Perhaps no single phrase causes such extreme and diverse reaction than “Back to School”. For most kids, the dreaded three words means the end of summer fun, sleep-ins and no homework. For most parents, there are no three, and more anticipated, better words as regular routines can begin again.

Just where that back to school takes place is amongst the most important decisions parents make, and the neighbourhood of XO Condos at King and Dufferin gives them plenty of excellent choices. With its wide variety of suite sizes, and offering one to three-bedroom layouts, young parents with toddlers or established families with high school-aged kids will soon be making XO Condos their homes when the new condominium residence begins occupancy in Summer, 2022.

Whatever the age group, XO Condos at 1221 King Street West, where Liberty Village, King West, Queen West and Parkdale converge, offers a multitude of excellent child-care, public elementary and high school options for parents to consider.

For infants and preschoolers, choices include Liberty Village Home Child Care at 12 Laidlaw Street; Kinder Grove Infant and Child Care at 980 Dufferin; West End Parents Day Care at 375 Davencourt Rd; Kids and Company at 1100 King West; King West Home Day Care at 24 Shaw Street; Downtown Kids Academy at 905 King West; and Artscape Young Place at 180 Shaw Street.

Primary and public schools with proximity to XO Condos include Parkdale Junior and Senior Public School at 78 Seaforth Avenue; Queen Victoria Public School at 100 Close Avenue; and Ossington/Old Orchard Junior Public School located at 380 Ossington Avenue.

One of Toronto’s most venerable and established high schools is Parkdale Collegiate Institute, located at 209 Jameson Avenue, with Central Toronto Academy at 570 Shaw Street and St. Mary Catholic Academy located at 66 Dufferin Park Avenue as other high school choices in the neighbourhood.

XO Condos will be home to families of all sizes and all ages, and its excellent location gives parents peace of mind when ‘Back to School’ time rolls around again.

XO Condos will be a neighbor of one of Toronto’s most infamous summer traditions, the Canadian National Exhibition, which is currently in full swing for its 140th year on the grounds of Exhibition Place, just blocks from XO’s location at King and Dufferin. First held in 1879 as the Toronto Industrial Exhibition, the CNE is now one of the 10 largest annual fairs in North America, drawing more than 1.5 million people through its gates every year for its two-week run.

“The Ex” has it all, for young and old alike, and runs until Labour Day Monday, September 2nd, when its grounds close at 9:00pm. Its’ gates are open every day from 10am to 10pm, with its grounds and rides open until midnight.

The rides and games of chance are a staple of summer fun, as is the Food Building, containing the latest and greatest in food options (make sure to check out the “Under $6 in the Six” value menu for the first time!). There are numerous shows to be seen as well, such as The Garden Show, a spectacular display of plant and vegetable life, held daily in the Heritage Court of the Enercare Centre.

The Ex is also a magnet for some terrific competitions including The Rising Star Talent Competition, with semi-finals and finals from August 26 through September 1, the PeeWee Baseball Tournament until August 28th and the Women’s Fastball Tournament between August 31 and September 1st.

The highlight and stunning conclusion every year is the “Roar by The Shore”, the Canadian International Air Show, celebrating its’ 70th anniversary this year from August 31 until September 2nd from 12 – 3pm daily.

Featured this year will be the Royal Air Force’s aerobatic team, the ‘Red Arrows’, along with the pride and joy of Canada and one of the world’s most respected aerial acrobatics jet teams, the beloved ‘Snowbirds’, who never fail to dazzle and amaze with their maneuvers high above Lake Ontario. There is also a MiG 15 jet this year and a demonstration by the USAF’s Black Hawk Helicopters.

The Ex is just part of the fun and excitement which makes the XO Condos’ neighbourhood one of the most lively in Toronto.

At the hustle and bustle of King and Dufferin, you will soon start to notice a rising development, XO Condos. So, how will XO rise up? What does the construction process entail? No need to look any further for these answers… we’ve got the lowdown from Lifetime Developments!

The general timeline to build a 14-storey condo such as XO is typically three years. Basement construction usually lasts about a year, while build up and completing finishes takes another two. Toronto’s fickle climate however can sometimes influence this timeline, with freezing rain, severe cold and high winds being potential obstacles.

As imaginable, this three-year process involves a variety of trades all working in careful coordination. There can be as many as 20 different trades on-site at any given time, including electricians, plumbers and window installers to name a few– let alone the later stages when drywallers, painters and others are added to the mix.

Lifetime coordinates the project consultants including architects and engineers; it all starts years before construction, commencing with planning. The XO project team includes Turner Fleischer Architects, Thomas Pearce Interior Design, Able Engineering, Jablonsky Ast and Partners Structural Engineers and Isherwood Geostructural Engineers, all working in cohesion.

So, as you will soon begin to notice XO Condos rising at this infamous Toronto intersection, keep in mind the intricacy and mindful attention of hundreds of professionals that has and will continue to go into this development.

Summer is all about heat and sizzle, and no where can it be found hotter and more alive than within the neighbourhoods which surround XO Condos at King and Dufferin Streets, which bursts with community events during the summer.

Toronto Caribbean Carnival Festival: July 3 through August 4
Formerly known as “Caribana”, this 52nd edition of North America’s largest salute to Caribbean culture takes over the western portion of downtown for a month of pulsing music, exotic foods, incredible costumes and the freedom of the Caribbean spirit. The Junior Carnival Parade and Family Day event will be held on Saturday, July 20th. The King & Queen Showcase, featuring the splendor and colour of spectacular costumes, will be held Thursday, August 1st at Lamport Stadium, with the famed Steel Band Competition being held the following evening, Friday, August 2nd, also at Lamport Stadium. The Festival culminates in the Grande Parade, one of Toronto’s largest annual events, at the Exhibition Grounds and Lakeshore Boulevard on Saturday, August 3rd. More information is available at www.torontocarnival.ca

Toronto Wolfpack Rugby Team at Lamport Stadium

Continuing Toronto’s summer of sports success, check out the Toronto Wolfpack Rugby Team, which play out of Lamport Stadium. Vying for promotion to the UK’s Super League, this intercontinental rugby squad has been an unqualified runaway hit in just its three years of existence. Currently in first place with a 19-1 record, the Wolfpack are riding a 14-game winning streak. They’re a machine!

Wolfpack are a great family outing, and have upcoming home games at Lamport Stadium on Saturday, July 13th at 1:00pm vs Featherstone Rovers; Saturday, August 10th at 1:00pm vs York City Nights; Saturday, August 17th at 1:00pm vs Rochdale Hornets and Saturday, August 31st at 1:00pm vs Barrow Raiders. Tickets and information are available at www.torontowolfpack.com

CNE HorseCapades: Exhibition Grounds, July 27 through August 15

For the young at heart seeking a unique escape from city life this summer, CNE HorseCapades returns to the Horse Palace on the Exhibition Grounds each day from 11:00am to 2:00pm in the two weeks prior to the CNE, from July 27th through August 15th.

This family-friendly event features free pony rides for the kids, while everyone can experience what it’s like to ride and pet a horse, and discover how a horse thinks, acts and reacts. More information is available at www.theex.com

Escape by the Lake at Ontario Place

The refreshing breezes off Lake Ontario can be a great way to end a hot summer’s day.

Sunset Yoga is free and classes are approximately one hour in length and held Wednesday, July 17th starting at 7:00pm and Wednesday, August 21st starting at 6:00pm. Led by acclaimed instructor Alexandria Santaguida, the classes are open to all ages and offer a mix of hatha and vinyasa yoga.

Toronto Pizza Fest is returning for another year, starting Friday, July 19th through Sunday, July 21st. Produced by Cravings Food Co., be sure to expect an epic lineup of Toronto’s top pizzerias!
More information available at www.ontarioplace.com

1.Parkdale’s Musical Weeknd

One of Parkdale’s most famous residents was alternative R&B superstar The Weeknd. The singer, songwriter and producer moved to the area in 2007 and his debut mixtape “House of Balloons” is named after his former residence at 65 Spencer Street. He began to tour Toronto shortly after its release and one night he played a 90-minute show at Mod Club, where Drake happened to be in the audience. Drake approached him after the performance and suggested a musical collaboration. The rest is history. The Weeknd has sold 70 million records in the United States alone and is now one of the world’s best-selling artists. He even founded a record label called “XO”.

2. What’s in a Name?

In the 19th century, Liberty Village has become home to several institutions, including the Toronto Central Prison and the Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women (on the site of today’s Lamport Stadium). Liberty Village itself was named after Liberty Street for a very good reason. When these institutions were closed in 1915, Liberty Street was the first street both male and female convicts would walk upon being freed – their first taste of ‘liberty’.

3. Nature’s Plan

The Toronto Islands we all now enjoy and which are such a unique feature to a major North American metropolitan area, were not always an island. The land was once a 9 km sandspit connected to the mainland and stretching out into Lake Ontario – similar to the Leslie Street Spit today. An aggressive storm severed the sandspit from the mainland in 1858 and the city had neither the interest, or the money, to try to rebuild and reconnect it. Now, Toronto Island welcomes over 1.5 million visitors each year!

4. A Bridge Runs Through it

When Toronto began its ‘big dig’ to construct the Bloor-Danforth Subway (Line 2) in the late 1950’s, the question arose of what to do with the millions of tons of earth that would be dug up. One solution was to fill up Garrison Creek. As a result, the bridge over Garrison Creek, built in 1914, was no longer needed once the ravine was filled with the rubble. The land was flattened and the bridge remains buried under Trinity Bellwoods Park.

5. Creating Green Space

Sunnyside Amusement Park existed between 1922 and 1955, located on the Lake Ontario waterfront at the foot of Roncesvalles Avenue. The park was named after a local farm owned by John Howard, located at the site of the current St. Joseph’s Medical Centre (Howard also owned the nearby High Park). After several fires in the winter of 1955, the City ordered the park to be demolished to make way for the building of the Gardiner Expressway to run through the area. Replacing the rides was an area now featuring a boardwalk, playground, trails and abundant green space.

6. A Piece of Toronto at Disneyland

After the 1955 fires, only the Sunnyside Bathing Pavillion and the Palais Royale Buildings survived the demolition as most of the rides were dismantled. However, one ride lives on to this day in Anaheim, California. The Sunnyside Carousel, a hand-carved merry-go-round, was purchased by Walt Disney who moved it to his newly opened theme park “Disneyland” and renamed it the King Arthur Carousel.

As the better weather finally arrives and we’re all feeling a bit of ‘cabin-fever’, it’s only natural to want to get outside and enjoy the months ahead. As residents of XO Condos will discover, living a maintenance-free condominium lifestyle does not mean giving up fresh air and access to the outdoors.

XO Condos will feature 6,500 square feet of amenity space on its second floor, the majority of it uniquely designed with extensions to the outside.

“Lifetime always does extensive research on its neighbourhoods to find out just how people enjoy their urban lifestyles,” says Brian Brown, Lifetime Developments President and CEO. “As a result, we took special care to ensure residents at XO Condos will be able to enjoy the outdoors, and designed most of the amenities with extensions out to an outdoor terrace.”

Included will be a spacious Social Lounge and Dining Room which opens to a grand terrace. There is also an indoor and outdoor yoga area and interactive Kids’ Zone with outdoor play area. The second floor will also feature a large Western-exposed outdoor terrace with BBQ and lounge areas perfect for family gatherings, and immediately south of the King and Dufferin location is the Dufferin-King Parkette, a large outdoor green space that will become an extension of XO Condos backyard.

Clearly, loving your life inside XO Condos will also mean loving the great outdoors as well!

Coming to the XO Condos neighbourhood on June is the 6^th Annual Liberty Village Art Crawl, to be held on Saturday, June 8 from 11am to 6pm at Liberty Village Park.

More than 60 artists and designers will be showing a variety of works from all types of categories of art. You’ll find original artwork and photography, fashion, vintage accessories, jewelry, home décor, sculptures and more.

Admission is free and leashed pets are welcome at this fun event to support local Toronto artists with their unique one-of-a-kind pieces on sale. With live DJ spinning all day and food vendors on site, Art Crawl is a fun community gathering for the whole family which blogTO rates as one of the top 10 outdoor art fairs in the city!

Being held at Liberty Village Park, just a ten-minute walk from the future home at King and Dufferin of XO Condos, The Liberty Village Art Crawl is just another example of the thriving neighbourhood which XO Condo residents will call home.

There is no greater endorsement of a growing and thriving neighbourhood than when a new subway plan expands to include it.

The new “Ontario Line” (formerly “The Downtown Relief Line”) recently announced by the Province of Ontario extends the proposed new subway line from The Ontario Science Centre south to Queen and Yonge and now further west to include a new stop at King and Bathurst before ending at Ontario Place.

This validation tells XO Condos residents what they already knew; they will be living at the heart of one of Toronto’s most livable and exciting neighbourhoods, where Liberty Village, King West, Queen West and Parkdale converge.

The expanded “Ontario Line” brings to XO Condos residents at the southwest corner of King and Dufferin Streets the added connection, convenience and easy subway access to anywhere in the city.
Now your life at XO Condos just got more connected!