Located about 1 hour's drive north of Toronto, Orillia is close enough to be within easy reach of the big city, but far enough away not to be a bedroom community.
With miles of waterfront, large public parks, a Heritage Downtown and many other things going for it, Orillia is a great place to live and work. Our City Hall, pictured here, is a perfect symbol of our industial past, and our promising future. It is the original Tudhope Factory, home of Canada's only successful independent car manufacturing company. Part of the building has been renovated for residential use and it was the temporary home of Lakehead University's new Orillia Campus.
Orillia has many neighbourhoods that are often cited in real estate listings and they need some explaining if you are new to the area.
The first thing that baffles newcomers is the street names. As was the case in many early settlements, Orillia's founding fathers (the political honchos were almost always men) had no idea how much their town would grow so they naively named the streets that defined the borders after points on the compass. The western border was West Street, the northern border North Street etc.
In modern Orillia, the borders spill way past those streets, West Street is now the centre of town so we have confusing intersections like West Street North and North Street West.
On the map below, find any local address by typing it into the field at the top. Zoom in on it then drag the orange icon over the slider to any area to see a panoramic picture which you can then zoom and swivel about.
Just to make things more fun, Orillia was at one time divided into three “wards” and, naturally, those wards were named after points on the compass. The wards have long ago disappeared from official use – you won’t find them on any map - but the names have stuck. Real estate listings often mention wards so here is a brief rundown of what they actually mean.
The North Ward
This is the oldest section of Orillia, roughly the north-east section of the city. This is where the carriage trade often lived back when there were carriages so there are numerous grand homes, tree-lined streets and few sidewalks. It is traditionally considered more “desirable” so any home that is even close to the area will include the phrase "North Ward" in the listing (though it’s often mis-spelled as “northward”).
If you’re looking for a home in the North Ward just be careful, like any desirable neighbourhood, the boundaries tend to expand (like The Beaches in Toronto). Not all properties listed as “northward” are actually in the traditional North Ward.
Also, remember that it’s not all grand mansions; there are many smaller, unimposing and affordable homes to be had.
The West Ward
The heart of the West Ward is Soldiers’ MemorialHospital.
Orillia has generally grown westerly so by touring the West Ward, which stretches from downtown to Highway 11, you can trace a history of Orillia’s growth just like counting rings on a tree stump. Closer to downtown are turn-of-the-century homes, mostly known as “workers’ houses”, but there’s some very fine Victorian architecture. Farther west are the wartime houses built in the 1940s and 50s and finally there are more modern developments near the highway.
The South Ward
The south part of Orillia was the last to be developed because it sits on lower ground and there is a fair amount of wetland. There is a lot of wartime housing and cottages in the area – houses that were thought to be temporary at the time. However there is also a lot of beautiful waterfront, well-kept homes on large lots and great places to raise a family. In the hierarchy, the South Ward is not on top but that means you can often get much more house for the money. It also means the phrase “South Ward” is not used in listings; “south Orillia” is the preferred term.
West Ridge
Started in the early 1990s, this is Orillia’s newest development. Even so, they just had to name it after a point on the compass. West Ridge is west of Highway 11 and centres around the WestRidgePlaza which includes big box retailers like Wal-Mart and Home Depot. The area is also the location of our newest industrial park and the new campus of LakeheadUniversity, currently under construction.
The homes here were all built by developer Angelo Orsi and range from townhouses to large, executive-style luxury homes. The obvious advantages here are the proximity to shopping, work and transportation.
Don’t let prejudice sway your decision about a neighbourhood. You can find good, and bad, homes in any part of Orillia. Use this as a rough guide, and then ask your Realtor or other local people for more information.
