Living in a New Urbanist neighbourhood: Cornell and Berczy

“New Urbanism” is a design philosophy you can actually walk around in, and Markham has two of Canada’s best-known examples: Cornell in the east end and Berczy Village in the north ¹². If you have driven through a neighbourhood where the garages seem to have disappeared, the blocks are short and tree-lined, and the front porches face the street, you have already felt what it is about. This guide explains what that design is, what it feels like day to day, and the kind of buyer it tends to suit.

Cornell: Canada’s New Urbanism showcase

Cornell, in east Markham, is a master-planned New Urbanist community designed by the firm Duany Plater-Zyberk after a 1992 international design competition ¹. Its hallmarks are deliberate: rear-laneway garages that keep cars and driveways off the streetscape, a connected grid of short tree-lined blocks rather than winding cul-de-sacs, and walkable “five-minute neighbourhoods” where daily needs are meant to be a short stroll away ¹. It is regarded as one of the first and most well-known New Urbanism communities in Canada ¹.

Berczy Village: a family-oriented planned community

Berczy Village, in the north Unionville area, is a New Urbanist, family-oriented planned community ². It shares the same design DNA — a planned, connected, community-centred layout — with a residential character that tends to appeal to families looking for a consistent, walkable neighbourhood feel.

What the design feels like day to day

The everyday effects of New Urbanist planning are subtle but real. With garages tucked onto rear laneways, the street you see from your front window is porches, trees and sidewalks rather than driveways and garage doors ¹. The short, connected grid makes walking feel natural and gives you more than one way to get anywhere. The trade-off is that these are intentional, uniform streetscapes — part of the appeal for people who like consistency, and worth experiencing in person if you prefer more variety from house to house.

Who it suits

• Buyers who want to walk — to school, to a park, to a coffee — as part of an ordinary day, and who like a connected street grid ¹.
• Families drawn to community-centred, master-planned neighbourhoods with a consistent look and feel ¹².
• Anyone who prefers a streetscape of porches and trees over driveways and garage doors — walk a few blocks at different times of day to see how it feels ¹.

New Urbanist communities are easy to admire from a car and even easier to understand on foot. If a planned, walkable neighbourhood is on your list, Suba can help you spend time in Cornell and Berczy and weigh them against Markham’s heritage cores and newer downtown — so the choice fits your daily routine, not just a floor plan.

How we write these guides: every fact is checked against the published sources listed below. We keep this qualitative on purpose — we don’t publish neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood price or value claims, which depend on verified market data and your own situation.