By Laura Farr
I mean that, truly. You see, when my now-husband and I realized we would need to find a place to make our home together, fit our combined three children and have a spot for bicycles that isn’t our front hall, we absolutely thought we would end up at Westdale.
His two children went to Westdale and McMaster respectively, and mine went to Cathy Wever, in catchment for Westdale, so this made sense on paper. The reality, though, was a lot of really bad student flips that would need a lot of work to make them workable, and no real change to my husband’s commute times.
Both of us had homes not far from each other in the Landsdale neighbourhood, and we had begun to think we were looking for a unicorn – 4-5 bedrooms, a decent yard, and a place to put the bikes, (It was a serious issue in both our homes!), and within our budget.
Then we started seeing homes in the North End. We found our unicorn-house and had an accepted offer within a week of looking and moved here in November 2024.
You’re here, so you already know this neighbourhood’s charms and challenges. It’s close to the waterfront and known for being a tight-knit community. I worked for a few years at Bennetto Rec centre, so I had seen that sometimes that idea of a “tight knit” community is usually insular, stagnant in belief and not open to new people, who may be viewed as outsiders no matter how long they live there.
And much like when I moved to Landsdale from Strathcona, that preconceived notion couldn’t have been more wrong. When I moved there, I had written an article wondering if I was being neighbourhood elitist due to the negative reputation of the area. Was my worry about moving there all in my head, or the reality? I challenged myself to get to know my neighbours, get involved, and those are people that will be lifelong friends.
The North End is no different – the reputation for being closed and not being a “real” North Ender is not the reality. It is a community where people say hello when you pass on the sidewalk and stop to chat. A community where neighbours are looking out for each other in many ways. It’s also a community that cares and shows up for each other.
A community at its very core is its people, and the people here definitely have shown us this is a community with a deep sense of belonging. We have found that by being open and reciprocating that friendliness, we feel that we belong here.
The North End is so much more than the waterfront, the train tracks and the industry. It’s more than GrandDads, and Fisher’s Pub and Bonanza (does Bonanza count if it’s past the tracks?). It’s more than Bayfront and the Strachan Linear Park and the Sunset Cultural Garden. You see where I am going with this – the North End is its people.
And we are happy to call the North End home.
