the Kingsway', north of Dundas to the west of Edenbridge, during Etobicoke's rapid urbanisation in the 1960s. The extension of St. Clair Avenue (Rathburn in Etobicoke) was redeveloped, in a similar style to the area in the west, as Anglesey; a winding street lined with apartments. Because Robert Home Smith had planned the, then slowly growing, area as a purely residential development, there are few institutions here. Rapid growth in Edenbridge and the higher density (north) Kingsway area to the west, necessitated the establishment of the Humber Valley Village public school, built in 1951, soon followed by the Humbertown Shopping Centre at Royal York and Dundas at the heart of 'Humber Valley Village'. The 1950s also saw the redevelopment of the Royal York and Dundas intersection as a highway style interchange, thought to be necessitated by urbanisation but now much criticised, which divided this neighbourhood from the older neighbourhoods to the south. Still mostly an exclusive and leafy neighbourhood, some recent high-density development is taking place along the short commercial stretch of Royal York in the south of the community across from the Humbertown Shopping Centre, such as the 'James Club' condominium, named after James Gardes.

Parks

The defining element of this community would be the parks system. Not only are there five golf courses within one kilometre of every side of the borders, but huge networks of green space surround the Humber River. This connects to the Martin Goodman Trail, which follows Lake Ontario.

Schools

• Humber Valley Village Junior Middle School (HVV) is a public elementary school on Hartfield Road, west of Royal York Road, north of Dundas Street. The property lies within the valley of the Humber River. It was established in 1951.

• Kingsley Primary School

• Leonardo Da Vinci Academy

Institutions

• Humbertown Shopping Centre
• St. George's Golf and Country Club
• James Gardens

• Lambton Hills Cemetery

Churches

• Humber Valley United Church
• St Giles Kingsway Presbyterian Church

Transportation

The Toronto Transit Commission operates buses along the main arteries of the neighbourhood. These include Royal York Rd, Islington Ave, Dundas St, Eglinton Ave, as well as Anglesey Blvd. These buses connect to Islington Station and Royal York Subway Stations

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Neighbourhood Hot spots:

 
Humbertown Jewellers Watches and baubles are so dear you need an appointment. Humbertown Shopping Centre, 270 The Kingsway, 416-234-1600.

James Gardens With a riverside location and spring-fed pools, these well-kept gardens are a wedding photographer’s dream. Edenbridge Dr., east of Royal York Rd., 416-392-8188.

St. George’s Golf and Country Club With a long history, limited membership and a venerable top-three rating, St. George’s maintains old-school class and exclusivity. 1668 Islington Ave., 416-231-3393.

Humbertown Shopping Centre

Schools - Edenbridge - Humber Valley Neighbourhood

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