I have enjoyed a lot of great places but Matt’s is the homiest. So much so I don’t want to leave.
The neighbourhood: Queen West is the original hipster neighbourhood yet it is family oriented. This duality is the backbone of Toronto culture. The variety of cultures, ethnicity, style, foods, lifestyle is what makes Toronto. I would definitely call this a quiet, city neighbourhood. This area is where you get to experience the best of what the city offers.
In 2 minutes walk:
The streetcar
Queen street
Endless local shops
Anthropologie
5 star reviewed cafes
John Fluevog (for shoes that range between well made to stylishly weird)
The Ten Spot for good mani/pedi
5 minutes walk:
Starbucks
Excellent restaurants both north and south of his house
Trinity Bellwoods park (rec centre, pool, wading pool, tennis courts, bike path, soccer/football field etc
Amazing, reasonably priced local brand boutiques
Bathurst street
Less than 10 minutes
Fresh restaurant for healthy vegan fare that the entire city loves
Village Juicery
Loblaws for groceries
Joe Fresh for Canadian bargain fashion
15 minutes
Kensington Market for vintage clothes, good eats, bargain shopping, $5 ‘raybans’ that my eye doctor tested at 100% UVA and UVB now he wear them too
Spadina area shopping
Chinatown
For everything else there is Uber and Uber Eats.
Matts place is comfortable, with a good bed. The shower has a really nice rain head. The kitchen is complete and extremely clean, I made several gourmet meals. The wifi is fast and flawless, Netflix is on the TV, there’s lots of desk space throughout the house. You can hear cars outside, on rare occasion the neighbour’s quietly passing by but this is city life. Staying at Matt’s is appropriate for families, and travelers. He is a great host with fast response. We went to Mexico for a few days while staying here, we left all our stuff behind-computers, my new car in his driveway, with no worry.
I am now looking to buy a home in his neighbourhood.