Over the past few weeks we have been writing a weekly series on the the things that are important to the people who read our regular blogs. We will be continuing to write blogs that help our office space Toronto tenants and our Toronto virtual office clients. But we will also include topics for our non-client blog followers and social media followers who look to us to help them in their business with advice on various topics.

This week, inspired by some office-space inquires from business owners who live downtown, we decided to talk about the growing number of people who want to live and work downtown. If you recall, one of our blogs was about how Google Recognized Importance of Downtown Toronto Office Space and built its new Toronto office downtown to attract and retain young talented workers who were choosing to live in the city’s core. So, we are going to explore the benefits for small business owners to live and work close to downtown.

As part of this blog series, we will also be exploring some of the various area and housing options that are available to small business owners who want to live either right downtown or within minutes of downtown. We will also be exploring why it is no longer just single, young, under-40 professionals and young married professionals who are moving into condos downtown. In fact, a large number of condo buildings are being built to accommodate the demands of families who are wanting to move downtown.

The old obvious traditional reasons for most younger people to want to live downtown are proximity to work, public transit, entertainment, shopping and the other benefits of an “urban lifestyle.” These are still the top reasons for choosing to live downtown. Now, many are also seeing the potential savings on property taxes – which are often lower in downtown areas. There is also the money saved on gasoline and on vehicle maintenance. Some do not use their vehicle at all and employ public transit. But for young families, the potential to gain 2 to 3 hours each day (10 to 12 hours per week or more) to spend time with their children by not commuting from the suburbs is a true quality-of-life advantage.

We are going to begin our next blog by talking about the business benefits for small business owners of living close to their Toronto office space – where they can rent downtown Toronto boardrooms and enjoy many other office-space efficiencies and amenities.