The Best Place to Raise Kids is…

According to MoneySense Magazine’s very detailed ranking system, Oakville has nabbed first place honours for the second year in a row as being the best place in Ontario to raise our children!  Almost 20% of our town’s residents are younger than 15 and over 55% of Oakville households have children living in them.

Oakville is one of the healthiest and safest communities in Canada and is known for its tremendous schools and welcoming neighbourhoods. The current Town Council is focused on building community facilities that ensure Oakville will continue to be an active and engaging place to grow up in.

There are over 200 parks to discover in Oakville, the newest being the Squire Parkette located on the northeast corner of Dundas Street East and Oak Park Boulevard. It offers a children’s playground, a shade structure, pathways, seating areas and newly planted trees. The splash pads that many of our neighbourhood parks offer in addition to swings, slides, etc. are very popular during the summertime!

Downtown Oakville is fun for kids too!  On Friday. July 14^th the annual Midnight Madness celebration took place. The core of the downtown area was transformed into a pedestrian thoroughfare with over six blocks of family-friendly entertainment including live music and food stations.  On Saturday, August 19^th will be the debut of a new event, TD Songs of Summer, and it will feature entertainment from a variety of music genres plus performing and visual art experiences.

Did you know that downtown Oakville has over 25 dining patios operating this summer, the majority being ‘kid friendly’?  Restaurants that don’t normally offer patios have recently constructed one in front of their restaurant or café, including Noble Bistro, Burger Works, Borgo Antico, Starbucks, Colossus and Beccofino.

The town square is hosting outdoor movie screenings every Thursday evening until the end of August, starting at dusk.  Upcoming features for kids include The Jungle Book (July 27) and the Secret Life of Pets (August 24^th). Bring a lawn chair or a blanket and enjoy an evening at the movies while sitting under the stars!

MoneySense Magazine’s poll also ranked Oakville as the 4^th best place to live overall in Ontario with our neighbours, Burlington and Halton Hills securing 2^nd and 7^th spots respectively! These 3 towns share a number of similarities including fabulous year around weather! It is worth noting that the rankings reviewed over 400 towns and cities across Canada!