‘Everybody in the middle is getting squeezed out and it’s painful’: Toronto’s lack of affordable housing hits those in higher income brackets, say experts

It makes for an odd dynamic. We bought our place around 20 years ago in Leslieville. When we moved in, this was a working class neighbourhood. Your backyard would get broken into and your bike stolen. Scams and addicts were pretty much everywhere (“Hey man, I just got out of the Don jail and gotta get back to Hamilton”).

It gentrified, and now my little working class street is filled with families that are low-key pissed they’re not in Leaside. Our street parking permits are oversold because David and Piper need to street park an Acura and the Benz. We’ve gone from just a few kids to a legion of entitled shits being chased around by harried nannies (even with David and Piper working from home).

Me, I’m getting weary of it all. The house will be paid for in a few years and if I can talk my SO into it, we’ll be putting it on the market to go somewhere that is a bit less dysfunctional.

If this is the new face of Toronto, I don’t want it. I miss the grime, the weirdos, the bush jackets work glove combo that was the de-facto neighbourhood uniform, the 11am beers at Jim’s, or The Albion over in South Riverdale, and even the scams (hope you made it back to Hamilton, both times).

This place has lost all its charm.

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