You can see Toronto growing before your very eyes -- it in the downtown core construction, in the cranes that mark where new high-rises will stand, in the busy crowds on the streets. The city starts at on the shores of Lake Ontario and reaches 46 kilometers along the waterfront. It shares the same climate with Chicago, to the south – cold windy winters, humid (and sometimes rainy) summers, moderate spring and fall seasons.

The city is home to some of Canada’s cornerstone arts and culture institutions – the National Ballet of Canada, the Canadian Opera Company, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, A major production center for film and television, it jostles for first place with Vancouver for the title of Hollywood North. There are dozens of museums, including the world famous Bata Shoe Museum, and the city has acres of public spaces and parks. Toronto is a big sports town too – it’s home to the Hockey Hall of Fame and the Toronto Maple Leafs. There are four major stadiums, plus, a car and a horse racing track.

Toronto is very proud of their diversity – about half the population of Toronto is foreign born. It’s the second most diverse city in North America.

Toronto covers a lot of ground but that doesn’t mean it’s not a walkers city. For starters, there’s the PATH, 30 kilometers of linked underground pedestrian routes lined with everything you need. Using the PATH in the deep parts of winter or the more oppressive parts of summer will keep you walking even when the weather doesn’t cooperate.

TTC – the Toronto Transit Commission – operates the bus, streetcar, and subway lines that serve the greater Toronto metropolitan area, including Mississauga, Brampton, Markham, Vaughn, and Scarborough. There are 12 streetcar lines and four subway lines, most of them centered around downtown and the waterfront.

GO Transit operates bus and commuter rail around greater Toronto – you can even connect to a line that runs to Niagra Falls.

With lots of green spaces and parks, and bordered by two subway lines, Rosedale-Moorpark has some status. There are studio to three bedroom apartments in large high rise complexes with lots of amenities – on site gyms and, in some cases, swimming pools and tennis courts. You’ll find shopping right at the street level, sometimes there’s a supermarket right at the base of your building. Most units have balconies, sometimes with a great city view, and floor to ceiling windows are common. There are few older low-rise apartment complexes, and you might find a unit in one in a grand old home that’s been subdivided.

West of downtown, in High Park-Swansea, there are nice older brick buildings in this neighborhood that’s built around High Park and bordered on one side by Lake Ontairo. This neighborhood is popular with successful young families – you can find units with as many as four bedroom that have parquet wooden floors and attractive common areas.

On the opposite side of town, there’s The Beaches, with a big sandy park right on the shores of Lake Ontario. There are some amazing single family homes here, spacious places with built in cabinets, box molding and other architectural details, beautifully renovated kitchens with brand new appliances – but it will be competitive and candidly, pricey, to land one of these because the neighborhood is so desirable.

The Annex, north of downtown and adjacent to the University of Toronto, has seven Metro stations within a five minute walk. There are open floor plan apartments with in-unit laundry, you’ll find everything from a studio to a large three bedroom apartment.