If you’re around Cosburn Avenue this season, you might notice a new ad on the boards at East York Memorial Arena. Mine. I want to tell you why I put it there instead of anywhere else, because it is not a random pick from a rate card.
I grew up in East York. Summers meant baseball at Stan Wadlow Park, the kind of games that felt like they lasted forever when you were a kid and never long enough looking back. On Fridays a group of us would skate at East York Memorial Arena, and I kept telling myself if I skated enough I would eventually be good enough to play hockey. I never was. I could skate fine, I just never had the hands for it. But I never missed a Friday.
When it got hot, it was Kiwanis Pool, right there in Stan Wadlow Park, jumping off the deep end until a lifeguard blew the whistle to make us stop. On the days we were not at the pool, we were on our bikes down in Taylor Creek, riding the trails until it got dark and someone’s mom started calling around the neighbourhood.
School was the same few blocks the whole way through. Parkside Public School, then D.A. Morrison for junior high, then East York Collegiate for high school. I did not move around East York, I just grew up in it, one park and one rink and one school at a time.
Why East York Memorial Arena, and Not Somewhere Else
So when it came time to put up one rink board ad, and I could only afford one, East York was not a hard decision. It is where I am from. Putting my name on the boards at the same arena I skated at every Friday as a kid felt like the only honest choice, not just the smart marketing one.
What I Tell Families Looking at East York Today
The things that made East York a great place to grow up are still here. Stan Wadlow Park, Taylor Creek, the walkable streets around Cosburn and Coxwell, and community spots like East York Memorial Arena are the reason families keep choosing this neighbourhood over flashier parts of the city. Most of the housing stock is solid post-war bungalows and two-storey detached homes, a lot of them on decent lots, and many have been renovated or rebuilt. Homes near the parks and the Danforth subway line tend to move fastest. If you are watching prices, the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) publishes monthly numbers for the whole GTA, and I can break those down street by street for East York specifically.
If you see the sign at East York Memorial Arena this season, come say hi. And if you or someone you know is thinking about buying or selling in East York, I would love to help. I know these streets because I grew up on them.
Curious what East York real estate looks like right now? Here is my East York area guide, and if you are weighing East York against a neighbouring pocket, here is what I would tell a friend.
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