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TechnoratiHow typical is it to go north for a winter vacation unless you are a skier or snowmobiler? Not very typical. Nevertheless, my husband and I "did" Toronto for the holidays and were quite surprised by the quality of life in this metropolitan area of 4.4 million people.
As we walked the neighborhoods and streets, tried out ethnic restaurants and talked to local residents at an evening pot luck, we discovered a whole new world free of distractions from the usual sightseeing repertoire and instead learned something about life in this popular Canadian city that is very appealing.
The most significant impression I had of Toronto is that its people are so civilized.
Imagine that people in the fifth most populated city in North America actually praise themselves for their tolerance of ethnic and racial differences, which are evident everywhere you go.
Imagine a place where over 100 languages are spoken and neighborhood utility poles don signs advertising language classes in the expected Spanish and the unexpected Persian, Urdu and Turkish. Street posters also declare that "literacy is a right."
Tolerance for differences is exhibited in other ways. In the St. Lawrence Market you see Asian women making French crepes. Stores and shops are largely staffed by young immigrants. The bank ATMs include directions in Chinese characters. We ate a lovely Thai meal to the tunes of the Supremes' hit "Baby Love" and the "Dirty Dancing'" theme song, "Time of My Life."
While it's not unusual to hear other languages spoken in a major urban area, it is a delight as well as a shock to walk clean and litter-free streets.
Imagine seeing a man on a subway escalator accidentally drop a small wad of paper from his pocket and then pick it up.
Incidentally, trash baskets are separated into litter, recycled newspapers, and recycled bottles and cans. And when the trash overflows, you see empty coffee cups neatly placed on the top of the container.
Recycling bins are everywhere, even next to people's front porches should their home not have a backyard.
Environmental and public health concerns abound in Toronto. Imagine a small fish market with a sign that not only recognizes an endangered species (i.e., Chilean sea bass) but warns customers that it will not sell that fish.
Imagine holiday TV commercials with information about the World Wildlife Fund, improving your water IQ, joining Alcoholics Anonymous, or considering police your best friends on New Year's Eve night.
Smoking is not allowed in public buildings or even in restaurants and bars. So those who do smoke are doing it as they walk or as they stand outside a building. I saw one woman in the celebrated Annex Neighborhood where we stayed sitting on her front porch at 10 p.m. without fear of thieves, murderers or terrorists! Instead, she watched other people walking down the street at night as she took her cigarette.
Actually, she wasn't the only one out at night as it appears to be a Toronto custom to sit on the patio during the winter (at home and at some pubs and grills) sipping drinks and talking to friends. Even the residents of a neighborhood senior citizens complex did it. (And that building was smack in the middle of the neighborhood, not separated from the rest of the city.)
Imagine that 40 percent of the downtown population walks to work or that a clean, safe, and efficient streetcar, bus, and subway system moves 1.4 million passengers each work day. (Curious that there were not many obese people walking the streets either!)
Imagine a night-time window shopping excursion where people crowd the well-lit holiday-clad streets inspecting beautiful outdoor displays of fruits and vegetables, CDs, DVDs, clothes and housewares. Restaurants are jammed with people and storefronts advertise yoga classes, palm reading, massage work and herbal medicine consulting.
Although I am describing Chinatown on Spadina Street, there are plenty of people out at night on the quirky Yonge Street strip, the Bloor Street upper-end commercial district and the eclectic Queen Street West area. Recognize that street life is free entertainment as well as an experience of vibrant urban life.
And imagine all this activity going on and it being relatively quiet. No boom boxes. No high fidelity-sound cars. No wild teenagers hanging out of cars jeering at passers-by. Just people walking outside being a part of the scene, even if they are alone.
Imagine living in a city where there were only 84 homicides in 2007.
Although I am admittedly starry-eyed about Toronto, we met some residents who pointed out the city's downsides: the metro system breaks down all too frequently (it happened one time to us); the cost of living is high; the streets are a little dirtier than they should be.
The downtown grates host several street people, b ut you know, EVERY resident, even the homeless, has access to health care.
The people of Toronto have obviously invested in their city, especially in their neighborhoods, and they are willing to pay the price for the services. For example, some neighborhoods ensure their safety through the protection of private police but the sidewalks and streets of every neighborhood were all shoveled from snow to accommodate walking and bicycling.
Old houses are beautifully decorated and well-maintained, an indicator of the citizens' respect and appreciation for the past. Downtown buildings sport this same sentiment as the old Victorian brick edifices sit comfortably next to modern office and condo skyscrapers.
OK, so the Torontoans didn't formulate an urban revitalization plan and the Gardiner Freeway that hugs the lakeshore is an obvious eyesore on stilts. At least developers and city officials didn't wipe the past right off the map as Americans did when we replaced our cities with freeways and glass and steel buildings.
As far as I'm concerned, Toronto serves as both a model and an inspiration for cities because it illustrates that what it takes to "make a village" is for the people who live there to summon the political will to determine what urban life can and should be.
It would be an easy decision to go to Toronto to live (barring tough immigration restrictions) or even to move to the many wonderful American cities that offer their residents a good life. However, don't we owe it to ourselves and our families to invest in our own communities where we are and to make them good places to live?
Let's get to it!
24 Comments so far
Show AllIt's so easy to sit at your computer and emphatically state how great Toronto or Canada is and slam the US and use the bastion or ultra-liberal urbanism that is Jane Jacobs as some sort of hero. I'm an urban planner, I've been to Toronto and a lot of other cities. It's no different than NYC or Boston. But see, Canadians have this massive inferiority complex when it comes to how it percevies itself in comparison to its southern neighbor. They have to at every turn defend themselves, even when defense is not necessary. You're going to trumpet a diverse culture like somehow Toronto is the only place that has all these foreign cultures?
You're universal health care system, in theory is a great idea. In practice, it sucks. The idea that the GTA is a green metro is merely marketing. As someone stated above, it's a congested gridlock of single car users and vacant HOV lanes.
I agree, it has some very nice neighborhoods and great downtown. But let's not forget that all your new international neighbors that Canada lets in like the 2008 version of Ellis Island are also increasing crime, lower socio-economic conditions and increasing homelessness.
And please, let's not let Rush Limbaugh be confused with the voice of America. He's a right wing wacko who's followers are basically the bible belt religious right and gun-toters, arguably the lowest forms of "thinkers" going.
So next time you slam the US, remember, they're the straw that stirs the drink and it must be nice to have them as an ally that you know will be there for you whenever you need it. They pay a hefty price to be the most powerful nation in the world and Canada reaps signifcant social and economic benefits from it.
P.S. I've been to Sudbury and points north, let's not jump ahead of ourselves because for as diverse as Toronto is, it's as white as snow up there.
"(Curious that there were not many obese people walking the streets either!)"
no, we hunt them down, club them to death and render them for oil to heat our gentrified brownstone townhouses....otherwise Torontonians would have to survive on the heat generated from their self-admiration...
I've been to Toronto several times, it is a beautiful city, great people, etc. But, alas, it is next door to the US and part of the corporate global economy...
I too live and work in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and I have travelled far and wide and it's a pretty decent place to live.
Of the 84 murders 80% are gang related as the wanna be crime kingpins knock each other off for some imaginary gain.
Neo-Liberal Toronto Council? Not sure about that one as I think they have enough balance in the makeup of council to control a single force, and it seems to be working.
Toronto and Canadas most interesting predicament right now is the Federal gov would be neo-conservative but the saving grace is that they only have a minority power status meaning that a vote on any particular issue initiated by them can be voted down easily if 2 or 3 of their members don't vote in favour of said 'bill' or miss the vote alltogether.
Oh yes, Canada is missing something that Americans would truly savour.
We don't have a built in system of corruption (bribes) when voting on a 'bill' in parliament. No such thing as 'earmarks' etc.. Vote on the issue, yea or nay. No overt promises made, no strings attached, which keeps ones allegiance to the issue simple.
And yes we can pick up Rush out of Rochester but we can also pick up AAR out of Buffalo.
I have occasion to listen to Rush a few times and did so just this Friday. What amazes me is not so much his omissions of facts etcetera but that many millions of Americans think his word is gospel. YIKES!!
Thank you Olga for the nice article on Toronto. It goes to show you what can happen when citizens participate with a concerted spirit and the elected representatives serve the public for the greater good of the community.
Marque, Money plus power equals greed and it seems to eventually get it's way. How sad.
I live in Vancouver. I am so glad to hear that Toronto is actually llike what people think that Vancouver is like. Vancouver is currently living under the smear of a police state. They aaare preparing for the Olympics and practicing policing on the popppulation. The population are generally as law abiding as any other group. The police are busy making tickets for jay walking for peoople going to the local open injection site - serious drug addiction is a way of life and who am I to judge. Carry it on... love liz
Oh, dear.
As a Torontonian, I cringe at almost every word.
One of the great tragedies of this country is that being situated next to the most powerful country in the world, the absolute front-runner in this day and age of good old-fashioned western imperialism, is that Canada is either condemned as a communist holdout or congratulated for the same misperception, that we are some kind of social paradise.
It causes me no relief that we improve by comparison.
While it would be true that I would rather have one leg amputated than both arms, it of course would be far preferable to keep all of my limbs intact.
Similarly, while we have to fight tooth & nail to hang on to what few hard-won socially progressive institutions we have left (and believe me, there are and have been places with much stronger traditions than here), while we watch the homeless population soar as the gentrification proceeds at leaps and bounds, as our healthcare is degraded almost daily and politicians yearn for US-style user-fees, it is cause for little relief that we have not- YET! Been reduced to scenarios common in U.S. cities, some of which are outlined above. (excuse the run-on sentence).
I've roadtripped basically everywhere between Calgary to the eastern Maritimes. Endless places to escape the big city and live relatively unhindered by social constraints if that's your style too. I'd recommend particular places, but everyone needs to find his own Shangri-La.
Drawbacks: price of gasoline, many rugged/remote roads, killer mosquitos and deer flies in some areas, and Americans can no longer get reimbursed for the Canadian federal tax they spend while touring. I thought hotels were more expensive this summer as well.
Excellent country in several regards. I can quite clearly remember myself on a tour boat on the St. Lawrence outside of Quebec City with a few beers at my table on the upper-deck, the street entertainers, the restaurants...and many special/remote places I've found on my journeys up there. Big cities are great to visit, but are too similar for me. I'm more drawn to the pastoral/picturesque places. Canada has plenty of these.
This Torontonian thanks you ever so much for the ego boost! And yet, our people still find reasons to complain. I broke my leg recently after slipping on a patch of sidewalk ice after a flash freeze, and a cab driver I had shortly afterward was dumbfounded that I wasn't planning to sue the city, since it "rips us off" so often by making us pay property taxes. He was from Pakistan, but his attitude said that he'd been in Canada for quite some time and was beginning to take its good qualities for granted. Some folks don't know how good they have it.
One of the very best things about living in Toronto is that there's no reason at all to own a car unless you're disabled or exceptionally lazy (which, sadly, describes a lot of people). It's one of the best cities in the world for walking, cycling, and transit, which is probably the only reason why I'm not obese.
Most all of Canada is a delightful experience, I'm US born and had my parents become landed immigrates in Ontario. I'm so very grateful for my cross border life as youngster. Our Canadian Brothers are good living people that I deeply respect.
Every winter I travel about 3 - 4 times to Cross Country ski in Upstate NY. Last Winter I drove up early and took a side trip to Ottawa on the first weekend in Feb to ice skate on the Canal. I arrived on Thursday Morning around 10 am and could have stayed there indefinitly. People were friendly, a warming hut to change into my skates and it was safe to leave my shoes while I skated on the Canal. Very high quality of life and folks appeared to be of many nationalities. A far change from rural Maryland
Canada is a great place and I want to bring my adult sons up here... and this comment might bring more competition for them.....but with global warming Canada will probably do very well by comparison to other places. What I don't understand is why more people aren't trying to move to Canada. Canada should have a great future imo.
Toronto is actually south of St. Paul/Minneapolis, so I'd look forward to the warmer climate. :-)
I've found Ottawa and Quebec City to be quite nice as well. Both offer the scenery you want, restaurants, cosmopolitan feel, art, music, etc.
But since Harper seems to have gotten elected with fewer support than would ordinarily be necessary, they may well be on the American path to self-destruction as well? The difference with Canada, I imagine, is that they'll produce a bona fide separatist movement before things ever get as bad as Bush's reign. Quebec would secede and the country would be split in half.
Universal Health Care, better social programs, no history of slavery and no Rush Limbaugh are all big reasons that Canadian cities are more liveable than their American counterparts. But as PJD mentioned "...the same neoliberal forces cutting public services and gentryfying are at work in Toronto too."
All it took was one Conservative government (Neo-Con) that privatized and deregulated the gas and electric utilities and the prices soared. Canadians didn't learn from the mistakes that their neighbours to the South had made. And American consumerism is still alive and healthy in Canada with the citizenry eating up U.S. celebrity culture, living off of fast food and reaching for every, new gadget that becomes available.
I live in Toronto. One of the great bastions of Fiscal Conservatism and Social Progressivism in the whole darned world. Most of the rest of North America seems to prefer it the other way around. Lots of fun things to do here, the rest of Canada hates us, and the tap water tastes great, too.
I go to ATMs in Florida all the time that have instructions in Chinese. This has nothing to do with Canada. Simply the banks covering all bets.
I left living in Beijing six years ago and there were ATMs installed all around town, none of them in operation. I'll bet they are now.
Read Jane Jacob's "Life and death of American Great Cities" and learn about what makes a place livable. She was from Scranton but went to Toronto during the Vietnam war. Who remembers waterfronts that were a mix of commerce, docks and ship/boatbuilding etc, a bit grundy but muscular. Now they are bland and sterile with cruise ships only and hi-rise condo's fenced and paved walking paths and nothing moves, walkers have to drive there to walk. All done in the interests of the real estate nitwits and greed. When the nation worships Mammon, including its TV tub thumpers what do you expect.
But, I got a taste of the feeling when I moved to Pittsburgh, PA from the faceless sprawl of northern Virginia about 10 years ago. Wonderful walkable streets, mom-and-pop Italian and other ethnic groceries (and cheaper than supemarkets), plenty of seasonal farmers markets and a food co-op, resonable public transportation some routed with 24 hr a day service, and cheap house prices. Yes, some neighborhoods are a bit rough around the edges, but at least they are "real".
But unfortunaltely, due to our city politicians and their business-buddy's desire to make pittsburgh less "quaint" and more "modern". Taking as their model Charlotte, or Raliegh NC instead of Toronto or even Portland, OR, things have declined directly in proportion to the decline in the public infrastructure. The US still hasn't figure it out. Think of what could have been done if all that war money could have been given to communities!
If you liked Toronto you should visit Montreal-walkable, lovely neighborhoods ,and very international.
Toronto won an award for greenest North American city, but don't try taking the 401 xway in the late afternoons-you will sit in traffic for a couple of hours and most cars have only the driver.
Believe it or not, despite what GWB thinks, the sun doesn't rise and set solely on the US- or any other country for that matter. We're all in this together. Toronto apparently has figured that out.
TC
But all is not entirely well in toronto, the same neoliberal forces cutting public services and gentryfying are at work in Toronto too. My brother, who is a pating full rent at a Troronto Housing corp. apartment near Queen st. has noted the decline in public services and perpetually overcrowded, inadequate trolley service.
But he does note the refresingly different attitides among Canadians regarding diversity and a willingness to support the public good.
And also, the rough neighborhoods are almost all in the suburbs not the city.
dlnelson,
You're making me homesick, or should I say, experience a case of 'mal du pays', because I went to the International School there as a teenager in the 50's! I would agree totally with you, it was a beautiful, livable city. I'm still in contact with several good friends of that era, they're from India, South Africa, Ecuador, Germany, and many other countries.
Thanks for the memory jog!
I too live in a civilized city where the streets are clean and there's excellent public transportation. You can hear any number of languages because the population is 47% foreign. That's Geneva Switzerland. We did have a little bout with intolerance, but that seems to be dying down as the electorate bounced out the big mouth. There are so many better places to live than the US, but shhhhh...we don't want too many Americans...you let one in you ruin the whole neighborhood.
OR, you could live in a brand new third world country that has no universal health care, no laws to protect workers, no regulations to make sure utility companies don't "abuse" their customers, and especially no HUGE MILITIARY to bankrupt their government/society. I think I'll move to Canada.......