March 29, 2013 Globe and Mail article notes Long Branch has until now been slow in becoming gentrified

A real estate article by Carolyn Ireland published in the March 29, 2013 print edition of The Globe and Mail, and appearing a day earlier on The Globe’s website, is entitled “How to find the home you never thought you wanted.”

[To access the article, click on the link in the previous sentence.]

A sidebar in the article is entitled “Micro-hoods: Where to find affordable homes in Toronto – Long Branch.”

The sidebar opens with the following paragraphs:

“For many years, Long Branch on the edge of Lake Ontario was a gritty neighbourhood bordered by industry.

“The stores and restaurants on Lake Shore Boulevard West stubbornly resisted any hints of trendiness.

“And, even as Mimico and New Toronto to the east were becoming more gentrified, Long Branch real estate lagged in value.

“But long-time residents prefer the wider lots and quieter, less buzzy streets in Long Branch.

“Partly the area was held back in the past by the odd housing mix: Lots of small apartment buildings and fourplexes stand side-by-side with the bungalows and two-storey brick houses on the curving, tree-lined streets.

“But more recently, builders have been razing the smaller houses and building large, new dwellings.

“The shift in housing stock is lifting the value of the entire neighbourhood.”

‘Is it finally time for Southern Etobicoke?’

Many articles have been written about southern Etobicoke, where Long Branch (in Toronto not New Jersey) is located. Among them is a profileby Jennifer Lewington in the October 26, 2009 Globe and Mail, entitled “Is it finally time for Southern Etobicoke?”

[Click on the link in the previous paragraph to access the article.]

The latter article begins with the following opening sentences:

“Seven years ago, David Pritchard and his wife Madeleine Pengelley opened an organic coffee-roasting business, knowing they were retail pioneers in a sleepy stretch of southern Etobicoke.

“‘For years and years, it was all potential and nothing much was happening,’ says Mr. Pritchard, whose Birds and Beans business later expanded to include a café. It’s located on Lake Shore Boulevard West near Royal York Road.

“Today – with condo developments marching west along the lakeshore, pockets of new retail appearing and dollops of public money being invested – an overlooked district at the edge of Lake Ontario shows signs of fresh vitality.

“‘It still hasn’t quite happened, but a lot of the pieces are in place,’ observes Mr. Pritchard of the network of neighbourhoods from Mimico to Long Branch. ‘Everyone sees the potential and people have finally realized it does not just happen. It has to be managed.'”

Update

A Nov. 1, 2013 Globe and Mail article is entitled: “Bloordale? Long Branch? Where are Toronto’s next hot neighbourhoods?”