So, how do you feel about Toronto?

[Bluesence 2]

I never been to Toronto or even close to it, I gess I don't know very much about it... I only have in my head some of the most known sights of it, with all the skyscrappers and the CN tower (whic was once my favourite building in the world). I also know that Toronto is the most important and biggest city in Canada although its capital is Otawa. I also have some pics of a Castle in Otawa in my head because it appeared in Atlas I had when I was a kid, with snow... I also know Montreal is a big Canadian city in the Quebec region where people speak french: it's the 2nd biggest french speaking city (after Paris). I've also heard about Edmonton, Calgary (?) and Vancover... I love geography!

After all, sorry about my bad english...

[Compromise 1]

Well my parents went there and they liked althougth it can be very cold there. I often think of it as the face of Canada althougth this is not nessaserley true.

[Saint Andrew 6]

Okay, maybe I'm not totally impartial but I'm from Montreal and I like it here and find it is by far more beautiful than in Toronto. Also, I don't want to generalize but many (if not all) Torontonians I've known in real life are idiots

[SamJam 9]

I live in a suburb of Oshawa (east of T.O.) so I live close enough to know all about it but also far enough away to get a reasonable perspective of it.

First, the opinions...

The rest of the world doesn't know a darn thing about it, and why would they? If you haven't been to a particular place, especially in a foreign country, then you're not likely to know much about it or hear about it. People from the U.S. assume the world knows everything about them when the opposite is really the case--most people don't know (or care) much about the U.S. unless they've been there or plan to go there. But this is where the U.S. differs from the rest of the world: they don't care what people think. Sometimes Toronto is a perfect small-scale example of what most Canadians feel: they're obsessed with everyone else's opinion of them in a desperate attempt to be seen and heard. Bottom line, if people don't visit or study the city, it will always be limited to the CN Tower, the Maple Leafs, SkyDome (Rogers Centre), the 401, and snow (even though it gets a relatively small amount). Only a major international event would cause people to focus their attention to another place, which is usually bad news like crime, terrorism, natural disaster, or in Toronto's case--SARS. Once the SARS problem was eliminated, the attention on T.O. once again slipped into obscurity where it usually is.

In my opinion...

It's a vibrant place with lots to see and do (outside of the above-mentioned scraps). There's not nearly enough space here to discuss it, but check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto (which I believe has already been listed in the thread). Trouble is, there are as many things wrong with the city as there are right. Homelessness, trash (who said T.O. was clean?!?), an almost entirely wasted waterfront, and slooooow CBD traffic (which goes hand-in-hand with not having enough freeway coverage and overcrowding the Gardiner Expressway). That said, the TTC transit system is very efficient (but expensive), Wonderland and Ontario Place are a blast, and my girlfriend seems to think that the shopping is second to none >;-)

I think the buildings in the CBD are too cold-looking. Unfortunately T.O. doesn't have the control over presentation and design like, say, Vancouver has. I think downtown Vancouver has one of the most impressive-looking CBDs in the world because designers have to go through city council for criticism and approval first, covering everything from placement, height, shape, even flora. I think there's something to be learned there.

Prior post corrections...

1) Mississauga and some other cities around T.O. are not suburbs. They are called exurbs meaning there is a distinctly high level of work-related commuting to and from Toronto but they're also "self existing" cities with large CBDs and suburbs of their own. In other words, Mississauga has a downtown and business areas of its own (with over 30 major employers) and people commute there from places like Streetsville, Malton (where I lived for 2 years), Meadowvale, Port Credit, Erin Mills, etc etc. It is a seperate and distinctly centred city in the GTA along with Oshawa, Hamilton, and Newmarket. Suburbs tend to be "bedroom communites" where the zoning is mainly residential, like Pickering/Ajax, Markham, Brampton, Burlington (which serves Hamilton as much as it does T.O.), Vaughan, and Oakville. Just because the area is known as the Greater Toronto Area does not mean they're actually a part of Toronto.

2) The temperature has never reached 42 degrees. The person that wrote it must have had it confused with the Humidex, meaning the humidity in the air made the temp feel like 42. The average summer temp in T.O. ranges from 25 to 35 but those are extremes. In July/August it's about 30. In December/January it's about -10.

3) North America includes Mexico. It also includes all Caribbean countries and islands. Mexico City is the largest city in North America and 2nd-largest in the world. The person who excluded Mexico City was probably thinking of Latin America, which is just a term of reference.

4) People that live in Toronto are known as Torontonians.

This is all just my opinion, of course. The most critical people are generally the ones who care the most.

[hamsterTK 93]

only been there once when i was sort of little, so i can remember only the highlights of the trip like the CN tower, etc. What i do remember though was cool, and i think it is a nice. Usually whenever i think of canada i think of that city.

I do remember riding the subway, and my parents kept saying how nice and clean it was. I guess thought that this was before our family had been to other big cities with modern trains, and our perception was that subways were trashy crap holes like the NYC subway back in the 80's.

Everyone says how toronto is clean and sterile. You learn to realize thats a real good thing, especially when you go to mexico, which is the total opposite.

[maosim 0]

I was really impressed with Toronto when I was there.

Lots of different cultures and while being a large financial city it felt like an old cozy town here and there. Spadina Avenue with the colorful houses and cute stores, the china town with veggie-stalls on the streets and a lot of cool people

At first I was suspecting the city to be either too arty-farty or downright ghetto, but it was a nice blend of everything (even the ghettos are rather flashy).

What sticks with me the most isnt the city or it's people, but the roads.

Mega long roads and perfect quadrants of housings.

Just like in Sim City.

(guess its like this all over us/canada)

With this being my first trip to north america it was really impressive that you could drive for 20 minutes without bothering to touch the steering wheel

[walker04 1]

I live about 2 hours outside of Toronto and ive been there numerous times. It is very clean compared to the American cities ive been to. The view on top of the CN tower is spectacular, but more and more incidents like shootings are happenning in the past year.

Oh ya and dont ever walk up the stairs to get to the top of the CN tower, im an idiot for doing so!

[1ajs 49]

does not like toronto....... i have been to toroto so meh

[Heloowe 0]

went there when i was 8, i found it pretty interesting but the best part was the glass floor on the cn tower

[RandomInsanity 0]

Ottawa's better (coming from someone who used to live near toronto)

[DeMoNiAc17 0]

I prefer Montreal too.

[Micah 16]

I have nothing against Toronto. But I just don't consider it as a 'world city' like Paris, Tokyo, Shangai, Berlin, New York, London...

I've never been Toronto; however, my dad has gone there and he says that it is just incredible and that I should go there someday... I may next summer.

[zane900 1]

Toronto is a modern town. Modern towns are nice, but sometimes aren't the best things in the world. However, I think that Toronto is turning into a really niced placae to live, and I was even thinking about living there I must say.

(I like New York City the most)

[Haljackey 17,354]

Toronto is the world's most multicultural city. Miami has a larger minority percent, but a lot of that is of Hispanic decent. Toronto is more diverse in its culture, its like the whole world lives there!

[MarcosMX 222]

haljackey: I thinl NY is the most diverse. There you can easily find a Persian or a Argenitine restaurant.

[spa 970]

I'm a Canadian (home is Halifax but I'm living in Calgary right now) and I think Toronto is a great city. It has a lot of neat neighbourhoods and a lively downtown (Calgary's is a wasteland in comparison). It is really diverse and yet it seems to work fairly well. The worst excess of urban planning seems to have missed the city too. Most the old neighbourhoods are intact and the street cars have remained. The city is facing some real challenges these days though. Gun violence is getting way out of hand, sprawl is moving ahead unchecked, the homeless population keeps growing, the public transit system is in desperate need of funding and expansion, smog has never been worse (it's amplified by the lake and the spate of warmer than usual summers), Ontario is running out of electricity, there is a looming garbage crisis since Michigan won't accept being the city's dumping ground anymore and projects that would better the city, with the exception of the Opera House and the ROM renovation remain stalled. The city has some real problems and hopefully will be able to overcome them and return to its status as not just a great Canadian city, but a great world city. There is a lot to do though.

[Pipes 0]

Toronto is such a huge place you could live there for a few short years and still not discover over half of what it is. I moved to Markham fresh out of highschol at age 18, soon after i started my first real job in Richmond Hill. I worked there for 5 years. I have lived and worked in many areas of toronto. I only left 3 years ago to start my family in Gaspe, Quebec. You can hear a hundred people say anything they want about toronto, but the fact of the matter is this; Toronto is a great city for the working class. it however is not an ideal location to raise a family. I don't think any big city would be. there is alot of downsides to a city being so large and crime is a large downside. I love Toronto, I just don't feel it is best for my offspring to attend public school there.

Rent costs can e high, but if you do alot of digging you can find some less expensive places to live, my last apartment cost $325 a month, and I had my own private balcony. Just don't expect to find great rent deals overnight, it takes some searching.

[zzsim 3]

I don't know much about Toronto, except that it has some very large highways . Is Toronto in the French speaking part of Canada, or is that just Quebec that I am thinking of?

Edit:  By the way, I know this is probaly a stupid question, but is Simtropolis based in Canada?  I always seem to see the Canadian flag around here. 

[spa 970]

The French part of Canada is Quebec, 1/2 of New Brunswick and a few isolated pockets in the other Maritime provinces. Toronto is in Ontario and is English. Yes, Simtropolis is based out of Canada.

[zzsim 3]

^ Thanks for the response. So Simtropolis is based out of Canada, thats interesting, I guess you learn something new everyday.

[Pixelrage 34]

I loved Toronto. The first thing I thought was "this is just like NYC...except it's clean and the people are nice"

[endozoa 0]

To me, Toronto is great, but that's probably because I compare it to Detroit, Cleaveland, and Buffalo. Compared to those nearby cities, Toronto is awesome.

Sometimes though, it feels like Toronto aspires to by like NYC but ends up like Los Angeles.

[Micah 16]

I loved Toronto. The first thing I thought was "this is just like NYC...except it's clean and the people are nice"quote>

Toronto is just like NYC. Including the terror attacks which could have happened.

[Haljackey 17,354]

Im still shocked at what they found about those alleged terrorists. Im glad our mounties could get em before anything happened, but I never knew peaceful, friendly Canada was a target. They, with SARS, have given Toronto a bad name when it is actually full of life.

Did you know that there has never been a forign attack or war in Canada? There were some Japanese submarines that came close to Canada during WWII and there was fighting before Canada became a country, but nothing since its founding in 1867.

[your_adress_here 11]

Originally posted by: 6459978.

Winters are cold and, if we're lucky, snowy, hovering around 0 C.

 

quote>

0 C is not cold... Quebec City is cold.

But Toronto is nevertheless the most amazing city I've been to.

[Alakazam 3]

Well, I've been to Toronto...

It's a rather beautiful City... But I find it somewhat cold and bland... Doesn't have that charm and hospitality of Montreal I think.

Toronto is a great city, but far from being the most beautiful city in Canada. Sure it doesn't sucks but I didn't feel that very "something"... It's more an economic center than anything else, really. People there doesn't seem to have the notion of hospitality.. I've been to Montreal, and this city is really special. The packed streets with commerces and restaurants are really something. People are friendly and inviting.

Maybe I'm just unlucky and didn't go where I shoud've in Toronto, but it's just my personnal opinion.

I know I'll get flamed or something.

[Wolf_pt 7]

One Amazing photo of Toronto

[your_adress_here 11]

Wow... awesome picture.

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: spa 

Yes, Simtropolis is based out of Canada.quote>

 

Yes, it is.   Very near Toronto, as a matter of fact.  So, if Toronto disappeared (as someone here has rudely suggested), I believe we would all notice.

We certainly noticed when Toronto was affected by the blackout of 2003.

[spa 970]

Originally posted by: haljackey Did you know that there has never been a forign attack or war in Canada? There were some Japanese submarines that came close to Canada during WWII and there was fighting before Canada became a country, but nothing since its founding in 1867.quote>

 

Canadian territory has been attacked since 1867 although only at sea. German submarines in WWII roamed the coastal waters of the Atlantic and inflicted losses right in the Gulf of St.Lawrence. Ships were sank and they were easy pickings for the German U-boats because of poor defences and because it's a narrow body of water. Probably the worst loss was the ferry Caribou which ran between Sydney, Nova Scotia and Port Aux Basuqes, Newfoundland. 137 people died when it was torpedoed.