Map: Need to cool off? Where to find a Toronto pool

Summer is drawing to a close, but the heat hasn’t let up yet.

And if you’re like this Global News writer, you’ve been dreaming about leaving work early and sneaking off for a dip in the pool.

But where to enjoy that long, cool, dive?

If you’re lucky enough to live near Islington Avenue, between Dundas West and Eglinton, you’re probably not far from a shiny, new backyard pool. There have been more pool permits granted by the City of Toronto in that area over the past 10 years than anywhere else in the city.

But if you’re looking for the most pool real estate per person, consider going to Bayview and York Mills, where there were more pool permits granted per capita than anywhere else in Toronto. In the M2L postal code area, there were 13.3 new pool permits per 1000 people granted in the past 10 years.

In fact, there’s a “pool ring” in the centre of the city, through Rosedale, Forest Hill, York Mills and Leaside where the most new pools are being constructed per capita. Etobicoke is also seeing high growth in swimming pools.

Interestingly, the areas with the most growth in private swimming pools seem to have very few public pools and splash pads. These public facilities are concentrated mostly in the old City of Toronto. Of course, it’s hard to add a swimming pool to your downtown townhouse or condo, so it makes sense that few people are asking for permits in those areas. There are also few pool permits being granted in the city’s lower-income areas, as pools are quite expensive to build and maintain.

The map below uses data from Open Data Toronto to show concentrations of pool permits being granted from 2003 to the present, as well as the locations of public pools. It doesn’t show the concentration of private pools across the city – just where new pools are being built.

Is this way too detailed an analysis of Toronto pools? Probably. But sometimes you just really need a swim.