November marks the one-year anniversary of Forest Hill Village becoming Canada's first wireless community. Anyone armed with a capable laptop can use the Internet free, surrounded by some of Toronto's most expensive real estate.
The Forest Hill Village commercial strip along Spadina Road from Montclair Avenue to Thelma Road is quaint -- twee, even -- with a mix of low- and high-end businesses. For locals, the village has all the essentials: banks, a friendly hardware store, a busy barber shop and a grocer. It also offers tony specialty boutiques and excellent cafés and restaurants. If you are not part of the exclusive community, the strip is the sort of place you discover by accident, only to marvel at the fact that you never knew it existed before.
Hangouts
Popular after school and on weekends, The Village Chill (325B Lonsdale Rd.) features Greg's Ice Cream, fat-free varieties and frozen yogurt. Since 1931, the Forest Hill Barber Shop (408 Spadina Rd.) has been a busy after-work and weekend stop.
Landmarks
The prestigious 174-year-old Upper Canada College (200 Lonsdale Rd.) private boys school, whose graduates include Stephen Leacock, Robertson Davies and Brendan Fraser.
Restaurants
A cluttered market-style atmosphere, breakfast, lunch and dinner menus, basic grocery supplies, gourmet foods and fresh hot bread and pastries make What a Bagel (421 Spadina Rd.) a local hot spot. Tucked away off the main drag is Banfi (333B Lonsdale Rd.), a mainstay of the village and always chock-a-block. Reasonably priced thin-crust pizzas and al dente pastas are the specialties of the house.
Coffee shops
It's always a crowded house at David's By Day/Buzz By Night (413 Spadina Rd.). The café features home-baked breads and desserts, breakfast, lunch and dinner plus a heated corner patio. Nearby, laptops and strollers crowd the local Second Cup and Starbucks.
Watering holes
Aside from the Kitchen Table, the Second Cup and Starbucks, the only establishment open past 10 p.m. in this sleepy village is the newcomer Hope Street Café (324 Lonsdale Rd.). Approaching its one-year anniversary, the café offers a heated patio, an inviting interior with a fireplace and cushy banquettes. Live jazz is a regular Saturday-night occurrence. A creative all-day breakfast and a hard-to-beat burger has put the café on the village map.
Shopping
The Kitsch Boutique (325 Lonsdale Rd.) is three floors -- including a bargain basement -- of everything for women, from evening dresses and power suits to funky everyday wear by international designers such as BCBG, Tara Jarmon, Sue Wong and Terani. A foodie's treasure-haunt, Word of Mouth Upscale Kitchenware (398 Spadina Rd.) stocks every kitchen gadget a gourmand could desire.
Renting
Studios go for $780 to $900; one bedrooms $850 to $1,700; two bedrooms $1,450 to $2,300.
Buying
Houses start from about $1-million for a modest home in need of some work and climb to $5.6-million-plus for a four- to five-bedroom home on Dunvegan or Forest Hill Roads. The average home in the area would set you back about $2.5-million to $3-million.
People watching
Rocker Kim Mitchell, figure skater Kurt Browning and Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Ed Belfour are regularly seen residents.