In my early-twenties, I bought a condo in downtown Toronto. When I bought it, it was an empty lot and a drawing on a piece of paper. It took over three years for it to become a building. I only lived in it for two years before I sold it in search of a detached house with a yard. While the condo was a two bedroom unit, I didn’t think that the 700 square foot apartment would be able to hold my growing family.
David Foot, demographer and author of Boom, Bust & Echo, says that it’s “downtown in your twenties, suburbs in your thirties and forties”. Apparently, I’m true to my demographic.
While families are getting smaller, the typical condominium unit averages one bedroom and is only 600 square feet. That’s a tight fit for anyone with a family.
Of course, when I moved out of the downtown core there were many trade-offs: more space meant a longer commute and a larger mortgage payment, but it was worth it to have more space.
