Humewood–Cedarvale

About Humewood–Cedarvale

Humewood–Cedarvale is a midtown neighbourhood that sits just north of St. Clair Avenue West and west of Bathurst Street, and it combines well-built older homes, real green space and dependable transit in a way that is hard to find elsewhere in central Toronto.

It is really two areas joined by a ravine. Humewood, in the south, is a pocket of winding streets (many of them ending in “wood”) close to St. Clair. Cedarvale, to the north, rises toward Eglinton and backs onto the Cedarvale Ravine, the green spine that runs through the middle of the neighbourhood.

The first impression is calm: mature trees, modest setbacks and streets where people tend to stay. Owners here usually renovate rather than move, which says a lot about how well the area works for everyday life.

A short history

Humewood takes its name from the country estate of William Hume Blake, a prominent lawyer and politician in early Toronto, who built a house here in the 1850s. The estate was gradually subdivided in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Humewood Drive began as the private lane to the house, and Humewood Park was once part of its grounds. The present Humewood House, rebuilt on the original foundation, still stands at 40 Humewood Drive.

Cedarvale’s story is tied to the ravine. In the early 1900s, Sir Henry Pellatt (the builder of Casa Loma) planned an upscale subdivision called Cedar Vale, and the Glen Cedar pedestrian bridge across the ravine dates from that period. Grand plans stalled during the Depression, and most of Cedarvale’s homes were built later and on a more modest scale.

The ravine itself was nearly lost. In the 1960s it was set aside for the Spadina Expressway, and residents and activists, including Jane Jacobs, fought the plan until the province cancelled it in 1971. The area was part of York Township and later the City of York before joining the new City of Toronto in 1998.

Who lives here

Humewood–Cedarvale attracts buyers who are thinking long-term. Many are professionals who want a house with real space, a yard and a basement while staying close to midtown and downtown. Others are long-time owners who bought decades ago and have no reason to leave, and move-up buyers coming from condos in nearby areas such as Wychwood, Corso Italia and the Annex.

The appeal is practical. The neighbourhood offers green space, good schools and two subway stations without the price of Forest Hill or the density of downtown. It works well for buyers who value outdoor routines, since the ravine trails are part of daily life for walkers, runners, cyclists and dog owners.

Turnover is low, and buyers who arrive tend to renovate thoughtfully or, near the ravine, build custom homes they plan to live in for many years. That gives the area a settled, cohesive feel.

Who it may not suit: buyers looking for nightlife at the door, a trendy main street or brand-new construction throughout. This is a neighbourhood that values continuity over constant change.

Boundaries

Humewood–Cedarvale is in central Toronto, west of Forest Hill and north of Wychwood. The City of Toronto’s neighbourhood boundaries follow Eglinton Avenue West to the north and Bathurst Street to the east. To the south, the line runs just north of St. Clair Avenue West as far as Arlington Avenue. To the west, it follows Arlington Avenue, Vaughan Road and Winnett Avenue back up to Eglinton.

Neighbouring areas include Forest Hill South across Bathurst, Oakwood Village to the west, Wychwood and Casa Loma to the south, and Briar Hill and Forest Hill North across Eglinton.

Major roads sit at the edges rather than cutting through the interior, so side streets stay quiet. Vaughan Road and the Cedarvale Ravine divide the neighbourhood into its two halves, and the shops, transit and services of St. Clair West, Eglinton and Bathurst are all close at hand.

Architecture & housing mix

Most of Humewood–Cedarvale’s housing was built between the 1910s and the 1940s. In Humewood, the older south end, streets are lined with brick detached and semi-detached homes from the 1910s and 1920s, many with Arts and Crafts and Tudor Revival details: deep front porches, pitched roofs, leaded glass and generous lot depths.

Cedarvale, to the north, filled in mostly during the 1930s and 1940s with more modest single-family homes, including brick bungalows, storey-and-a-half houses and Colonial Revival two-storeys. The exception is the ravine edge, where some of the area’s most valuable homes sit on lots that back onto or face the Cedarvale Ravine. In recent years, a number of these have been replaced with contemporary custom homes designed around light, elevation and ravine views.

Higher-density housing is concentrated at the perimeter. Mid-rise and high-rise apartment and condominium buildings sit along Bathurst Street, particularly near St. Clair, and along parts of Vaughan Road and Eglinton, while the interior streets remain low-rise.

For buyers, the strength of the housing stock is its bones: solid brick construction, real basements and layouts that can be updated rather than replaced.

Daily life

Daily life in Humewood–Cedarvale revolves around routine. Residents walk to St. Clair Avenue West for coffee, groceries and errands; the stretch near Bathurst, sometimes called Hillcrest Village, has a practical mix of independent shops, bakeries, restaurants and services, with larger grocery stores around St. Clair West station. Eglinton Avenue West at the north edge adds more shops and restaurants.

The Cedarvale Ravine is the neighbourhood’s backyard. A wooded path runs its full length from near St. Clair West station to Cedarvale Park at the north end, with an off-leash dog area, open fields, a cricket pitch and toboggan hills in winter. From there, trails continue north and east along the Kay Gardner Beltline, and south through the Nordheimer Ravine, which makes it possible to walk or cycle across midtown almost entirely through green space.

Smaller parks fill in the rest. Humewood Park, between Humewood Drive and Pinewood Avenue, is a quiet sloping lawn under mature maples, and local school grounds double as playgrounds and sports fields after hours.

Transit

Transit is one of Humewood–Cedarvale’s strongest assets. Line 1 Yonge–University runs beneath the Cedarvale Ravine, with St. Clair West station at the south end of the neighbourhood and Cedarvale station at the north end near Eglinton and Allen Road.

Cedarvale station is also a stop on Line 5 Eglinton, which opened in February 2026 and runs east and west along Eglinton Avenue, with nearby stations at Bathurst Street (Forest Hill station) and Oakwood Avenue. The 512 St. Clair streetcar runs in its own right-of-way along St. Clair Avenue West, and the 90 Vaughan and 7 Bathurst buses serve the edges of the neighbourhood.

Drivers have quick access to Allen Road from Eglinton for trips north, and the ravine trails and Beltline make cycling a realistic option for getting around midtown. Many residents find they can live comfortably here with one car or none.

Schools

Humewood–Cedarvale has two public elementary schools within its boundaries, Humewood Community School and Cedarvale Community School, with secondary options nearby. Independent schools in the area include The Leo Baeck Day School at the north end of Cedarvale Park and Robbins Hebrew Academy, and Upper Canada College and The Bishop Strachan School are a short drive east.

School boundaries change. Confirm eligibility for a specific address with the school board.

Parks & green space

Green space is the defining feature of Humewood–Cedarvale. The Cedarvale Ravine runs through the middle of the neighbourhood and links to the Kay Gardner Beltline and the Nordheimer Ravine, forming one of the longest continuous trail systems in midtown Toronto.