McLaughlin

McLaughlin is the west-central community north of King Street West. The City draws it from King north to Rossland Road West and from the Whitby town line west of Thornton Road east to Oshawa Creek, which separates it from O'Neill; Stevenson Road North, Thornton Road North, Park Road North and Adelaide Avenue West run through it. Parkwood Estate, the hospital and the golf club sit just beyond the creek on the O'Neill side, and long-time residents draw the eastern edge at the golf course and hospital rather than the creek, so read the lines as roughly placed.

Almost all of McLaughlin is detached, built in waves that read from east to west. The oldest streets sit near Park Road North and Adelaide Avenue West, with 1920s to 1940s houses on Gibbons, Elmgrove and their neighbours near the creek. The big build came in the 1950s and 1960s between Park Road and Stevenson Road North: brick bungalows and steep-roofed one-and-a-halfs on 50 foot lots, then split-levels of both kinds on Annapolis, Woodcrest, Somerset and the crescents off Adelaide, most with a single or attached garage and a mature maple out front. West of Stevenson and Thornton the houses are newer, two-storeys and semi back-splits dating from the late seventies and the eighties along Ridgeway, Roundelay and Lanark toward the Whitby line, on slightly smaller lots. There are a few apartment buildings on Stevenson and near King, some townhouse rows near Rossland, and steady infill of larger two-storeys replacing bungalows. Interiors are the variable: some houses are original, many have had kitchens, baths and windows redone by owners who never planned to leave.

McLaughlin gets around by car and bus, with an easy GO run. Oshawa GO, down Thornton at Bloor, is about five minutes south, the 401 is a short run down Stevenson Road, and the 407 is roughly ten minutes north on Thornton or Stevenson, with Highway 412 through Whitby as the alternative. The 409 bus works Rossland Road and Stevenson Road down to the Oshawa Centre Terminal, the 916 PULSE runs Rossland Road West across to Pickering, and the 900 PULSE and 902 King Street bus run along the southern edge between Whitby, downtown Oshawa and Courtice. The Thornton's Corners stop Metrolinx has proposed would land south of King on Thornton Road, close to the community's south-west corner. For cycling, the Oshawa Creek bike path traces the eastern boundary from the Botanical Gardens south to Lakeview Park, and Rossland and Thornton carry painted lanes on some stretches.

Schools are all within the community. The public board, DDSB, runs Adelaide McLaughlin Public School and R.S. McLaughlin Collegiate side by side on Stevenson Road North, plus Woodcrest Public School on Woodcrest Avenue and Stephen G. Saywell on Roundelay Drive for the western streets. The Catholic board's St. Christopher on Annapolis Avenue feeds Monsignor Paul Dwyer, the DCDSB secondary at the top of Stevenson Road near Rossland. Viamonde's French public elementary, Antonine-Maillet, is on Ridgeway Avenue, and the French Catholic Corpus-Christi is south in Vanier. Immersion and specialty programs are offered at board-designated sites rather than every school. Catchments belong to the boards and move over the years, so look up the exact address. Trent Durham on Thornton Road South is a short drive, and the Durham College and Ontario Tech grounds at the top of Simcoe are fifteen minutes up Stevenson or Simcoe.

The Oshawa Valley Botanical Gardens on Arena Street, at the community's eastern edge, are the stand-out: the peony collection in June, the creek trail and open lawns, with Parkwood Estate across the creek. McLaughlin Park, Brookside Park and Somerset Park serve the streets, school fields add more, and Union Cemetery along King Street West, where the McLaughlin family plot reportedly lies, is quiet ground to walk. Shopping means the Oshawa Centre across King at Stevenson, the plazas along King West and up Stevenson Road North, and the Rossland Road West stores toward Thornton. Lakeridge Health Oshawa is minutes east on Adelaide, and its staff are a noticeable share of buyers. Downtown's arena, theatre and restaurants are a ten-minute drive or a bus on King. The community is residential enough that most errands involve a car, but nothing is far, and the golf club's fairways lie a short walk over the creek.

McLaughlin suits families and professionals who want an established street, a big lot, good schools in walking distance and a five-minute run to Oshawa GO, and who prefer a 1960s house they can update to a new subdivision. Hospital and university staff, move-up buyers from the south end and retirees staying in the house where they raised a family all fit. It has less to offer those who need new construction, a condo or townhouse, or a walkable strip of shops and cafés; nearly every trip is by car or bus, and the western streets near Thornton get more traffic from commuters cutting through. Buyers seeking rental income will find fewer suites than downtown.