Windsor Park, Edmonton | Neighbourhood Profile

Windsor Park At A Glance

Homes in Windsor Park

• Average Asking Price (2011): $852,000
• Asking Price Range (2011): $499,000 to $1,625,900
• Average Home Size (Approx): 1970 ft²
• Size Range (Approx): 1220 ft² to 3960 ft²

Windsor Park Real Estate Market

• Hot Market Index (2011):  46.1 °G
• Absorption (2011): 50.0%
• Buyer Willingness (2011): 86.2%
• Desirability Score (2011): 94.4/100 (Excellent)
• Dilapidation Score (2006) 7.3% (Excellent)

Amenities

• Accessibility Score: 48 homes per point of access.
• Parking: Poor, pretty much everywhere except for residents with a valid permit.
• Transit: 13 bus stops
• Parks: 3 and direct access to the river valley and biking trails at multiple points.

Location & Description

Windsor park is a small neighbourhood – it has only 480 homes in it – which is situated between the University of Alberta to the east, the river valley to the north and south and Belgravia to the south. One of the most desirable places to own real estate in Edmonton, the area is filled with old trees, wide streets and stately houses. Windsor Park has long been a desirable neighbourhood because of it’s proximity to the river, the University and its ease of access to downtown Edmonton.

The average house price in Windsor Park is a whopping $852,000 – bear in mind there are no condos to bring down the price, but still, that is an expensive average. You can get less expensive properties in the neighbourhood, though. Houses were put on the market for as little as $499,ooo in 2011, but also ranged up over one and a half million. Sizes of houses range from about 1200 square feet to a massive 3900+ square feet.

A map of showing Edmonton real estate zone 15

Windsor Park is located in Edmonton real estate zone 15 along with Strathcona, Garneau, Allendale, Belgravia, Empire Park, Grandview Heights, Landsdowne, Lendrum Place, Malmo Plains, McKernan, Queen Alexandra, Parkallen and Pleasantview.

A bar graph showing when homes were constructed in Windsor Park*

Almost all the houses in Windsor Park were built after WWII. Interestingly Windsor Park has kept the vast majority of it’s houses over the years. This could be a testament to the reasonably sized homes already in the area, but I suspect that people who live in Windsor Park are not much for new construction. Perhaps their tastes are of a different sort than other people’s. No one seems interested in knocking down any of the older homes in favour of newer ones – even on lots with a river valley view.

A pie chart showing home types in the Windsor Park neighbourhood*

There are only houses and semi-detached homes in Windsor Park. Not much to see here, move along.

A pie chart showing how many homes are rented versus how many owned in Windsor Park*

Not many homes are rented in Windsor Park. Even though the neighbourhood is very close to the University like Garneau is, the homes are all single family homes that are worth a substantial sum. Very few of them would make feasible rental properties. Why would someone pay 3x as much rent to live on the west side of the University when they could live on the east side? That being said, there are a few rental properties in the neighbourhood – some smaller homes are rented to students, but 82% of all the homes are still owner occupied.

Condos in Windsor Park

There are no condominum buildings in Windsor Park. In fact, there are no multi-family buildings in the neighbourhood at all.

Schools

Elementary:

Windsor Park School | 8720 118 Street – 780 433 3924

Junior High:

~ None in this neighbourhood

High Schools:

~ None in this neighbourhood

Other Schools:

University of Alberta | 85 Avenue 116 Street – 780 492 3111

Parks & Recreation

What Windsor Park lacks in size, it makes up for location. There can only be a small number of parks in the community – 3 to be exact – as it is pretty tiny, but being bordered by the river valley on two sides pretty much makes the entire area a park. If you live here, you can go for a run, cycle or take the dog for a walk anytime you like. Access to parks here is amazing. Also, Kinsmen Sports Centre is just down the hill from here – so you would also have a nearby City of Edmonton facility to keep active.

Access & Parking

Access into and out of Windsor Park is ok. The biggest issue for getting around nearby is the traffic from the University and the fact that the neighbourhood borders on the ravine, which doesn’t allow many options for entry and exit.

Windsor Park is not an extremely walkable neighbourhood as there isn’t much to walk to. That is, if you want to go for a walk in the ravine, it would be no problem at all, but if you wanted to walk to a grocery store, that would take a little while. The neighbourhood is sort of cut off from other areas by the ravine and the U of A. This makes the area very quiet, but that quiet comes with a bit of isolation.

Parking is only possible with a valid permit – which can only be obtained by residents. That might mean difficulty parking for guests depending on the exact location of the home. The proximity of the University of Alberta has made parking a problem in the past, and so all parking is pretty much banned now. Conveniently, pay parking is available at the University 24 hours a day.

Transit

Windsor Park’s transit score is quite excellent since there are so few homes in the neighbourhood and there are 13 bus stops within its borders. This gives the community a transit score of 37 – meaning there are only 37 homes per bus stop. Access to University Station to take the LRT is quite quick as well, but besides that, there is a full transit station just blocks away as well. There is a benefit to being so close to the University in this case – you will not likely ever sit waiting long for a bus – the area is teaming with them. Getting around by public transport should be absolutely no problem for residents here.

 * Source: 2006 Census of Canada, Statistics Canada

by +Alan F Macdonald REALTOR® | Copyright © – gimme-shelter.com

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