Two Canadian neighbourhoods made the “Cool Streets Report,” signalling a lucrative opportunity for investors as young, upwardly mobile Millenials target these hotspots.

The awkwardly-named “West Queen West” neighbourhood in Toronto and Mount Pleasant/Main Street in Vancouver recently made the cut in a report featuring the “coolest” neighbourhoods in North America.

“Ignore cool at your own peril,” the report, penned by Cushman & Wakefield, warns — claiming this fluid, subjective adjective is almost as important as numbers-based analytics.

The definition of “cool” used in the report multi-faceted, but at their core, these neighbourhoods attract millennial urbanites who are – in many cases – helping to transform formerly rough neighbourhoods into sought-after places to live.

We take a look at the two hip Canadian ‘hoods’ – and why investors should care.

Toronto’s West Queen West – ‘Rents are only going to climb here’
“On this stretch of QSW you will find Canada’s largest concentration of independent art galleries, an abundance of independent boutiques, a flourishing restaurant and bar scene, and a couple of new hipster, boutique hotels,” the report says. “And in West Queen West, rents typically range between $30 and $60 per sf compared to rates that can top the $120 per sf mark in the tonier sections of Queen Street West). But rents are only going to climb here.
“Demand remains high for space in West Queen West and this Cool Street is increasingly demonstrating mainstream appeal.”
Millenials make up 75.9% of the population on this stretch of street, and the average household income in $92,354.

Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant/Main Street – A shift from working class to arts
“Housing values for some Vancouver neighborhoods have tripled over the past decade and multifamily rents skyrocketed, forcing many creative types and millennials to Mount Pleasant and its relatively cheaper rents (though these are climbing rapidly as well),” the report says. “Trendy boutiques and eateries running the gamut from fast casual to upscale have followed.”
The average household income in this Vancouver neighbourhood is $85,689, and Millenials make up 31.3% of the population.

Click here to access the full report.

The 2 Potentially Hottest “Hoods” in Canada by Justin da Rosa | Canadian Real Estate Wealth