Toronto: Love it or hate it?

[Humphrey Bogart]

I'm lukewarm about Toronto.  Sure I like visiting occasionally for sports events but I don't find the city all that great or the people all that nice.

I find Toronto is actually fairly devoid of culture.  Why?  Because all the different cultures in Toronto just blend together like they do in the United States. 

TBH I find all of Southern Ontario has a very New York State feel to it and don't really see much different between Americans from the Democrat States and Torontonians.

I much prefer rural areas to densely populated cities though.  Probably because I grew up in the bayou of Canada.

 

[Remius]

I lived in TO for a year.

Nice place to visit.  Great restaurants (I loved a place called Little Tibet).  Plenty to do.  I liked the markets too. 

But not green enough for me.  Not enough parks.  People move too fast and not very friendly.

The thing is if I'm going to drive the distance to TO I might as well go a little further to Niagara on the Lake or go the other way to Quebec City.

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

I lived in TO for a year.

Nice place to visit.  Great restaurants (I loved a place called Little Tibet).  Plenty to do.  I liked the markets too. 

But not green enough for me.  Not enough parks.  People move too fast and not very friendly.

The thing is if I'm going to drive the distance to TO I might as well go a little further to Niagara on the Lake or go the other way to Quebec City.

The green space piece is big for me as well.  I love living in a place that has amenities but is a hop away from green space or the outdoors.

 

[Journeyman]

So, we've decided to tear the scab off of this wound again?  :facepalm:

Posted there for three years;  I'd vote for "hate it." 
At the risk of being too subtle, Toronto would benefit from about 500,000 cubic metres of Preparation H.

 

[mariomike]

I love living in a place that has amenities but is a hop away from green space or the outdoors.

Me too. I live in a very hilly neighbourhood with lots of mature trees and ravines. It is surrounded by two ponds ( Grenadier and Rennie ), a 10-hectare park ( Rennie ), and High Park ( 400 acres ) on the east.

Rennie and High Park have tennis courts, artificial ice rinks, and wading pools. There are full-day recreational activities including fishing, theatre performances, train rides, an animal zoo, historical exhibits, a restaurant and lots of fitness opportunities.

The Humber river is on the west. Lake Ontario on the south. My house is about 30 to 40 feet higher than the lake. There are steep hillsides and ravines along the river and ponds.

It's an easy walk up the street to Bloor West Village ( "The final frontier before Etobicoke" ) on the north.
There is a subway station, and "more than 400 shops, restaurants and services".

From there, you can ride the subway downtown. Or more often now, I take it two or three stops ( depends where I get on ) and hop the Union-Pearson Express train for downtown.

For those unfamiliar with the U-P Express, it runs every 15 minutes 7-days a week.
It's an 8-minute ride to Union Station downtown. Or, a 17-minute ride to Pearson Airport.

My neighborhood feels like a village. Because it was an independent village ( a separate municipality ) until I was 12 years old. That is when it was annexed by The City of Toronto. The town hall is now a community centre and library. There is a gym and indoor swimming pool.

If you ever find yourself in the neighbourhood, and feel like talking a walk, you may find this map helpful,
https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/8f16-Discovery-Walk-Western-Ravines-Beaches.pdf

 

[FJAG]

Lived in Toronto (mostly Scarborough) from '58 to '69 when I joined the army to see the world (aka Shilo, Petawawa and Gagetown). Now live about two hours west of the city and have found absolutely no reason to go back for a visit. Restaurants? You can find those anywhere and don't have to put up with a half hour of traffic or transit. Maybe the ROM; it would be nice to see it again.

:cheers:

 

[mariomike]

Lived in Toronto (mostly Scarborough) from '58 to '69 when I joined the army to see the world (aka Shilo, Petawawa and Gagetown).
:cheers:

As I said, Reply #176, you go where your chosen career takes you.

Where I live, I walk to everything in the Bloor West Village.

When I want the big mall experience, I drive to Sherway Gardens.

I appreciate the speed and nearby convenience of the Union - Pearson Express ( UPX ) train.

 

[FJAG]

As I said, Reply #176, you go where your chosen career takes you.

Where I live, I walk to everything in the Bloor West Village.

When I want the big mall experience, I drive to Sherway Gardens.

I appreciate the speed and nearby convenience of the Union - Pearson Express ( UPX ) train.

Quite right.

I spent three years living in Ottawa right next to NDHQ so that everything was within easy walking distance. I thoroughly enjoyed that.

Scarborough on the other hand is a suburb where very little is a walk away. You need to do pretty much everything (from shopping to eating out to going to the theatre) by car or public transit. There are many neighbourhoods in Toronto (like Bloor West Village - let's face it any big city is just a conglomeration of small villages sitting cheek to jowl) that are true neighbourhoods in every sense of the word and (but for the cost of real estate) very enjoyable to live in.

That said; I'm not moving back.

:cheers:

 

[mariomike]

There are many neighbourhoods in Toronto (like Bloor West Village - let's face it any big city is just a conglomeration of small villages sitting cheek to jowl) that are true neighbourhoods in every sense of the word and (but for the cost of real estate) very enjoyable to live in.

That said; I'm not moving back.

:cheers:

There are 140 neighbourhoods officially recognized by the City of Toronto, and upwards of 240 official and unofficial neighbourhoods within the city's boundaries.

They say good fences make good neighbours. Natural boundaries are even better.

Ours is the only Toronto neighbourhood to have a lake, a river, and a pond as it's boundaries.

It is also the only Toronto neighbourhood that has its own Town Hall.

Until recent years, as part of the annexation agreement, we were one of only two neighbourhoods ( Forest Hill was the other ) to have our garbage picked up from the doorstep rather than the curb.

About 15,000 people live here. It has the second smallest library in Toronto. But, is part of the city's inter-loan system.

It has the largest outdoor not for profit hockey league in North America.

There was a Legion, but it closed down a few years ago.

I like its hilly terrain, winding roads, and many mature trees.

 

[BeyondTheNow]

I’m not a fan. I like nature, quiet, calm, forests and fields, and as few people as possible. Toronto is draining in every way for me. Being near the area, however, I have to put up with it when I go to the Denison, or when sometimes taking my son to Wonderland, downtown to the aquarium, heading to the Science Centre or if I’m with friends doing the tourist thing. It’s kind of a must, I guess. I take in a show (very) occasionally. I’m simply not a big-city gal.

That being said, there’s one area I really liked, having seen it for the first time earlier this year. I don’t know the name of the neighbourhood, but the area of Mt Pleasant Rd and Manor Rd E is lovely. I don’t want to venture a guess at the cost of living there, but it was charming. I went because there was a hobby store along the shopping strip, which has a nice, small-town, welcoming feel. I parked just off a main road and the homes were older but well-kept along hilly, winding roads. There were many large, full trees, well-manicured gardens and people just out and about enjoying their day. That’s about the best experience I’ve had in the city.

 

[tomahawk6]

Years ago while on vacation it was suggested I go to the Monkey Bar.I did and it stuck in my memory to this day.That and the Hockey Hall of Fame was a fun trip.Plus our tour of Ft York and being jeered at by school children.Maybe it enhanced their national pride. ;D

 

[mariomike]

I like nature, quiet, calm, forests and fields, and as few people as possible.

So do I.

From our house, we walk down to Catfish Pond ( aka West Pond ) and its spring fed marsh. From there, we walk down to the western beach boardwalk and follow the Lake Ontario Waterfront Trail System. There are pedestrian crossovers to the beach. Sometimes a nice surf, sometimes the breakers are pounding. There's a beautiful Roman-style "Sunnyside Bathing Pavilion".

We walk west across the Humber Bay Pedestrian Bridge into Humber Bay Park.

But, far more often, we walk east into High Park. That's 400 acres. Over one-third remains in its natural state. There is a nice restaurant. Stop at Grenadier Pond. You can skate on it in the winter. You can fish for pike and bass during the summer.

From there, we walk home via the Rennie Park Ravine.

After that, we can walk up to Bloor West Village. With more than 400 shops, restaurants and services.

I have a car, but you don't need one in the village. You can walk to nature, shopping, or the subway / UPX.

That's the firehouse around the corner ( The Legion closed after 85 years of operation. But, the original building remains across the street from it.), and people walking in our neighborhood.

It's a nice neighbourhood for nature enthusists and people who enjoy walking around rivers, lakes, beaches, ponds and marshes.

 

[tomahawk6]

Now Toronto isn't Vancouver at least.When I was there it was anti-American,this was in the 70's.

 

[dimsum]

Now Toronto isn't Vancouver at least.When I was there it was anti-American,this was in the 70's.

Vancouver in the 70s is a very different place than Vancouver now.  The online hatred is for the Chinese/Indians/whoever has the cash to buy a house in the GVA.

 

[Xylric]

I live in Oakville, just about 2 miles away from the GO station, so it's easy enough for me to get to Toronto on a whim. The things that I love most about Toronto are rather similar to the things I love about my home town, but there are a number of differences.

What I love about Oakville - built on a series of ravines (some natural, some not as mucH) associated with the 16 mile creek, we have a ton of green space. The measure I like to use to evaluate access to nature in an urban environment is trees per person per square kilometer. Given that Oakville has reported a total of over two million trees, that puts us roughly at 0.072 trees pp/sq (Or about 10.5 trees per person). Toronto, on the other hand, is at ~0.0058 trees pp/sq (or about 3.6 trees per person). Considering how much larger Toronto is in terms of both population (11 times the size of Oakville), and land area (about 4.5 times the land mass), it's pretty easy to determine that Oakville is a literal urban forest in comparison to Toronto.

I do seriously believe that Toronto could radically cut its violent crime rate by means of the mass planting of trees and doubling the available green space over the next ten years.

 

[mariomike]

The measure I like to use to evaluate access to nature in an urban environment is trees per person per square kilometer.

I live in the ( former ) Village of Swansea. There are lots of trees and water in our neighbourhood,
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=swansea+toronto+trees&chips=q:swansea+toronto+trees,online_chipsark+swansea&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjH9uKZ5dvcAhUED60KHRr_C94Q4lYILSgF&biw=1280&bih=603&dpr=1.5

We also have many Sakura trees in our neighbourhood,
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=swansea+toronto+trees&chips=q:swansea+toronto+trees,online_chips:cherry+blossoms,online_chips:sakura&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjQi_S6jtzcAhXC61MKHbbjB-8Q4lYIKSgA&biw=1280&bih=603&dpr=1.5

 

[Xylric]

I live in the ( former ) Village of Swansea. There are lots of trees and water in our neighbourhood,
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=swansea+toronto+trees&chips=q:swansea+toronto+trees,online_chipsark+swansea&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjH9uKZ5dvcAhUED60KHRr_C94Q4lYILSgF&biw=1280&bih=603&dpr=1.5

We also have many Sakura trees in our neighbourhood,
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=swansea+toronto+trees&chips=q:swansea+toronto+trees,online_chips:cherry+blossoms,online_chips:sakura&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjQi_S6jtzcAhXC61MKHbbjB-8Q4lYIKSgA&biw=1280&bih=603&dpr=1.5

Yeah, I love that area - my brother and his family live not that far outside of it.

I'll fully admit that my standards are a little off - the region my mother grew up in had a score of ~23000 trees pp/sq. Namely because their nearest neighbor was 12 miles away through uninhabited wilderness. 50 years on, it's still absurdly high. Mom grew up on a 1200 acre farm started by three brothers (one of whom was her great-grandfather) so far back in the wilderness from Sault Ste. Marie that the family itself had to build the road. Utterly beautiful wilderness.

 

[Remius]

The Economist has just listed Toronto in the top ten most livable cities.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canada-economist-liveability-1.4784524

 

[Fishbone Jones]

The Economist has just listed Toronto in the top ten most livable cities.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canada-economist-liveability-1.4784524

Liveable must mean the outskirts. 

 

[Xylric]

The only thing keeping me from having a general positive attitude towards Toronto stems from my lengthy service volunteering with people with disabilities. Take a walk down Queen Street, and count the number of shops with ramps, as opposed to steps, and you get the general idea. My sister-in-law can't take her daughter on the subway very easily, because their nearest stop isn't elevator equipped, and it's far too dangerous for her to try to get the stroller down the steps herself (given that it weighs more than she does).

"Whatever you do for the least of these" isn't being done, that's for certain.