The city of Toronto has roughly 140 unique neighborhoods. If you’re considering relocating to Toronto, how do you find the neighborhood that’s right for you?

If you’re just visiting, start with Tourism Toronto’s map of popular tourist neighborhoods. It’s interactive, so you can click on the map and get a short description of particular communities.

If you’re house-hunting in earnest, though, you’ll want more detail. That’s when the city’s map-based neighborhood index becomes a useful resource. You can get demographic profiles, including stats on income, ethnicity, age, and types of housing, for each of the 140 districts.

Another good source of information is the Toronto Real Estate Board. Their neighborhood profiles take a more historical perspective, and the quaint line drawings of each area’s predominant housing type give you a feel for the community in a way that Google maps can’t.

Photo ©Carolyn B. Heller