Choosing between the north end and the older streets
A four-bedroom two-storey above Rossland Road generally gives you a double garage, an open kitchen and a primary bedroom with its own bath, but the lots are narrow and the run down to the 401 passes through the Harwood or Westney corridors at rush hour. The eighties houses in Central East and the seventies four-bedrooms scattered through Central sit on wider ground, closer to the GO station and Durham Centre, and they reward buyers willing to update kitchens and windows. Pickering Village's older houses give you character and a walkable main street in exchange for lower ceilings in the bedrooms and heritage considerations on the exterior. In every case, confirm that the fourth bedroom counted by the listing is above grade if that matters to you, since a finished basement room is sometimes included in the total, and ask about school catchments, which the Durham boards set by address.