House Stats
Houses For Sale: 8
Houses For Lease: 9
Average List Price: $1,948,750
Condo Stats
Condos For Sale: 37
Condos For Lease: 0
Average List Price: $519,376
Commerical Stats 30 day average
Commercial For Sale: 4
Commercial For Lease: 7
Average List Price: $225,000
Area Description
Cabbagetown is a neighbourhood located on the east side of downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It comprises "the largest continuous area of preserved Victorian housing in all of North America", according to the Cabbagetown Preservation Association.
Cabbagetown's name derives from the Irish immigrants who moved to the neighbourhood beginning in the late 1840s, said to have been so poor that they grew cabbage in their front yards.Canadian writer Hugh Garner's novel, Cabbagetown, depicted life in the neighbourhood during the Great Depression.
Cabbagetown was gentrified by affluent professionals, beginning in the 1970s. Many residents restored small Victorian row houses and became community activists. Darrell Kent (1942-1989), a resident and local businessman, is recognized by the community as having been the driving force behind the restoration of many of the area's beautiful and unique Victorian houses.
In 1983 the Globe and Mail wrote that "Cabbagetown is probably the epitome of successful labelling. The core of the area generally defined as being bounded by Parliament, Wellesley and Dundas Streets and the Don Valley was once Toronto's skid row. Today, about a decade after the area was invaded by young professionals, speculators and real estate agents, there are still a few derelicts around to give the area colour. The houses, meanwhile, sell for upward of $200,000. 25 years after that article was written, some homes in the area have sold for more than $1 million.
Vestiges of a 1960s, counter-culture ambiance remain at vintage clothing stores, health food stores and a gestalt therapy clinic. A Victorian farm, once the site of a zoo, is located adjacent to Riverdale Park West, where a weekly farmer's market is held. A short distance away is the Cabbagetown Youth Centre, home of the Cabbagetown Boxing Club, a reminder of an earlier, and rougher, past. In recent years, some businesses from the nearby community of Church and Wellesley, have relocated to the area, attracted by cheaper commercial rents.
Despite gentrification, residents from public housing projects and affluent home owners mingle at a discount supermarket and a community medical clinic. Panhandling and drug-dealing are part of the urban landscape; so are gourmet shops, upscale boutiques and arts festivals, book launches and wine-tastings at local restaurants. Paradoxically, "The Gerrard and Parliament neighbourhood, located near Dundas and Sherbourne Streets, has the largest concentration of homeless shelters and drop-in centres in Canada. The area is also distinguished by a large number of rooming houses and other forms of low income housing. Safety Audit Report Card Gerrard Street East and Parliament Street Ward 27; Audit conducted on 29 January 2008
The neighbourhood is home to many artists, musicians, journalists and writers. Other residents include professors, doctors and social workers, many affiliated with the nearby University of Toronto. Proximity to the financial district and downtown core have also made the area popular with other professionals such as lawyers, management consultants and those in financial services.