Eastside, His City
By DC Rutherford
The first thing I found in my research on Grace Homes’ Sales Representative Ian Blakey is a bold statement: “He believes Toronto is the best city in the world.” So, when we meet up over the phone in late October, I begin by asking him the obvious.
“So you’ve never been to Montreal?”
The good-natured ribbing is quintessentially Canadian—a born-and-bred Montrealer giving a blue-and-white blooded Torontonian the gears. A few jokes about the Leafs and a promise to send a link to Wikipedia’s page on what happens after the first round of the NHL playoffs follow. Ian takes the shots like a pro, and laughs them off as only a Leafs fan could. Grace & Co.’s newest Realtor is as Toronto as it gets.
Having grown up in East York and the Danforth, he now lives in Leslieville and mainly lists properties in The Beaches. He knows the Don Valley trails like the back of Doug Gilmour’s hand and even has a family cottage up in the Algonquins. He knows the city, knows the neighbourhoods, knows the pubs, the people, the parks, the parkettes, the pets, the promenades, the… you get it. Ian Blakey knows Toronto, and when he says he believes Toronto is the best city in the world, not only does he mean it, but he wanted to be part of building the community so badly that he quit a successful career in project management to start anew in real estate in 2018.
“I looked upwards in the company and realized that everybody ahead of me either had to retire or [move on] and they were only in their forties and I thought, ‘it’s going to take me 25 years to do anything more than I’ve done. I wasn’t enjoying the work very much anyway so I thought I needed to switch.”
With a young family and a good, safe job, the decision was tough, but he made the leap. Was it worth it?
“I love it. Meeting all the people I get to, working with all the people I get to—it’s very rewarding. It’s actually a lot more fun than I ever expected,” he says, the joy and truth palpable in his voice. “It’s absolutely more of a grind than I expected as well. It’s definitely more challenging than we tend to make it look to the outside world. But it’s been fun every day, even the worst days. It’s been very rewarding and I’m making a healthy living, doing something that I really love.”
I mention to Ian how most of my time in Toronto has been spent on the west side: the Annex, Roncy, Ossington, High Park, and the Junction. Ian notes, while the west side has its established history and personality, the east side is now coming into its own.
“I feel like the east side is still developing some of that history. And it’s sort of learning how to be a cool area to live, while [the west side of Toronto] already established that. In the pocket of Leslieville, when I grew up, it was a neighborhood that was just rough. And it didn’t seem all that bad, but the change in this neighbourhood since then—we regularly say, this is a place to be. There is a place called the Maple Leaf Tavern. One of those bars that had, you know a lot of regulars and were kind of rough around the edges. And then all of a sudden five years ago it was suddenly this amazing family restaurant that has a five-star chef serving up food. And all the other restaurants are cafes that have come in as well, that just blows me away. It’s a walkable area too, and I love that.”
Maple Leaf Tavern 
Dineen Outpost 
Chula Taberna Mexicana 
Vatican Gift Shop 
Hailed Coffee
Ian could, understandably, go on for years about the highlights of the neighbourhood. The Vatican Gift Shop, Chula, Dineen Outpost, and Hailed Coffee are just a few of the landmarks that freckle our conversation. But a good neighbourhood needs more than hip bistros and cafés—they need a sustainable community, where young families and young professionals can mingle, and older generations can sit back and watch the world they created zooming by.
“The parks in the neighbourhood are huge gathering places; so many families are there, moms and dads. And it’s not even just like one parent goes and flips their phone open—they’re actually talking to each other and hanging out.” Greenwood, Hideaway, and Leslie Grove are just a few of the greenspaces that the neighbourhood boasts, and indeed they’re more public meeting spaces and social venues than just parks.
“I mean, every time a house comes up on my street, I think I should probably tell every one of my friends, ‘You should come and join us here.’” Ian lives in the community he’s helping build and populate, a testament to his affection for his home and the truth in having found his calling in real estate. “I just love the diversity of Toronto and that people love Toronto for Toronto. I meet so many people of diverse backgrounds and they all still want to be in the same neighbourhood. I love how Toronto comes together in a way; there’s no me, they, them, it’s just us.”
It’s hard not to ask Ian for listings, and I’m not sure I’ve ever spoken to someone with such an honest love for Toronto. And, if your home team is never going to see the second round, you may as well live in a burgeoning neighbourhood in a world-class city, framed by good cafés, bistros, parks, and great people. Ian Blakey isn’t building a portfolio—he’s building a community on Toronto’s eastside, right around the corner from where he grew up. Quintessentially Canadian, in the city that defines the nation; diversity, culture, community.