Emulating Yonge-Dundas, Yonge-Eglinton is also a thriving commercial center with the benefit of being removed from the hustle and bustle of the downtown core. This is one of the reasons Yonge-Eglinton is consistently recognized as one of the best neighborhoods in Toronto to live. But it isn’t just Yonge-Eglinton, or the quickly developing, but quieter Yonge-St.Clair that is constantly being recognized, it is Midtown at large that seems to offer a higher quality of life. Home to a cluster of upscale neighborhoods, it is places like Rosedale and Forest Hill that are known as the site of Toronto’s Old Money society and often where New Money aspires to reside. Streets are full of well-coiffed greenery and you’re never too far from a parkette. Green spaces in Midtown include Rosehill Reservoir, Sherwood Park, Blythwood Ravine Park and David Balfour Park.

Upscale boutique shopping. Catering to Midtown’s elite, there is a wide variety of often independent shops lining the streets of main intersections. Favorites at Yonge-Eglinton for designer digs include WANT Apothecary, Studio D for Italian made shoes, Niche Essence for high end bath and body products, Three16 and Poor Little Rich Girl, a staple for party dresses.

There are both old world and modern condo buildings around all major intersections and million-dollar single family homes hidden behind main streets. These are most iconically seen in the Forest Hill area. Far from gaudy, these structures are usually emblematic and grand Victorian homes. There are also Georgian, Tudor and Edwardian style mansions, typically built between 1860 and 1930. The luxurious duplexes and multiplexes of Moore Park are also a stand out.

Mount Pleasant Cemetery was originally the first final resting place in Toronto for people who didn’t identify as Anglican or Roman Catholic. Now a National Historic Site of Canada, the residents of Mount Pleasant Cemetery were often very high ranking individuals of society from Northrop Frye, literary critic, Sir Oliver Mowat, the Father of Canadian Confederation, Timothy Eaton, progenitor of the Eaton Centre, Hart Massey, for which Hart House and Massey Hall at the University of Toronto and Massey Hall are named and George Weston, founder of Weston Foods, which owns Loblaws to name a few. Not only a cemetery, Mount Pleasant also houses a collection of rare and exotic trees in a leading arboretum in North America, as well as maintaining several exquisite examples of Georgian architecture on the property.