December 2018 toronto life 25’Hood Winked
The thing about rankings is that some-
thing has to come first and something
has to come last. Readers whose
neighbourhoods landed down in the
nether regions of our list of the “Best
(and Worst) Places to Live” spoke out
to passionately defend their turf.“How is South Riverdale only
ranked 61? It’s been one of the hot-
test/most sought-after neighbour-
hoods in the city for several years.
Oh, I see, 7.8 out of 100 for safety.
As any villain can tell you, our
’hood is not filled with marauding
criminals—the most common
offenders are rebellious cyclists
and dog owners not properly
disposing of their pet’s business!”
—Terry Cain, Facebook“Thank you for highlighting the
140 neighbourhoods that make
up Toronto, which definitely shows
how vibrant this city is. I live and
work in Woburn (ranking #121) and
run a community-based program
in West Hill (ranking #140) that
supports adults with literacy and
numeracy skills. As such, I found
the rankings quite disheartening
and misleading.
“First off, the ‘top’ 20 neigh-
bourhoods score low in terms
of diversity, while the ‘bottom’
ones score high in that category.
That’s quite significant, is it not?May I suggest that, in the future,
you personally explore all
of Toronto’s neighbourhoods
(especially the ones that you con-
sider to be the ‘worst’). Talk
to local champions and residents,
take the time to learn the nuances
of these areas, because there
is some amazing, grassroots
community-building going on.”
—Phylicia Davis“Your neighbourhood rankings
are always interesting, and you
clearly can’t please everyone, but
you got one neighbourhood wrong
this year. I doubt your researcher
ever set foot in Parkwoods-
Donalda, where I have lived for
30 years. Ranking it 139th out
of 140 defies logic. We may not be
#3 (where two of my children and
their families happily live), but
we sure aren’t 139th! I think you
goofed this time. But the folks who
paid an average of $2 million for
a detached house here this summer
will probably forgive you. It’s a very
good place to live.”
—Don McKibbin“Whoever wrote your description
of Lawrence Park North (#5) must
have been on drugs. For the record,
my wife and I reside in the heart
of this neighbourhood. Also for
the record, my daughter and her
husband reside in the #1-rankedthe conversation
neighbourhood—Runnymede-
Bloor West Village. I mention this
only to say that I have first-hand
knowledge of both areas.
“Your description states that
Lawrence Park North is ‘a major
trek from downtown’—this is
absolutely false. Our house is a one-
minute walk from the subway
(Line 1) and my daughter’s house
is a three- to four-minute walk from
Line 2. If you google the respective
distances, you will note that our
location is 7.1 kilometres (or 23
minutes) to Yonge and Bloor, and
my daughter’s house is 7.8 kilome-
tres (24 minutes) to the same loca-
tion. In fact, on many occasions
my wife and I walk downtown
from Lawrence Park North.
“Further, to suggest that
Lawrence Park North is a suburb
is absurd. Within minutes of our
doorstep are dozens of restaurants,
all the major banks, a variety
of grocery stores, clothiers and
specialty and convenience stores.”
—Temple HarrisSome readers objected to the whole
enterprise of ranking neighbourhoods.“The Scarborough Community
Renewal Organization would
like to take issue with your 2018
neighbourhoods rankings.
There is the large chasm between
the ranking system and the statedCONVERSATION_SEND.indd 25 2018-10-29 10:12 AM