From a $50,000 bungalow to $1.3-million semi: the story of Toronto real estate, as told by the residents of one everyday street

Neil Louis has spent more than half his life on Hopewell Avenue.

In some ways, the street is the same. Louis still describes it as peaceful, safe and friendly. But it has shifted, too. Townhomes replaced the factories across the street. Taller homes have increasingly sprung up in the last five years. And the costs of entry to Hopewell have swollen. Hopewell’s north side was once considered a “light industrial” and employment area, and over the years included a coffee roaster, leather company and baby furniture manufacturer.

Some residents, in conversations with the Star, said the townhouses injected new life into the street. To Da Silva, the added density has been the biggest change. The two houses are made of the same brick. Black fencing hems in both porches. Each home has a metal mailbox, white-trimmed windows, and a neat, green lawn.

They stayed and watched the streetscape change. Nesci likes seeing the houses grow — one navy blue two-storey seemed done with particular care — and new neighbours arrive. The navy-blue house Nesci marvels sits about a dozen houses east of his own. The tall structure, with a red door and a portal window, wasn’t here when COVID-19 struck in early 2020.

They bought the house for $670,000 in late 2016, staying with Kramer’s parents while doing initial fixes and dreaming of a bigger renovation one day. In the last five years, they had two kids, and that need became more pressing. Looking at Hopewell, Kramer sees a cherished world unto itself — a mix of homeowners and renters in a mix of unit types. Neighbours who treat each other warmly; in the summer, one quietly dropped off homegrown tomatoes and lettuce on Kramer’s porch.

Except for its height, today’s two-storey looks similar to other houses on the street — with the same peaked roof as some of the bungalows, and its top floor fronted in similar brick. “Five, six, seven years ago, you could have bought a lot, an infill lot or a teardown, and build a new home or renovate the house and still come up with some profit,” he said.

Not for younger generations for sure.

Pretty clear what the plan is.

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