Do all roads _really_ lead to Brampton?
April 29, 2018 4:55 PM   Subscribe

Bramptonites of Ontario! The Mrs. and I are thinking of getting out of dodge (e.g. Toronto) in the next year or two, and Brampton seems like a possible stepping stone to tide us over until we can work towards moving way out further west in the long term. How is downtown Brampton (e.g. around Gage Park) these days? Is it somewhere that is worth considering in terms of living? Proximity to the GO train is a plus and I've heard rumours of revitalization coming down the pipes, but is it an enjoyable place to live now?
posted by greatgefilte to Home & Garden (4 answers total)
 
I like Brampton, it has an underdog quality to it. The diverse cultures are pretty amazing to experience and the food is awesome. I used to work until 9 or 10 in downtown Brampton 5-10 years ago - including taking public transit home, and I never felt unsafe. I know plenty of teens girls that go via public transit late at night without problem either. The "bad kids"/"gangs" tend to be suburban kids stilling living at home. The GO makes Toronto accessible, however trains and buses tend to fill up in downtown (so Bramalea is rediculous). Mount Pleasent is a much better place to get on the train. However it is pretty dead around there (Lily Thai opposite the station is amazing) so you will spend a lot of time in your car. The neighbourhood was built with new urbanisim principles to save money (narrow Streets, small lots) but hardly enough retail. There is a lot of construction there. For downtown the construction will be very distructive for a very, very long time. The major revitalisation is going to be a lot of construction, on both sides of the track.

Is Georgetown an option? Around the GO station is a great area and walkable to both the cute downtown and the mall/major stores. Georgetown is white and wealthy though, so might a poor fit, depending on you.
posted by saucysault at 5:14 PM on April 29, 2018


Friends of mine moved out of Toronto (their last place was Eglinton West I think) and moved to Brampton. They were able to afford a largish place for their growing kids compared to the tiny places they had in Toronto. They are nearish downtown Brampton and not too far from the Go. My friend works on Front st. in downtown TO and his commute from Brampton is at least 15 minutes faster then it used to be from Eglinton West and delays have been way more predictable.

I've hung out with them a few times for events that the city puts on there like New Years Eve, Halloween and maybe something at Christmas one year and toured around downtown in the evening and it was nice. Loads of families, mixed communities, nice neighbours. I'll echo that it does have an underdog charm however compared to say Hamilton (which also has a similar charm) I think it is more on the upswing. Which frankly you're seeing a lot in most of the towns in Golden Horseshoe as everybody gets priced out of Toronto. Even Milton isn't so bad anymore. While my friends don't love the diversity as much as I do (they both grew up in pretty white bread homes) when I go to visit them it is seriously incredible how there is so much awesome regional Indian food and ethnic grocery stores there (especially compared to us in the KW area). For me that's a real highlight. When we visit I always make time to go to one of the big Asian grocery stores or hit one of the vegetarian Indian restaurants.

Its likely important to remember it isn't a big city so its not going to have everything you might want that you had in Toronto but I think in terms of affordability it seems to be decent (in terms of its proximity to Toronto). I guess it depends on what you're looking for but Guelph and KW are options as well.
posted by Ashwagandha at 6:03 PM on April 29, 2018


NB Go train from KW and Guelph to TO is on the order of 90-120 minutes each way because the tracks are shite. So unless you don't have to commute or love trains more than anyone should love trains, avoid Guelph and KW as far as "bedroom" communities of TO go. Maybe in 10 years. We've just moved into TO from KW, and we seriously looked at Hamilton; perhaps it would work for you as well. Housing is quite inexpensive, and the trains are very frequent.
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:16 PM on April 29, 2018


My friends, when they were Eglinton West, often had commute times of 90 minutes or more to Front Street on overcrowded transit. The Go from Brampton is a dream in comparison.
posted by Ashwagandha at 12:54 PM on April 30, 2018


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