“I only want to live in Yorkville,” said the 20-something young girl with a total of $2,500 in savings to her name.

A friend-of-a-friend of mine is moving to Yorkville to spend more money on a smaller condo, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why…

I understand that in every major metropolitan area, there are the sought-after neighborhoods, and there are the slums.

There are the have’s, and there are the have-not’s.

And there will always be a swanky, upscale, chic, “place to be seen,” and in Toronto, that place happens to be Yorkville.

I always ask, “What’s so special about Yorkville?”  But I understand that this question can’t be quantified, and can’t be accurately answered.

Let’s assume for a moment that Yorkville really is “special.”  My next question becomes, “Why not just let other people over-spend by shopping or living in the area, and steer clear yourself?”

A couple days ago, I was sitting at my desk at Bosley Real Estate when a colleague of mine asked, “What’s the difference between 18 Yorkville Avenue and 40 Scollard?”

I told her that 40 Scollard Ave was “entry level” Yorkville since it was an older building, had fewer amenities, and of course it didn’t come with a “Yorkville” address.

She told me she had a client looking for a rental unit, and she was having trouble finding her a “cheap” place to live.

I responded that “Yorkville” and “Cheap” are like “Politician” and “Honest.”

I asked who the client was, and she told me, “Katelyn.”

My jaw dropped.

I know Katelyn, and two thoughts popped into my head:
1) Why the heck would Katelyn want to live in this area?
2) Oh yeah…

Katelyn is the prototypical Yorkville youngster in that she is the type of person who could be easily lured into the glam and glitz of all Yorkville has to “offer,” which is in essence, nothing.

Katelyn is currently renting a 1-bedroom apartment in midtown for $1000 per month, including all utilities.  Assuming her place is about 600 square feet, I would say she is getting a fantastic deal.

She is only moderately well-paid for a girl her age, but she has a very stable job and a very steady income, and spending only $1000 per month on rent would surely enable her to save for her future.

Now, she has decided that she’s “had enough” of where she currently lives, and she wants to move…..to Yorkville.

The only issue is that she’ll end up spending $1400 per month for about 500 square feet.

Does that make any sense?

Because I don’t think it does.

Spending $400 more each month for less living space doesn’t seem like a “compromise,” does it?

So what is it about the area that lures people in?

Do people like spending $7.00 at Pusateri’s for a box of Corn Flakes that costs $3.99 at Dominion, or $2.99 at No Frills?

Do people like spending $10.00 per drink at Y-Not Bar or instead of $5.25 on College Street or downtown?

Does a $44 strip-loin steak really taste better at Sassafraz than the $22 version at Houston’s downtown?

I understand that the cream of the crop in our fair City of Toronto like to live with their equals, but why would a young person who is renting month-to-month want to prematurely enter this society of elitists?

I have one idea, and you’ll be surprised to hear that for a change, it is a cynical response…

I think that Katelyn wants to tell her friends that she lives in Yorkville.

I think that she wants to leave the College Street Bar and ask if anybody wants to split a cab to Yorkville.

“What?  Nobody is going that way?  Nobody is heading to Yorkville?  Okay, I’m off then….to Yorkville.  See you guys later…..P.S…..YORKVILLE!”

How many people do you know that trek all the way to Yorkdale Mall to do their shopping rather than going to the same stores nearby?  Is there something more special about Yorkdale?  Or does it just sound like Yorkville?

Is living in Yorkville at age twenty-seven really worth mortgaging one’s future?

Is the supposed “status” and “prestige” really worth moving into a smaller home and paying far more for it?

I’m not exactly living beneath my means, but if I could “afford” to purchase a $700,000 condo just because a bank is willing to lend me the money, that doesn’t mean that I’m going to do it.

I’m comfortable where I am, and I don’t need an unnecessary amount of “more.”

In Katelyn’s case, she’s actually getting “less” in terms of her living space, but there seems to be a false sense of “more” with respect to living in an area synonymous with rich and famous.

I guess in the end it comes down to “do what makes you happy.”

If Katelyn goes home every night with a smile on her face because the street signs in her neighborhood say “Village of Yorkille” and because she can meet friends for Gouda & Merlot at Caren’s Wine & Cheese Bar on Wednesday nights, then more power to her…..I guess.

I’m not advocating moving into a basement apartment in Parkdale for $500 to save money, but I just don’t see anything wrong with a 27-year-old girl spending $1000/month on rent on Davisville Avenue and I don’t see the value in paying $1400 or maybe $1500 for a smaller space in Yorkville.

Tired of reading book-after-book about personal finance and the economy, I have taken it upon myself to read Vladamir Nabokov’s classic Lolita.  The book is simply a treat to read, and Nabokov is a literary genius who disguises his poetry as prose, but that’s besides the point.  While reading a paragraph of the book, I likened it to this situation above with Yorkville.

Says, the main character, Humbert Humbert about young Lolita, “If a roadside sign said: VISIT OUR GIFT SHOP, we had to visit it, had to buy its Indian curios dolls, copper jewelry, and cactus candy.  If some cafe sign proclaimed ‘IceCold Drinks,’ she was automatically stirred, although all drinks everywhere were ice-cold.  She it was to whom ads were dedicated: the ideal consumer, the subject and object of every foul poster.”

There are certain people in this city of ours that are drawn in by the glitz and glamor, warranted or not.

Katelyn knows that Yorkville has been put up on a pedestal, but rather than find out why it has been placed as such, she’d rather skip the step and simply seek to achieve it.

Just as Lolita is the ideal consumer for those merchants who flog their unnecessary wares, Katelyn is the ideal, young, wannabe-socialite who will gladly help finance the investors in Yorkville who own condos that are too small for those who can actually afford to rent them…