Before you get started in finding the right apartment to rent, you need to ask yourself what the most important features of a neighborhood are to you?
Walking around the neighbourhood is a perfect way of evaluating the area of the apartment for rent. Toronto has some wonderful neighbourhoods with apartments for rent. Mississauga is a growing area within the GTA with fairly reasonable pricing, too. 
Here are some examples:
- Do you prefer quiet streets or more actives ones?
- Is there shopping within walking distance of your rental?
- Trees & Parks nearby?
http://moving.about.com/od/findingaplacetolive/a/choose_neighbor.htm
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A helpful video:
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