Stand on Doug Ford (open Doug Ford's policard)'s front steps, scan his neighbourhood, and you'll see families who earn upwards of $200,000 annually, drive to work and own their homes.

John Tory's neighbours are wealthy, but mostly rent. Olivia Chow's are young, walk to work and make around $50,000.

The neighbourhoods mayoral candidates live in and who their neighbours are affects who votes for them, their policies and outlooks to varying degrees, say political experts.

“Right off the bat (the neighbourhood label) creates some political advantage and political baggage,” said Brian Kelcey, former campaign manager for David Soknacki and principal at State of the City Research.

Candidates can strengthen their tactical base in neighbourhoods they're familiar with but this also means they're playing into generalizations, he said.

“In a campaign, people try to speak in shorthand to get through the clutter,” said Kelcey. “One way of doing that is saying ... candidate X lives in such-and-such a neighbourhood. Automatically that carries some political meaning.”

To glean insight into the candidates' neighbourhoods, the Star drew a circle 250 metres in radius around their homes. The data came from Environics Analytics' 2014 demographic estimates.

Myer Siemiatycki, a politics professor at Ryerson University, said there's “no question” where candidates live influences into their policies.

“The politics of the Fords very much come out of the geodemographic space that they live in,” he said.

For instance, in Ford's neighbourhood nearly 90 per cent of residents drive to work.

His focus on building subways, if successful, would mean less above-ground transit tying up gridlock for cars.

Looking to Chow's neighbourhood near Spadina Ave. and College Ave., more than half of her neighbours are visible minorities. They earn just one quarter of what Ford and Tory's neighbours make annually.

It's not surprising her platform draws attention to social issues including unemployment, poverty and lack of affordable housing, said Siemiatycki.

Tory, on the other hand, straddles the divide between so-called suburban and downtown issues, experts said.

His neighbours are wealthy, but use public transit. Over 70 per cent rent their homes. Tory grew up in North Toronto.

“As the front-runner, at least if we believe the polls, Tory is able to pitch a more generic citywide image of himself that has hooks into all areas of the city,” said Zack Taylor, assistant professor in the city studies program at the University of Toronto Scarborough.

While Ford has taken to calling Tory a “downtown elite,” he himself is surrounded by wealthy, white, car-driving neighbours.

But political branding matters. The Fords sell themselves as champions of the oppressed lower middle class, said Taylor.

“Those images are crafted, they're calculated, they have to ring true with the real person, but they are a matter of strategy,” he said.

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The argument could also be circular — do people live in places that represent their values or do the places they live shape their values?

Taylor said there's far more to a candidate than where they live. Personal and professional experience matter more.

“Candidates have to live somewhere,” he said with a laugh.

A previous version of this story erroneously referenced Statistics Canada's 2014 national household survey as a data source. The correct source is Environics Analytics' 2014 demographic estimates.

With files from Joel Eastwood

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