Freeman Real Estate is once again inviting the community it serves to join its realtors, managers and owners for a free skate this weekend at the Bill Bolton Arena on 40 Rossmore Road in Toronto.

The free skate takes place on Saturday from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. Refreshments will also be served.

A fixture within the business community of Seaton Village and Toronto’s independent real estate brokerage firms, Freeman has a long-standing tradition of community outreach and giving thanks to the clients and customers it has proudly served since 1972.

“The span of time we’ve spent on Bathurst Street has been good to the Freeman family,” says Elden Freeman, president of Freeman Real Estate. “And I think that goodness funnels back to the customers we’ve acquired in real estate. This is one small way we can show our gratitude and wish all of our clients and customers a Merry Christmas.”

The Freemans enjoy staging local community events year round and have organized historic tours of noteworthy neighbourhoods and sponsored dance performances as well as educational seminars that are open to the public.

Bear in mind that skating is great exercise because it’s easy on your joints and terrific for improving balance, coordination and muscle strength. You can also burn calories on ice skates. Be sure to dress in warm, light layers so you can adjust your clothing depending on how hot or cold you feel. You may want to consider a helmet as well.

Since space is limited at the free skate, you’re best to RSVP your intention to participate at frontdesk@freemanrealty.com or call at 416-535-3103.

See you on the ice!

Colour, shape, style and effort combined this past summer to create a painted street mural project thanks to the will, talent and hard work of those associated with the Regal Heights Residents Association.

Community activist Dave Meslin got the ball rolling a year ago when he proposed a neighbourhood street mural, which received immediate and unanimous support from the residents association. Using street chalk, Meslin coordinated the street project, which would pave the way this summer for something a little more permanent and a lot more ambitious.

Using paint, Meslin coordinated the design, sketch and painting of a street mural for Springmount Ave. just south of Rosemount. Meslin recruited local artist Melissa Frew and asked her to design a sketch. He suggested a water theme since the street painting was being placed directly over the buried Garrison Creek.

“The hardest part of making a street mural,” says Meslin, “is keeping the cars off the road while the paint dries, so when I heard about the Regal Heights Street Party it occurred to me that a pre-planned road closure would be the perfect opportunity to create our ground-level masterpiece.”

Meslin thought the mural team need a technical expert so he asked renowned street artist Victor Fraser to come on board and he accepted. From Melissa Frew’s sketch, the outlines for the mural were drawn and then on June 6, the day of the neighbourhood’s semi-annual street party, 20 area kids were asked to help paint inside the lines.

“The murals bring communities together in a collaborative creative process, building community and strengthening relationships,” says Meslin.  “As a bonus, the final product also serves as a traffic-calming measure as cars tend to slow down as they approach the painting.”

A push is now on at city hall to legalize the murals thanks to a permit process as other cities in Canada and the U.S. have done.

If you want to see more street murals in Toronto, Meslin suggests the following:

1. Contact your city councillor and ask why Toronto doesn’t have an official permit process.
2. Share this blog.
3. Don’t wait for the city to play catch-up with the rest of the world.  Organize a community mural in your neighbourhood this summer.

Little Italy, that area that is sometimes referred to as College Street West, earned its name after the many Italian immigrants who called the neighbourhood home and in spite of the wave of other immigrant populations who also took up residence there over the years.

Today, Toronto’s first Little Italy boasts night clubs and cafes, unique retail shops and small businesses. Thanks to its proximity to downtown, the neighbourhood is popular with young people also because of its vibrant nightlife and amenities.

Little Italy comprises mostly detached or semi-detached single family homes dating back to the early-1900s Edwardian period, with front porches and smaller lots.

A plaza at Grace and College features a statue of much-loved Italian son Johnny Lombardi, who established the country’s first Italian radio station there in 1966. CHIN was Canada’s first multicultural radio station and it launched from studios on the south side of College between Grace and Clinton, on the second floor of Lombardi’s supermarket at 637 College Street. The studio is now located at 622 College Street, and the section of the street has been officially nicknamed Johnny Lombardi Way by the City of Toronto.

Other neighboruhood markers include the Italian Walk of Fame on the sidewalk along College in front of the Royal Cinema. This permanent marker acknowledges the achievements and accomplishments of successful persons of Italian heritage with inductees such as Dean Martin, Phil Esposito, Bobby Curtola and Julian Fantino.

Though more Portuguese now live in Little Italy than Italians, many of whom moved northwest of the city and to areas such as Vaughan and Mississauga, the neighbourhood has long been home to a wide assortment of cultures such as African Americans, eastern European Jews, South Americans and Asians.

The first Italians, though, began trickling into the area in the mid 1850s. Toward the end of that century, many of the Italian newcomers hailed from northern Italy or Genoa and they were often craftspersons, pedlars and service tradespersons.

But prior to the influx of Italians, the area housed a good number of black families thanks to Thornton Blackburn, a fugitive black American slave who made his way to Canada in the 1830s and bought up properties that he rented out to recently arrived black slaves.  The area became known as The Ward, which was an informal colloquialism for St. John’s Ward.

The Ward would see successive waves of refugees, immigrants and persons avoiding persecution in their homelands seeking shelter within the confines of this densely populated slum. It was home to refugees who escaped the European Revolution of 1848, the Irish Potato Famine, the Underground Railroad, as well as refugees from Russia and Eastern Europe.

The Ward became the centre of the city’s significant Jewish community.  By the 1920s, as the Jews became more settled and established, they moved west to Spadina and the Kensington Market area.

While many Italians have moved out of the neighbourhood, it still maintains a distinctly Italian sense thanks to its lively trattorias, outdoor cafes and neighbourhood pizzerias. Gelato anyone?

The crisp fall air is a great time to explore your city, whether you’re into hiking, shopping or just strolling along sidewalk. In the lead up to Halloween, Toronto is a great source for adventure both ghoulish and fun.

Let’s take a look:

International Festival of Authors

Oct. 22 to Nov. 1 — Eleven days of readings, interviews, lectures, round-table discussions, public book signings and a number of special events. For more info, see website.

Toronto After Dark Film Festival

Oct. 15 to 23 – If you’re into horror, sci-fi, action and cult cinema this is your festival. This nine-day event screens about 50 new feature films and shorts at the Scotiabank Theatre on Richmond St. W. Enjoy Q & As and social events with filmmakers and the much-loved Zombie Night which sees fans dress as the undead. See Toronto After Dark for details.

Art Toronto

Oct. 23 to 26 – Gaze thousands of artworks from modern masters to contemporary art as well as photography and video at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on Front Street W. See Art Toronto for more detail.

Toronto Ghost Walk

Until Oct. 31 — This two-hour walking tour introduces you to the haunted and terrifying history of Toronto’s downtown. Beginning at the University of Toronto, the tour points out where actual murders took place and tells tales of ghosts who are said to haunt their respective homes and buildings.

Pumpkinland and Harvest Festival

Sept. 24 to Oct. 31 – A sea of orange awaits you at this festival that honours fall’s most showy squash. Enjoy tractor-drawn wagon rides, mazes and other Halloween themed fun. Head to Whittamore’s Berry Farm near Steeles Ave. East in Markham. See Whittamore’s Berry for more details.

Screemers

Until Oct. 31 – Meant to horrify and frighten this Halloween tradition takes over the CNE grounds with haunted houses, mazes, monsters, creatures and much more scary stuff. Don’t forget to check out the Vampire Lounge, the Slasher Wax Museum in addition to an arcade and carnival rides. Click here for more details..

Toronto Chocolate Festival

Oct. 17 – Nov. 8 – From a chocolate high tea to a chocolate show at Roy Thomson Hall to the annual chocolate ball, this 10^th annual event has something for every cocoa lover.  See Toronto Chocolate Festival for more details.

Andy Warhol: Stars of the Silver Screen

Oct. 30 – Jan. 24 – The TIFF Bell Lighbox presents this exhibit featuring the personal collection of Andy Warhol. Get a glimpse of the artist’s celebrity obsession thanks to his collection of Hollywood artifacts and memorabilia, artwork, film, video and photographs.

It is the colour of a neighbourhood that gives it its sense of purpose and its ethos. Colour is a feature that lends an interesting quality to something. In neighbourhoods, it can come from its people, institutions, commerce, architecture, nature and so much more.

Does it not strike you a tad ironic that the Cedarvale neighbourhood — once home to literary heavyweight Ernest Hemingway – does not possess one single public library? Certainly, Ernie would have seen it that way. But back in the 1920s, before he gained fame as a great American novelist, he was simply a newspaperman for the Toronto Daily Star. During his time here, Hemingway lived in an apartment in Cedarvale in what was then called the Cedarvale Mansions. Located at 1597-1599 Bathurst Street, the building is known today as The Hemingway and it is now a condominium.

Book worms need not fear, though. Cedarvale residents can access libraries nearby at the Oakwood Village, the Maria A. Shchuka, the Wychwood, the St. Clair-Dufferin or the Forest Hill public libraries.

The neighbourhood’s defining feature is the Cedarvale Ravine, which cuts a wide diagonal swath through the middle of Cedarvale. The 35-acre Cedarvale Park is nestled within the ravine and offers numerous recreational opportunities. Hemingway, by the way, is said to have frequented the park’s path, which back then was used as a cattle path.

A creek once ran through the park but now is completely buried. The ravine in this tony neighbourhood was slated for the development of mansions in the 1920s and ‘30s, but the Great Depression dashed that plan. Interestingly a few decades later, in the ‘60s and ‘70s, there was support for the Spadina Expressway, a highway that would be built right through the park. But strong opposition, led by former Cedarvale resident Jane Jacobs, halted the project.

The neighbourhood is known for some of its very good schools, the Reform Jewish day school, Leo Baeck,  St. Michael’s College School, a private, all-boys’ school and Forest Hill Collegiate, whose elite reputation among Toronto high schools has led parents to get caught cheating in an effort to get their children enrolled.

Cedarvale has a vibrant Jewish population, with Jews comprising two-thirds of the neighbourhood, and is home to the Holy Blossom Temple, founded in 1856, which is the oldest synagogue in Canada. There is also Holy Blossom Temple, Beth Tzedec Synagogue, The Village Shul and Beth Sholom Congregation.

While we can’t be 100 per cent certain, it’s said Cedarvale is home to some of the country’s notables such as Loblaw grocery king Galen Weston, singer Nelly Furtado and musician Drake.

An active community that cherishes the environment, Cedarvale residents established the innovative Families in Nature program which focuses on a grassy wetland habitat found in the centre of Cedarvale Park. Aided by over 300 volunteers, the program has helped plant trees, shrubs, wildflowers, and grasses and provided education for young and old.

Thinking about ways to while away the last few days of summer? Try attending some of the varied, fun and interesting outdoor festivals the city has in store over the next week or two:

Food truck Festival – Sept. 27

Bring your appetite to Downsview Park for this event featuring 16 delicious gourmet food trucks. Included in the line-up is Busters Sea Cove, ME.N.U Food Truck, Fit to Grill and Indian fusion nosh from Tdots Naansense.

Cider Festival – Sept. 26

Looking for an interesting and new way to cap off your summer? Look no further than the Toronto Cider Festival at the Yonge-Dundas Square. The event showcases craft ciders from across the country as well as Toronto food trucks, live music, cocktail competitions, games and contests.

Word on the Street – Sept. 27

This national celebration of literacy and the written word invites you to participate in author events, presentations, workshops, and to browse a marketplace that boasts one of the best selections of Canadian books and magazines. This free festival at Harbourfront Centre has something for all ages, from children and youth to adults and seniors.

 Woofstock – Sept. 26 & 27

At Woodbine Park, this admission-free event is the largest outdoor festival for dogs and their faithful owners in all of North America. With over 200,000 attendees and 150,000 canines, expect the unexpected in addition to a slew of doggy-related vendors and activities such as stupid dog tricks, canine beauty pageants and dog races.

Canada’s Walk of Fame Festival – Sept. 25 to Oct. 1

Showcasing 100 per cent Canadian talent, this festival features free performances at Yonge-Dundas Square, the Massey Hall concert series and new musical talent at the Horseshoe Tavern. Canadians in all fields are inducted into the hall of fame thanks to this non-profit organization that seeks to pay tribute and recognize Canadian achievement.

Gentleman’s Expo – Sept. 25 to 27

This celebration of manhood at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre covers every gentlemanly pursuit from fashion, cars and alcohol to sex, entrepreneurship and gaming with more than 100,000 square feet of brands and experiences.

Small World on Common Ground – Sept. 26 & 27

A free festival featuring music and arts on the grounds of historic Fort York. Enjoy this family friendly cultural feast that also includes spoken-word artists, pow wow fit sessions, crafts and food.

Like Fred and Ethel Mertz, those madcap but lovable landlords of I Love Lucy fame, you may have dreamt of managing a property with tenants or maybe just renting out the upper or lower floor of your house or perhaps buying a condo and having someone else pay off the mortgage.

So what’s holding you back? Are you afraid you’ll get the tenant from hell? Or maybe you fear you’ll be too soft on tenants who can’t pay their rent on time. Maybe you just don’t like people well enough to want to surround yourself with virtual strangers. With interest rates as low as they are, with Toronto’s red-hot real estate market and given the numbers moving to the city each year, now might be the time to consider diving in.

We designed a very unscientific test to see if you’re cut out to manage a rental property. Give it a try:

1. Handyman is a word that: _________

A) Gets your heart pumping with happy thoughts of many visits to Home Depot.

B) Is properly used for your skills as a grass cutter, eaves-trough cleaner and window washer.

C) Gets overused. I like repairman, as in phone one.

2. You and your partner’s financial goals are: _________

A) Completely simpatico.

B) On the same page 40 per cent of the time.

C) News to me. I had no idea my partner had financial goals.

3. Your idea of a rainy-day fund is: _________

A) Two per cent of the purchase price for maintenance and repairs plus more in reserves for unforeseen occurrences such as tenants failing to pay their rent.

B) Putting aside a few bucks for upkeep when it’s convenient for me.

C) Money you spend to lift your spirits during a downpour.

4. You see tenants as: _________

A) Valued and respected members of society just like me.

B) Good people for the most part.

C) Cash cows.

5. As a landlord, being hassled by tenants would mean: _________

A) Continually having to chase down those who didn’t pay their rent on time or having abusive renters who destroyed my property.

B) Sending out rent receipts on a regular basis.

C) Having to speak to them.

6. In conflict situations, you: _________

A) Always remain cool, calm and collected, handling each quarrel decisively with firm resolve and fairness.

B) Hesitate and change my mind several times when dealing with big issues.

C) Yell

Results:

If most of your answers were a’s, congratulations, you’ve got what it takes, you, landlord, you. Property management is right up your alley.

If you mostly answered b’s, you have some positive landlord qualities, but you might want to take a course to brush up on the rest. Workshops and courses are available. Check online in your area. You also might want to consider joining the Ontario Landlords Association, which offers discounts on credit checks plus other benefits.

If you scored mainly c’s, well, maybe you should leave your money in the bank.

As part of its ongoing series of neighbourhood walks, Freeman Real Estate is hosting a historic tour of Wychwood Park on Sunday, September 27 at 1 p.m.

As part of its ongoing series of neighbourhood walks, Freeman Real Estate is hosting a historic tour of Wychwood Park on Sunday, September 27 at 1 p.m.

Formerly known as the gated community of Bracondale Hill, Wychwood Park is a small enclave that was set up around the turn of the last century as an artists’ colony thanks to Marmaduke Matthews, an artist and aficionado of the Arts and Crafts movement. Matthews would gain prominence as an artist after painting traditional Canadian scenes that appeared in the illustrated ad work of Canadian Pacific Railway.

Matthews’ friend Alexander Jardin owned a huge block of land in the Wychwood area, which is north of Davenport Road and just west of Bathurst. Jardin sold a good chunk of that land to artists. The land was still very rural back then, when Matthews planned his pastoral community and named it after Wychwood in his native Oxfordshire.

“The area is a little enclave that is almost not part of the city,” says Marilyn Spearin, a local history buff and former school teacher who is leading the tour.

She is referring to the fact that although Wychwood was amalgamated into the city of Toronto in 1909, it remains a private community. The streets and amenities are paid for by the local residents, and the community is managed by an executive council. As one of Toronto’s more exclusive neighbourhoods, house prices easily top a million dollars.

During its start, the land was divided into irregularly shaped lots situated around a central park, pond and tennis courts designed by Toronto architect Arthur Edwin Whatmough.  Many of the homes in Wychwood were designed by Whatmough in the Arts and Crafts style.

Several well-known people have lived there, including Marshall McLuhan and Anatol Rapoport. In 1985 the area became the first residential zone in Ontario to be granted heritage status. A handful of other homes were designed by Eden Smith, a well-known architect who lived in the neighbourhood.

Wychwood is a leafy area home to ravines, old-growth trees and Taddle Creek, a six-kilometre stream that has been largely buried throughout most of the city except in a few spots including Wychwood where it is visible above ground.

The tour On September 13 will also encompass a visit to the nearby Tollkeeper’s Cottage, an historic tollgate structure discovered in the early ‘90s that now houses a museum and a gift shop. Located at Davenport and Bathurst, the cottage is also now home to a blue canoe thanks to the David Suzuki Foundation. As part of the foundation’s homegrown national parks project, the canoe is designed and planted with plants that encourage bees and butterflies. For more info visit www.tollkeeperscottage.ca.

The tour is expected to take one-and-a-half to two hours in total. Participants are asked to meet outside of the Freeman Real Estate office at 988 Bathurst Street just before 1 p.m. Rain date is set for October 4.

If you were an alien descending upon Toronto for the first time, one of the initial things you might notice is the abundance of condominium buildings sprouting up across the city.

Capturing that essence is what went into Freeman Real Estate’s recent effort to create a new information-rich condo website focusing on midtown condos.

At www.freemancondos.com you’ll find a wealth of information, from condo listings and beautiful pictures to details about Toronto’s many neighbourhoods and financial info about mortgages, insurance and taxes. The website is loaded with information and detail.  Take the neighbourhood of Rosedale, for example. When you click on Rosedale you get a map that shows where each of the condo-for-sale residences is located. Click on a condo building and you will see when it was built, how many units and storeys, the developer’s name and so on. When you go to an actual listing, you’re in store for a lot more info, including how many days it’s been on the market, taxes and maintenance fees, square footage and plenty of pretty pictures.

As you search our website, you’ll notice a cornucopia of condo buildings in all sizes, shapes and styles. From the modern industrial look of the Annex Loft Houses to the historic elegance of the Rosedale Ravine Residences to a wide range of condo towers and developments in all corners of the city, there really is a condo dwelling for every taste and budget.

As a family-owned, independent brokerage that has been buying and selling real estate since 1972, Freeman understands why condos have become such as large part of the city’s real estate market. They are the perfect home for both young and old. Condo living provides retirees who may want to winter somewhere warm with a sense of security and peace of mind. Think about it. If you’re spending five months each winter away from your principal residence wouldn’t you feel better knowing the maintenance, repairs and security concerns of your home are well looked after? For younger folks with demanding careers and busy social lives, a condo means easier living with more leisure time thanks to the fact that snow shovelling and lawn and garden maintenance are taken care of.

As a real estate beginner, condos provide you with the right price point to affordably enter Toronto’s housing market and that is a huge benefit for young singles and families, newcomers to Canada and those who decide at any age that it’s time to own a piece of the rock.

As an added bonus, many condo developments offer a wide variety of amenities. Swimming pools, hot tubs, saunas and even golf simulators provide opportunity for a quick and easy workout for residents who need relief from the stress of a busy life. The amenities also present plenty of opportunities to socialize with other residents.

Thinking about condo living? Start here: www.freemancondos.com.

As part of its ongoing series of neighbourhood walks, Freeman Real Estate Ltd. is hosting a historic tour of Wychwood Park on Sunday, September 20th at 1 p.m (rain date September 27^th 1 pm).

Formerly known as the gated community of Bracondale Hill, Wychwood Park is a small enclave that was set up around the turn of the last century as an artists’ colony thanks to Marmaduke Matthews, an artist and aficionado of the Arts and Crafts movement. Matthews would gain prominence as an artist after painting traditional Canadian scenes that appeared in the illustrated ad work of Canadian Pacific Railway.

Matthews’ friend Alexander Jardin owned a huge block of land in the Wychwood area, which is north of Davenport Road and just west of Bathurst. Jardin sold a good chunk of that land to artists. The land was still very rural back then, when Matthews planned his pastoral community and named it after Wychwood in his native Oxfordshire.

“The area is a little enclave that is almost not part of the city,” says Marilyn Spearin, a local history buff and former school teacher who is leading the tour.

She is referring to the fact that although Wychwood was amalgamated into the city of Toronto in 1909, it remains a private community. The streets and amenities are paid for by the local residents, and the community is managed by an executive council. As one of Toronto’s more exclusive neighbourhoods, house prices easily top a million dollars.

During its start, the land was divided into irregularly shaped lots situated around a central park, pond and tennis courts designed by Toronto architect Arthur Edwin Whatmough.  Many of the homes in Wychwood were designed by Whatmough in the Arts and Crafts style.

Several well-known people have lived there, including Marshall McLuhan and Anatol Rapoport. In 1985 the area became the first residential zone in Ontario to be granted heritage status. A handful of other homes were designed by Eden Smith, a well-known architect who lived in the neighbourhood.

Wychwood is a leafy area home to ravines, old-growth trees and Taddle Creek, a six-kilometre stream that has been largely buried throughout most of the city except in a few spots including Wychwood where it is visible above ground.

The tour On September 20th will also encompass a visit to the nearby Tollkeeper’s Cottage, an historic tollgate structure discovered in the early ‘90s that now houses a museum and a gift shop. Located at Davenport and Bathurst, the cottage is also now home to a blue canoe thanks to the David Suzuki Foundation. As part of the foundation’s homegrown national parks project, the canoe is designed and planted with plants that encourage bees and butterflies. For more info visit www.tollkeeperscottage.ca.

The tour is expected to take one-and-a-half to two hours in total. Participants are asked to meet outside of the Tollkeeper’s Cottage just before 1 p.m.