I will be landing in Toronto in May 2004. I have been suggested by some people to go and settle down in Mississauga near Square One and some of them have suggested to opt for North York near Fair View Mall. On what grounds they have recommended these places no idea at all.Can anybody help me in solving this puzzle by giving me detailed information by stating the advantages & disadvantages of the respective places.

I am an accountant by profession and my husband is a banker.
I have a daughter who is 11 and 1/2 years old and a son who is 1 year and 3 months old. We are from Delhi but staying in Abu Dhabi for last 5 years.

Apart from Job opportunities I would be interested to compare the schools and baby sitters in these two areas.

Thanks
Anjana

I think you have got good advice from people. both these places are good , especially for Indians since apart from being very central places in terms of transportation and other things that go with that, these localities have a reasonably good Indian population.

Infact when I first landed in Toronto, I stayed at North york just behind the Fairview Mall for first 3 weeks and during this time, looked for apartments mainly around the Square One area which is upmarket compared to Fairview mall.

Fairview mall area is well connected both with bus and subway (a new one) and therefore the prices there have gone up in last 2-3 years. It is also just adjacent to a major highway making the commute to rest of GTA faster.....but my personal experience is that that particular highway is jammed from 7am to 10pm. Travel to Downtown from there either by car or by subway should be about 30 minutes. The mall itself is one of the better ones of the GTA and it has got a nice and big library. However, the schools there, though not bad, are nothing to boast about. There is a reasonably big Gujrati community there and if I am not wrong, it will be easy to get a baby sitter in the area for your young one. But apartments there are old ones, and none of them I think compares to the Middle East quality. However, they are much better than aparments in many other areas of GTA.

Square one area has all the facilities and is very newly developed. The best thing is that in that area you can get lots of POSH apartments (like Dubai). Infact, I knew a family who were also from Abu Dhabi who lived there and said that for them it was almost like living in Middle East since there were so many of them on one street - full of condos. Square one is the terminus for all the transit buses of Missisuaga and that place is near a major highway which makes commuting to distances much easier. However, one major drawback.........being a very sought after area, it is very expensive. A condo of about 1300 sft would easily rent for $2,000 there and though it sounds 1300 sft, being of modern design, they have angular rooms and little utilizable space - that is what made me not settle there. However, the houses are really good, and so are the prices.

In short, both are very good places and you couldn't go wrong with either of them. It will depend entirely on your personal liking where you would feel more comfortable.

Hope my posting has been helpful to you.

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That's a pretty comprehensive post there, Banjara, some very good info.

All I can add is my personal opinion. I've lived near Sq. One for about 2 years and I absolutely love it here. I live in a 1 bdrm Condo and my rent is 1250 (including all utilities + underground parking). Although the condo isn't very roomy, its enough for me. And the building has great facilities (an indoor pool, small gym, party room etc etc.). Having Square One mall (which has a Walmart) is a big convenience. Also the public library whic is very close to Square one mall is absolutely fantastic. Lots of Indians, and a lot of Indian grocery stores and restaurants, so that you don't feel homesick. And Mississauga seems a more green to me, lots of nice parks everywhere.

All these things exist in North York too, but if you drive around, Mississauga will definately seem more upscale!

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Thanks Banjara and BL.

You mentioned the travelling time from North York to Downtown but didn't mention how much time it takes from Mississauga.
You mentioned about the schools in North York but didn't mention about Mississauga schools and baby sitters.
Can you explain a condo house / apartment?
What about the job opportunities in these two areas?

Somebody is offering me a two bedrrom apartment in a highrise bldg. which is 5-6 years old bldg. near Square One mall for 1400 dollars, what do you suggest shall i finalize it?

there is one more suggestion that is for Sheppard subway building. Although the building is 20 years old and expensive too, the logic of this person is that everything is available in the same bldg. and in the basement there is a subway too. So in winters there is not much exposure to outside weather.

Thanks
Anjana

Anjana,

My apologies for not giving the details about Missisuaga - two reasons- firstly I thought that there is enough information available on this site which you have earlier gone thru - I remember you asking a few questions a few months ago, and secondly, I do not personally have first hand knowledge about the same.

Anyway, from whatever little I know - and I am sure people will correct me if I am wrong, Mississuaga schools are good especially near Square One. See the basic thing is that it is the community which makes the school. Depending on the kind of people living in that community (area/dayera), the children will reflect the goodness or otherwise of the school. When I had first come here, I had signed up for an apartment which was on the 32nd floor with gorgeous view and nice rooms. However, when I took a trip around and went to the schools nearby, I found I just did not want to live there or send my children to schools there since 40% of the students of that elementary school were enrolled as ESL students (those who need special guidance with English), and the parks were full of ladies which reminded me of villages in India and Pakistan.

Square One is, as I said earlier, an upmarket area and the community is therefore something that you will be able to relate to. Having said that, it might be a bit difficult to get cheap baby sitting help available and you might have to go to them, but I do not know.

Commute from that area to downtown should be around 40 minutes either by car or by local train - but unlike TTC trains form Sheppard Station, these trains run only in the mornings and evening....and I am not sure, but may be a couple during the day. In TTC it is every 10 minutes.

Employment - well Mississuaga is considered the fastest growing town in North America in terms of manufacturing and employement opportunities

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If we can unite, we can be the greatest!

Thanks Banjara for a prompt and straight forward answer.

i vote mississauaga...
nice place...spacious.....sq one is awesome!
i live in mississauga..iv been to north york too...both places are good to live in..but i found north york apartment prices cheaper than the ones in mississauga...!
good luck