Let's All Hate Toronto

[edger]

Sometimes a little friendly nod of the head is all that is needed....

[SaggyBalls]

i love canada. everywhere has its own flavour, however bland you think it is, however stale its boquet you try to sniff. there are distinctions that we all see and feel.

Toronto is the only world city that canada has. used to be montreal (it was the western world's paris at the turn of the century), and calgary and vancouver are going to be vying for the title in 40 years...calgary has a 100 year plan for the city, vancouver is growing and aiming for olympic gold.

if you want to bask in the glory of toronto just go to toronto island some sunny day. spend the day there with your best friend, play some disc golf or just chill on the beach. at the end of the day hop back on the ferry, say goodbye to the horizon lake to your right and brace yourself for the explosion of city that's about to bowl you over around the bend.

the colours are more colourful and the personalities stronger than in vancouver

the entertainment actually entedrtains people and it shows

people have great personal retreats and are open to building friendships.

Ottawa, Montreal, and Hamilton are all great cities as well, but the culture, sport, commerce, infrastructure, community, and opportunities that toronto have to offer are wholly amazing.

With the good comes the bad, and when people are packed into a confined space they go crazy.

Guelph and Kingston? great TOWNS. why are towns being compared to cities? silly debates lead to people going off topic.

Speaking of which, I'm wearing my number 9 jersey. what a great value village find. looks like a minnesota jersey with daigle's number...aah an infant sens star...

...What's wrong with towns? nothing. I miss Peterborough and Merrickville, although I am constantly reminded of my hometown here in vancouver. especially granville island. anybody that's been to vancouver and lives in ottawa should go there some sunday. south on 416, get off at kemptville and keep driving towards smiths falls. was almost the capital of canada for its fortification.

racism? there's as much or more racism in cities. Different creeds act differently. people are not all the same. i get as ignored by chinese people here as i did in toronto...but here it's not as much an issue of spooking them as it is an issue of them ignoring me.

in the city we see chinese, indian, white, black (not so much in vancouver unfortunately), native, latin, and a mix thereof. There are more business transactions that have higher dollar values associated - more high proced real estate and automotive, more high fashion, more hard drugs, more commerce. The clubs and associations have more to lose from uncomfortable dealings...

where the indian guy may try to haggle and nickel and dime one guy, the chinese guy might not be flexible enough...and good old whitey plays passive aggressive with his terms. and thus breeds resentment and duality.

there are race based gangs where races sequester themselves from the rest of society(for whatever reason)...ever wonder why the hells angels did so well in quebec and why police don't go into rexdale?

at the end of the day I'm totally glad to be here in vancouver but miss so much about toronto and Ottawa. any given night there's world class live music happening as a residency somewhere in the city, people are exhibiting challenging art or poetry, or your friends will have you in for a beer.

at the end of the weekend I wish I were in montreal to relax at the tam tam

at the end of the night I'm wondering where the party is.

I'm glad I have a job to go to tomorrow and cheap rent in the most beautiful city in canada...i won't freeze my ears off in the winter or get heat stroke in the summer. i can ignore people all i want and be wishy washy to not cause a scene and openly brush people off. I can walk to the beach and stanly park, get AMAZING sushi (sorry toronto and ottawa but you can't deny the issue of quality) and see people inject themselves with a hypodermic needle on the street while people walk by the free meals sign to ask me for money for a burger.

good and bad, everywhere has its vices. Toronto is amazing. Let's not lose sight of this to facilitate a pissing contest. if you gotta go then go but don't show everybody. I'm wearing flipflops and don't need your dirty piss on my toes.

[phishtaper]

Guelph - Great city, nice seedy underbelly to keep things interesting and edgy. Hard to see myself there post-university but if I was going to raise a family I would be more than happy to move back there

yes, please come back our CPQ (Cool People Quotient) has been falling of late. but be warned, it's probably not the same place now.

Guelph and Kingston? great TOWNS. ...What's wrong with towns? nothing.

i agree, but sadly, a lot of towns turn into cities ... or worse ... bedroom communities for nearby cities. Guelph is at a turning point right now. It's in real danger of losing its sense of town.

its so bad that most here don't seem to care that Nestles is sucking dry the aquifer south of town while the pro-development council makes plans to pipe in our water from Lake Erie to accommodate the thousands who have recently moved here from Mississauga.

btw, some really nice thoughts in your posts, Beats and One, and in everyone else's.

[Freak By Night]

Guelph and Kingston? great TOWNS. why are towns being compared to cities?

Merrickville, ..... lives in ottawa should go there some sunday. south on 416, get off at kemptville and keep driving towards smiths falls.

Technically speaking, in Ontario, if a place has a population of 15,000 or more, it's a city.

Merrickville is really nice, and well worth a Sunday afternoon drive from Ottawa, especially if you like the work of local artisans.

[SaggyBalls]

statistically you're right freak but unfortunately a city need be more than just a number.

[phishtaper]

statistically you're right freak but unfortunately a city need be more than just a number.

yes, it must have a stoplight and a video store / gas station. oh oh, and a martini bar.

[bradm]

statistically you're right freak but unfortunately a city need be more than just a number.

yes' date=' it must have a stoplight and a video store / gas station. oh oh, and a martini bar. [/quote']

I once heard the definition of "civilization" as, at a minimum, the presence of a Beer Store, a Liquor Store, and a Canadian Tire. Half points if the Beer Store and Liquor store are actually both present in the same establishment (ISTR this being the case in Washago, ON).

Aloha,

Brad

[Freak By Night]

statistically you're right freak but unfortunately a city need be more than just a number.

I know. It's just my "geek" side coming through.

[bokonon]

I once heard the definition of "civilization" as, at a minimum, the presence of a Beer Store, a Liquor Store, and a Canadian Tire. Half points if the Beer Store and Liquor store are actually both present in the same establishment (ISTR this being the case in Washago, ON).

Aloha,

Brad

Oh man, at the intersection of St. George Street and St. Paul ave in Brantford there used to be a liquor store, beer store, convenience store and grocery store.....it was the aisle of power. Getting ready to go camping took twenty minutes.

You could get your food, beer, tequila and cigarrettes in one trip. Ah, the good old days. See, the problem was, they were the only stores in Brantford that made any money, so they had to spread them out so the other parts of the city had a fighting chance. Which didn't work, when they took the liquor store out people just drank four times the amount of beer instead.