"Let's All Hate Toronto"

Greektown? Dammit, I'm a little bit jealous now.

 

Agreed, JR.
It's nothing even close to what it was. Although I must admit, when I first got out of school and half my friends moved to Toronto to work, I hit the 401 every second weekend - sometimes just for a Saturday night party and right back home.

It's much, much better now. As I said, tons to do - if you're a unilingual anglo, Montreal doesn't even compare in scope, although it does if you're open to both cultures.

I'm not one of those Montrealers who automatically hates Toronto just because. Been there enough to know how much great there is.

But to me, Toronto IS the GTA. Let's face it, that's where most people live

One thing it does have that I like is that wherever you do live, there's always some kind of a "neighbourhood", an area where there are bars and restaurants to go to, so you don't have to hit Toronto proper.

I don't like my cities too big - except NYC.

If I had to move there (and if I had to move, I'd move back to the U.S., not there, but I digress), I'd live in the Beaches. Love it there. And have lots of friends that do live there. Sunset Grill for breakfast.

Ultimately, my feel on Toronto is that it's very much an American-type city - except with the higher taxes, and without ESPN. They don't call it the Toronto Sports Network for nothing.

The way I see it, might as well have the real thing instead of the imitation.

 

You're right about the neigbourhoods. Hell, Mimico (just on the other side of The Humber) is 10 minutes from downtown but with the exception of trips to the St. Lawrence market we rarely head there. Why go to the Four Seasons for a drink when we've got the Goose?

Beaches? Now there's a neighbourhood I liked 20 years ago. Now it's packed with tourists from the burbs, traffic is horrendous and you'd be lucky to find a house less than a million bucks. I'd pick the Danforth, Bloor West Village or even Parkdale before the Beaches.
Torontonians come in two types: those who live west of Yonge and those who live east. I've always lived in the west. Better people out here.

I guess it's kinda like an American city--without the crime.

GTA notwithstanding, the absolute best part of Toronto is that people live and work downtown and surrounding neighbourhoods. There's nothing of the exodus you get from downtown in American cities.

As a matter of fact more and more people are becoming reverse commuters--they live downtown and work in the burbs. Rush hour is in both directions.

And ESPN owns about 30% of TSN so it's kinda like ESPN with more hockey.

 

The single biggest street festival in Toronto is "A Taste of the Danforth", home to most of Toronto's Greek population.

Started off a number of years ago--got maybe 20,000 their first weekend. Now they get well over a million.

http://www.toronto.com/tasteofthedanforth

Way too crowded for our tastes

 

TSN ain't NOTHING like ESPN. I've got ESPN at home; I haven't watched TSN in a dog's age, mostly because I'm not that interested in the Maple Leafs or the Raptors. Actually, not at all, and neither are most Canadians outside of Toronto - not that the network gives a crap.

With real-estate prices what they are, not many people livin' down except in small apartments, unless you're a CEO That daily exodus looks pretty massive to me. People even commute in from Hamilton, which boggles the mind.
There actually is a reason for Ajax/Pickering/Whitby, God help 'em.

Agreed on Bloor West Village, though. In the immortal words of some other posters, I'd hit that

 

Like it or not, the Leafs are Canada's team thanks to HNIC. It's been a juggernaut for over fifty years. Lots of Leafs fans from coast to coast, just not as many as Leafs haters.

I guess when I say "downtown" I'm talking about what used to be the old City of Toronto which would include all the neighbourhoods I mentioned.

Hamilton? That's nothing. How about Guelph, Kitchener-Waterloo for starters.

You can still find a halfway decent house in parts of Toronto for around $350,000--not a lot but you can find them.

And lots of people would rather live in a bungalow five minutes from downtown than have to commute from Burlington every day. Me being one of them.

 

I can't even imagine that kind of commuting.

HNIC chooses to show the Leafs, even though there certainly are a ton of Canadiens fans coast to coast. Again, Toronto as the centre of the universe.

The Canadiens have 22 Saturday night games this season, 17 at home.
We'll see how many HNIC show that aren't Leafs-Habs or Sens-Habs. I swear, last season, they had more Senators' game than Habs games, and I'd venture to say the Sens' fan base is a fraction.

It's to the point where Quebecers, even those who don't speak French, don't even bother tuning in to HNIC any more - although they did have a few more Habs games last season than in seasons past. We call it HNIT.

We just stick to the French broadcasts - and, to be honest, the commentators are far more listenable than those dodos on HNIC (Elliotte excluded, but he's not a play-by-play guy).

It's amazing how quickly you can fall out of a habit. We'll all watch the French broadcast - switch over for Coach's Corner - then right back.

 

Toronto is an awesome city. One of the most livable, cosmopolitan, and easily commutable cities in North America.

Tons of stuff to do, friendly people, sports focused, and hot women - nice. They also have fantastic nightclubs (Docks, Guvernment, This is London, Money, etc, etc.). The shopping & boutiques are off the hook as well.

It is a World Class city & saying it is doesn't make it "podunk" - it just states a fact.

One of my exes and many business contacts are from Toronto. I have been many times and look forward to going back soon. It is just a fun, great city.

If it weren't in Canada (Socialism central) and so darn cold most of the year I would buy a place there. Likely in Yorktown. Still may.

In fact, one of my friends who played in the NFL for Buffalo for a bit lived in Toronto & commuted to Buffalo - very smart.

Don't hate on Toronto. Montreal is also very nice. REALLY hot women & interesting culture, but they drive crazy & have pizza & ice cream shops every 100 ft in the French Qtr (Old Town).

John