Blake Jones Real Estate, Toronto

Blake Jones neighbourhood in Toronto. Popular communities include South Riverdale, North Riverdale, East York, Greenwood Coxwell, Broadview North.

Blake Jones has 22 homes on the market. Of the 20095 total properties listed in Toronto, Blake Jones makes up just 0.1%. The average asking price of a property in Blake Jones is $954,475, with an estimated mortgage of $3,233 per month. That is 1.4 times less of the average asking price of $1,358,715 in Toronto. Properties listed in Blake Jones are an average of 167 square feet, with 1.5 beds and 1.4 baths. Blake Jones has 13.6% apartments relative to all the other listings in this neighbourhood.

Blake-Jones Neighbourhood Guide

Riverdale is a hefty area in Toronto that is bordered by Danforth Avenue and Greektown to the north, Jones Avenue, the CN/GO tracks, Riverside, and Leslieville to the east, Lake Shore Boulevard to the south, and the Don River Valley to the west.

Within Riverdale is the little neighbourhood of Blake-Jones, a portion of tree-lined streets with homes built from the 1870s to the 1930s. The area is bordered by Danforth Avenue to the north, Greenwood Avenue to the east, the CN Railway tracks just south of Riverdale/Boultbee Avenue to the south and Pape Avenue to the west.

Schools are always high on the lists those searching for Blake-Jones homes for sale. Luckily, there are three neighbourhood elementary schools zoned to the area; Blake Street, which also contains East end Alternative, Earl Grey, and Pape Avenue. The high school that is defined to the area is Riverdale Collegiate Institute. There is also an alternative high school, Eastern Commerce, in the Donlands/Danforth area.

Situated within Blake-Jones is a region residents refer to as “The Pocket.” The exact definition of the area have throughout time had different borders, but the Pocket is currently understood to be "accessible only from the west along Jones Avenue." This would signify that the area would be bounded by Chatham Street at the north, which is not accessible from Jones, and on the southern end by Boultbee Ave. The Eastern side is surrounded by the TTC Greenwood yard.

Homes

The name "The Pocket" was made up by area residents during a planning meeting attended by Susan McMurray, also a local editor of a newsletter for the area. The moniker has persisted in part because of the "village feel" of the neighbourhood, and has turned into a well used name by residents and realtors alike. The Pocket has been undergoing a gentrification similar of that to the most of Riverdale and other areas within Toronto.

For The Pocket, this began in the 1990s. The area is listed as one the ten hottest neighbourhoods in Toronto Life and is depicted as "coveted" by the Globe and Mail demonstrating that buyers will pay a premium to live in the vicinity. The Pocket has an above average amount of people from the Muslim and Greek Orthodox communities living in the area.

Victorian and Edwardian styles, semi-detached and 2-storey houses are most common whereas the average number of bedrooms in homes for sale in Blake-Jones is three.

History

Riverdale was a small countryside community until the Grand Trunk Railway began roaring through here in the 1850s. The railway brought in industry and employment opportunities to the neighbourhood. It also lured in a collection of workers who constructed the first homes in Riverdale, south of the railway tracks.

North of Queen Street, Riverdale stayed mainly undeveloped until 1884 when it was annexed by the City of Toronto. At that time, Riverdale was named Riverside. The name was most likely changed to Riverdale as a reference to the city park of the same moniker, which has long been a landmark in this community.

Riverdale's development was sped up in 1918 with the construction of Toronto's largest bridge, the Prince Edward Viaduct. The Viaduct offered Riverdale an important link to Toronto, west of the Don River, and signified a coming of age for this popular neighbourhood.

Transportation

Blake-Jones real estate agents might mark on their MLS listings that Most errands can be taken care of on foot in the community. This is a perfect location for motorists as the Don Valley Expressway, Lake Shore Boulevard, and the Gardiner Expressway are all quickly approachable from this area.

Blake-Jones also has excellent access to public transportation. There is standard bus or streetcar service on Broadview, Carlaw, Greenwood and Jones Avenues, in addition to Queen and Gerrard Streets. The Bloor-Danforth subway has five stations servicing Riverdale, including Broadview, Chester, Pape, Donlands, and Greenwood.

Blake-Jones also has about 2 car shares from Zipcar.

Retail and Schools

Homes for sale in Blake-Jones depend on the closeness and availability of shopping and amenities. However, this area is best known for its shopping district along Danforth Avenue, east of Broadview. The Danforth is the core of Toronto's Greek community. It offers many first class Greek restaurants and an impressive selection of stores. Riverdale also has a Chinatown shopping district encircled around Gerrard and Broadview. This span of stores is known for its bakeries, grocery stands, and restaurants.

Another shopping destination spot for Riverdale residents is Queen Broadview Village. This historic shopping area features some interesting antique and collectible stores. Gerrard Square is located at the corner of Pape Avenue and Gerrard Street and is a big indoor shopping mall with more than 70 stores.

Entertainment

For entertainment purposes, MLS listings might mention that there are three medium to large sized parks in Riverdale. Riverdale Park features a running track, three baseball diamonds, a skating rink, a public swimming pool and tennis courts.

Just to the east of Riverdale Park is Withrow Park which has a vast off-leash dog area, an ice rink, two baseball diamonds, play structures, and a soccer field. In South Riverdale is Jimmy Simpson Park which contains tennis courts and a community centre.

In the southwest corner just north of Queen St. East on Broadview Avenue is the Royal Canadian Curling Club. This club features 6 sheets and hosts leagues for about 500 members. The last park in Riverdale located further east along Blake Street is Kempton Howard Park (formerly East View Park) and was renamed in 2007.