|
What do you like/dislike about Toronto (pg. 15)
|
View this Thread in Original format
| pete242 |
| quote: | Originally posted by nadezhda
pros:
- live music --- if i want to see a band, it's pretty certain that they will tour here at some point
cons:
- disgusting humidity and smoggy summers *barf*
- the ttc sucks
- slushy, wet, grey winters
- i find people in general to be quite rude and unfriendly - like i'm talking random strangers. i think toronto has brought out a little of my inner bitch since i moved here.
- v. expensive to travel outside of north america. scratch that, within north america too
- real estate/rent is expensive (ok, compared to other major cities it's not so bad, but i still think it's pretty ridiculous |
What do I think is wrong with Toronto right now? ummmm far too much to get into one sentence :)
I do highly agree with the pro of Live music, the biggest bands love touring here and always put on some of the most memorable shows.
yes I do agree people have become quite rude in this town all of sudden, I don't get why, and it makes me like comming downtown every day less and less. |
|
|
| Stilez |
Looks like people have their ears to the street and finally listening to what most of us already knew for a while. Time to get rid of all the old conservative farts that have made and given this city a bland reputation. One thing is for certain, Toronto has yielded some of the best/finest comedians in Hollywood.
| quote: | Comedian (Russell) Peters T.O. tourism ambassador
Officials hope hip image, edgy humour will dispel city's stodgy reputation |
TORONTO STAR SOURCE |
|
|
| The Highroller |
Every city has something wrong with it. Ask anyone who lives in any city, and they will give you a list of what they like and don't like about their city.
That brings me to my next question: Although Toronto is not perfect (nor is any other city), do the city's short-comings bother you to a point where you have a plan to leave the city in the future, or you are entertaining the thought of leaving at some point in the future? Do you see yourself living in the city for the rest of your life?
For me personally, I think Toronto is a great city. As it stands right now, the short-comings are tolerable, and the positives outweigh the negatives. However, the "fun police" are a bit too close to my threshold of tolerance for pointlessly invading my liberties. It is not inconceivable that they could pick up their big-brother policies to a point where I would want to leave. This I would say is my biggest problem with the city.
Other than that, I could see myself raising my kids in Toronto as I think it's a great place to grow up for many reasons. That being said, I was born and raised in Toronto, and have been living in the city for all of my life. Trying life out in a couple of other cities is something I would like to do, but I think in the end, I will always come back to Toronto. |
|
|
| FunkyCrew |
| quote: | Originally posted by malek
thats why north americans dress like slobs with this kind of mentality... :p it doesn't take hours and hours for my wife to get ready for work, she works at a bank with clients btw. |
haha @ the slobs comment :P
yeah, why do people think that it takes hours and hours to dress up nicely in the morning?
| quote: | Originally posted by DigiNut
Maybe that's part of why I never understood the slobwear. I went to a private school and had to wear a uniform every day, so for a long time I knew basically nothing about fashion of any kind but at least I understood the importance of looking presentable. |
excellent point |
|
|
| teufel-man |
| quote: | Originally posted by malek
I remember at buisness school, there was this kid who came everyday at school in a tie+suit. It was crazy, but I get it now, that guy now probably makes more money than me :p |
lol, I am in undergraduate commerce and I remember the first day of actual commerce class (we start specializing in second year) this one dude showed up in a suit.... he probably expected everyone else to be wearing a suit now that we were officially in 'commerce', funny thing was he showed up like 25 mins late... so he looked like a total idiot, and probably was one too
wearing a suit just because you are in 'business' school (unless its an MBA school) just means that you take yourself way too seriously and probably are very socially awkward |
|
|
| malek |
| quote: | Originally posted by teufel-man
wearing a suit just because you are in 'business' school (unless its an MBA school) just means that you take yourself way too seriously and probably are very socially awkward |
actually wearing a suit *every* school day make you look like a dedicated and organized person, who's willing to sacrifice his own comfort for principles. He demonstrates apreciation and respect to the institution of University. |
|
|
| TheVrk |
| quote: | Originally posted by The Highroller
Every city has something wrong with it. Ask anyone who lives in any city, and they will give you a list of what they like and don't like about their city.
For me personally, I think Toronto is a great city. As it stands right now, the short-comings are tolerable, and the positives outweigh the negatives.
|
+1
I definitely think the positives outweigh the negatives, especially for me personally... |
|
|
| DigiNut |
| quote: | Originally posted by The Highroller
lol are you kidding me? EVERYBODY wears flip flops in the summer time. Unless I'm going to a club, I wear flip flops for 95% of the summer. |
Yeah, as I stated this is school/university . Just try wearing those when you're working full-time.
There's not much I disagree with you on, Greenhorn, but I have to stand by my original assertion: I seriously hate flip-flops. With a passion.
| quote: | Originally posted by teufel-man
wearing a suit just because you are in 'business' school (unless its an MBA school) just means that you take yourself way too seriously and probably are very socially awkward |
To the best of my recollection, I don't meet many socially awkward people who wear decent suits. Most socially awkward people also dress awkwardly. |
|
|
| dEsidEL |
| quote: | Originally posted by The Highroller
Every city has something wrong with it. Ask anyone who lives in any city, and they will give you a list of what they like and don't like about their city.
That brings me to my next question: Although Toronto is not perfect (nor is any other city), do the city's short-comings bother you to a point where you have a plan to leave the city in the future, or you are entertaining the thought of leaving at some point in the future? |
The city's shortcomings are more of an annoyance than anything. As you and others have stated already, the pros here definitely outweight the cons. Sure the TTC sucks, but we still manage to find a way to get around. Sure the fun police rains down on our freedoms, but ultimately we can still have a good time. I think in the end if you compare Toronto with other major cities within North America and around the world, we do okay if not great when it comes to quality of life as shown in many recent UN studies.
Though I would caution becoming too complacent. Sometimes I think that people here have a tendency of having this laissez-faire attitude acting like things could always be worse elsewhere. This type of attitude prevents us from having the same type of creative vision and drive seen in many other places around the world. Let's set the bar high rather than accept the status quo.
For someone who's maybe in their 20's or early 30's, you can probably have a lot more 'fun' living elsewhere, but whether those places will offer you a better education or working opportunities may not be the case. Ultimately I think it all depends on where your priorities lie and at what point in your life you're in. If I was a freewheeling young backpacker looking to 'find' myself, I'd probably bounce outta here in a heartbeat, but if I'm someone who's career minded and looking to establish myself I'd probably stick around.
| quote: | Originally posted by The Highroller
Do you see yourself living in the city for the rest of your life?
|
No definitely not. I'd love to experience working and living abroad (for an extended period of time) so that I can at least say that I've done it, rather than stay here and gripe and continuously wonder how things were on the other side of the fence.
Nonetheless, once I'm ready to settle down, I could definitely see Toronto as being a place to raise a family. Only to have my future kids go through the same cycle I did all over again.
|
|
|
| teufel-man |
| quote: | Originally posted by malek
actually wearing a suit *every* school day make you look like a dedicated and organized person, who's willing to sacrifice his own comfort for principles. He demonstrates apreciation and respect to the institution of University. |
agree to disagree. |
|
|
| dEsidEL |
| quote: |
How waterfront dream became a misty memory
May 16, 2008
Christopher Hume
How appropriate that it took a group of architects from Denmark to remind us that there's something rotten in the state of the Toronto waterfront.
The quartet was in town this week to talk about its projects, including those on the waterfronts of Liverpool, Amsterdam and Copenhagen. The firms represented have designed opera houses, museums and concert halls – "magnets," they called them – intended to attract people to those cities' newly revitalized harbourlands.
In Toronto, meantime, after seven years of painful effort, we have a condo or two in the works, an energy plant, a film studio and an office building.
But as the Danes made clear, their projects are each conceived as part of a larger campaign to return former industrial lands to residents. In Toronto, by contrast, we seem to be moving from one industrial model to another.
The Filmport project is the most revealing of how things work in this city. Here's what insiders say has happened:
First of all, let's deal with TEDCO (Toronto Economic Development Corp.), an arm's-length city agency responsible for redeveloping city-owned land, much of that on the waterfront. TEDCO president Jeff Steiner, who apparently answers to no one, least of all the citizens in whose name the land is owned, made a deal with Rose Corp. several years ago that gave them 20 hectares (twice the space they need) to build Filmport. That land is on the north shore of the shipping channel, which has the potential to become the most desirable residential neighbourhood in Toronto.
Because no one has ever seen the contract, insiders fear that Steiner negotiated a sweetheart deal with Filmport and its majority owner, Rose Corp., complete with a 99-year lease and a no-compete clause.
Rose also owns the 7.2-hectare site on Eastern Ave. where its film studios were formerly located. That's the same site where Rose and its new partner, SmartCentres, want to build a mammoth mall potentially anchored by Wal-Mart. This despite the express wishes of city council and residents.
It's unlikely the mall proposal would have happened if Steiner had not arranged the Portlands deal that left Rose with the waterfront site.
Insiders also say that by giving Rose much more land than it requires, TEDCO has paved the way for Rose itself to get into the waterfront condo-building business in the future. The city has zoned the land for "other uses," which means it doesn't have to be part of the studio complex.
Film studio president Ken Ferguson immodestly calls his scheme "visionary." And from his and his masters' point of view, it may well be. But this should not be confused with waterfront revitalization.
Indeed, staff at Waterfront Toronto, the corporation charged with overseeing waterfront revitalization, make no secret of their frustration with Steiner. But they say there was nothing they could do when Filmport was approved years ago.
Since then, as Mayor David Miller points out, the city has taken away TEDCO's power to make deals with its waterfront property.
Miller, who sits on the board of Waterfront Toronto, defends Filmport, but not TEDCO.
"TEDCO is under review," he said testily. "I don't know when that will be ready. We have already removed its authority on the waterfront. But I don't buy fiddling with the location of Filmport. It will bring excitement to the shipping channel."
That's hard to accept. Clearly, the mayor has never seen any of the drawings from a study of what could be done with housing along the shipping channel. It has the potential to rival Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Copenhagen or Stockholm.
Not now, of course. That dream is over.
Christopher Hume can be reached at [email protected]
|
source:
http://www.thestar.com/GTA/Columnist/article/425954
|
|
|
|
|
