In a city that bleats daily about its amalgamation woes, Toronto's Forest Hill neighborhood stands as a shining example of how you can't ruin a good thing. Forest Hill Village between Avenue Road and Bathurst Street, and St. Clair and Eglinton Avenues was a legally incorporated village until Jan. 1, 1967. On that day, Toronto swallowed it up, along with Leaside, Weston, Mimico and other municipalities whose names have mostly vanished from the city's lexicon.
The north-end community was not entirely happy with the merger. The former chief of the Forest Hill Fire Department pronounced it a "goldarn takeover," and village residents claimed the City of Toronto wouldn't be able to maintain the level of service they'd come to expect.
Thirty-some years later, however, things are looking brighter. Seems like everyone got over not having private garbage collection and went on to build a thriving neighborhood distinguished by great schools (including Upper Canada College), great shopping and rock solid real estate. Today, Forest Hill still attracts growing families, as well as retired people. Even renters want to live here, claiming once you move into this area, you never want to leave. It's been called "downtown suburbia," meaning it's safely removed from downtown but vastly more chic than Scarborough.
"When people come to Toronto, it's one of the neighborhoods they say they want to live in," says Ellie Davis of Royal LePage, who lives and works in the area. "It's also a prime residential neighborhood for children. There are a lot of people who have lived here their whole life and now their grandchildren are going to the same school they did."
Right now, real estate is so hot in Forest Hill houses are selling without ever being listed. Prices here dropped about 40% after the 1980s boom went bust and have risen only about 15%. And way more people want to get in than out. That has created a selective pool of properties, priced from about $250,000 (for a small, one-bedroom condo) to $4 million.
Even the million-dollar barrier doesn't mean much here. Last spring, for example, owners of 53 Hillholm Road asked $995,000 and got $1.15 million. Some people are reportedly bidding on every available property - they don't care as much about the house as the area.
