Welcome to Cabbagetown!

Or should I say, prime Cabbagetown.

One of the main draws to living in this area is proximity to the park.  And this house on Wellesley is as close as you can possibly get…

Cabbagetown is one of the oldest, most historical neighborhoods in the city of Toronto.  It’s also the most unique.

Legend has it that the name “Cabbagetown” is derived from the Irish immigrants who inhabited the area in the 1840’s and who were so poor that they were forced to grow cabbage on their front lawn!

The area dates back to the early 1800’s, however much of the neighborhood was demolished in the 1940’s to make way for the projects at Regent Park.  Ironic, considering those very same Regent Park projects are now being razed, and much of Cabbagetown is being designated historicalin order to preserve its heritige.  It may have taken sixty years, but finally they’re getting it right…

Cabbagetown is, and has been home to many of Toronto’s prominent citizens.  Former City of Toronto Mayor’s, Barbara Hall & June Rowlands; singer, Avril Lavigne; actress, Sarah Polley; and news anchor, Peter Kent have all called Cabbagetown home at one time or another.

Several historical plaques have been placed on the exterior of noteworthy Cabbagetown homes, with a map of all the locations posted in Riverdale Park.

Much of the criticism of Cabbagetown has to do with the area’s surroundings.  You have Regent Park to the South, and St. James Town to the West.  But I have always maintained that any area in Toronto, no matter how expensive, affluent, or exclusive, is only a few city blocks away from “trouble.”  Take my area, for example.  The King East neighborhood has become extremely gentrified in recent years, with the addition of a Starbucks across the street and rich furniture stores lining the vibrant retail strip.  But we’re only two city blocks removed from Moss Park, where you can score crack day or night…

468 Wellesley Street, priced at $729,000, is a 3-storey, semi-detached, Victorian-style house with 3-bedrooms and 4-bathrooms.

The house itself, which dates back over one hundred years, is completely updated with forced-air gas heating and central air conditioning, and a new high-efficiency furnace was just installed in 2007.

There is a partly-finished basement which gives the house a fourth level of living space.

One of the large drawbacks to the Cabbagetown area is the lack of private parking, which results in neighbors fighting for parking space and street permits.  But 468 Wellesley Street comes with TWO private parking spaces!

The home features spacious principal rooms, functional layouts, and updated and modern features and finishes.

But the best feature about 468 Wellesley the proximity to the park!  The south facing house looks directly across to the greenspace:

468 Wellesley is two houses from the end of a quiet cul-de-sac facing Hill Crest Park.

And just down Sumach Street is a much larger Riverdale Park, which is packed with joggers, dog walkers, and baby strollers in the summer.

And that’s really the best time of year in Cabbagetown—the summer!

Last summer, while working an open house on Sumach Street, a couple of red-faced joggers came huffing and puffing through my front door.  We chatted briefly about the area, and they told me they absolutely loved Cabbagetown and especially Riverdale Park where they would sit in the shade and stretch after their runs.  They then took a brief tour through the house, and exited with a smile.

Who were these two mysterious joggers?

Courtney Cox and David Arquette.

She is extremely short in person, and he acts like a complete child.  Courtney turned bright red with embarassment after David came up from the lower level and said, “That basement is so cool!  It’s like….like I’m just dying to build a fort down there!”

With the global warming evident each day we step out our front doors, Spring is not that far away.

Whether you’re looking to relocate in Cabbagetown or not, you owe it to yourselves to spend an afternoon there this summer.

You might even run into Chandler….or Phoebe….or Joey…

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