I would not consider that acceptable. I guess the assumption is that you would commute into Toronto for work. But that is not what I was talking about. I meant that there were places close by that one could have a life. For example, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Hamilton. All these places have way more affordable housing and job opportunities.

London is approximately 2 hours driving from Toronto. Kitchener-Waterloo is similar. Only Hamilton is close to the 1 hour mark, and housing prices have been rising there as well.

Well I did say 1-2h in the GP.

It's not, but it's better than moving a couple thousand kilometers away from your friends and family, denying your kids to their grandparents if you're married etc.

Guess it depends how much you like your family.

Less glibly, you commute every day, even those that live close-ish to their parents will typically see them less than once a week. Obviously this is range dependent, but there are plenty of moves that would result in increased quality of life without complete elimination (or even reduction) of family time.

Personally I'd argue that giving children more time with their parents is more important than "denying" the grandparents access, but I also don't have kids, so what do I know?