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Author Topic: What I love about Toronto
WingNut
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posted 23 March 2005 03:11 PM      Profile for WingNut   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Streetcars
Kensington Market
Chinatown
Fresh fruit and vegetable stands on the corner
Used book stores open past 11:00 pm
All night restaurants
All night people
Union Station
Yonge St.
A crowded subway
An empty subway car
Being alone surrounded by thousands
Staring out the window of a bus and seeing only inside my own head
Going to the CNE on a hot August day just to watch other people

I miss Toronto sometimes.


From: Out There | Registered: Aug 2001  |  IP: Logged
skdadl
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Babbler # 478

posted 23 March 2005 03:13 PM      Profile for skdadl     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Oh, and Wingy: often, often!, Toronto misses you.
From: gone | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Timebandit
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posted 23 March 2005 03:19 PM      Profile for Timebandit     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
That I can visit, enjoy some of the things Wingnut lists, and go home again.
From: Urban prairie. | Registered: Sep 2001  |  IP: Logged
kuri
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posted 23 March 2005 03:22 PM      Profile for kuri   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
how about:

Roncevalles Street, and the best perogies east of Winnipeg (AFAIK)


From: an employer more progressive than rabble.ca | Registered: Jun 2003  |  IP: Logged
Hinterland
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Babbler # 4014

posted 23 March 2005 03:27 PM      Profile for Hinterland        Edit/Delete Post
I promised I'd say something nice about Toronto, so here goes...

Toronto. At least it's not Calgary.

St. Lawrence Market. You can get a full meal by just asking for samples. Oh, and a cheese shop in Kensington. I think they prefer you just stay and snack on their samples, rather than buy anything.

Oh, and Church/Wellesley. The friendliest gay village in Canada.

[ 23 March 2005: Message edited by: Hinterland ]


From: Québec/Ontario | Registered: Apr 2003  |  IP: Logged
Stephen Gordon
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Babbler # 4600

posted 23 March 2005 03:51 PM      Profile for Stephen Gordon        Edit/Delete Post
Honest Ed's.
Lining up at David Mirvish's to get the Sunday NYT for $1.99.
University College.
The Spadina Bus (I know, I know - don't remind me)
The Toronto Island Ferry, and, to a lesser extent, Toronto Island.
Christie Pits.
Going to the ROM in August because it's air-conditioned.
Whatever they're calling the film festival these days.
The 401. Yes, really.

From: . | Registered: Oct 2003  |  IP: Logged
periyar
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posted 23 March 2005 03:59 PM      Profile for periyar   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I love that I can spend a few hours cooking some type of aromatic curry and then get on the subway or the bus and no one can pinpoint me as the one who smells like sambar or chicken curry because there is about 8-10 other people on the bus that smell exactly like me.
From: toronto | Registered: Oct 2004  |  IP: Logged
No Yards
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posted 23 March 2005 04:04 PM      Profile for No Yards   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Spadina Street Chinatown where you can get a super sized tastey meal for $4.

The Beaches Boardwalk (OK, so it's really about the girls in shorts and roller blades.)

The underground city (The Path)

Crusing up and down Church , Jarvis, and Sherbourne Streets checking out the sex trade fashion show.

The 504 Streetcar down Broadview when it gets to the top of Riverdale park for the best view of the city outside of possibly the view from The Docks nightclub.

The Docks nightclub, haven't been there for a few years, but anyone visiting who is under 65 should chek it out.

The entertainment district.


From: Defending traditional marriage since June 28, 2005 | Registered: Jun 2003  |  IP: Logged
fern hill
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Babbler # 3582

posted 23 March 2005 04:24 PM      Profile for fern hill        Edit/Delete Post
Allan Gardens in February.
The busiest library system in North America.
Walking the nabes.
Films.

From: away | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
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posted 23 March 2005 04:26 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I love that part of Broadview Street as well. I used to see it regularly on my commute to work a few years ago.
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
kingblake
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posted 23 March 2005 04:35 PM      Profile for kingblake     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by dokidoki:
Roncevalles Street, and the best perogies east of Winnipeg (AFAIK)
Please share.

I like the fact that individual sidewalk squares have their date of birth inscribed onto them. And I like the fact that each neighborhood has its own signature street signs.


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kuri
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posted 23 March 2005 04:48 PM      Profile for kuri   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Here's a message board review of Cafe Polonez, the pierogy place I had in mind. It's at 195 Roncesvalles Avenue. But the whole street has many great Polish restaurants, then turns Ukrainian as you head north towards Bloor. I liked this street in Toronto because it's *not* a touristy place like a lot of downtown, just nice, unpretentious and casual.
From: an employer more progressive than rabble.ca | Registered: Jun 2003  |  IP: Logged
Albireo
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posted 23 March 2005 04:49 PM      Profile for Albireo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Danforth Avenue, from Broadview going East through Greektown, past Chester and Pape... The wide sidewalks, shops, bars, restaurants and sidewalk cafes, the brick storefronts built 100 years ago, when my great aunts walked this same path through a very different Toronto.
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kingblake
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posted 23 March 2005 04:52 PM      Profile for kingblake     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
dokidoki: Cool, thanks. That's not an area of Toronto I'm familiar with. Yet.

Sounds like it might be worth the bike ride to check it out.


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spatrioter
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posted 23 March 2005 05:01 PM      Profile for spatrioter     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
The new distillery district in the summer. My love-hate relationship with Church Street. Queen West. Koreatown. The huge-ass swimming pool at Woodbine Beach, and the nearby boardwalk. The maze made out of bushes on Centre Island.
From: Trinity-Spadina | Registered: Mar 2002  |  IP: Logged
Yukoner
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posted 23 March 2005 05:25 PM      Profile for Yukoner   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I know I am dating myself, but:

*Aida's Falafel on Bloor W

*Upper Canada's brewery 'gift shop' after a Sunday tour...you could buy beer on Sunday!

*'Roll out the barrel' at the Brunswick house

*The Gasworks and Rock and Roll Heaven

*Runway 66

*That guy who used to sell "Books for idiots" on Bloor W or Yonge St. Anyone remember him?

*Paying an usher $20 to sneak into a Leafs game at MLG

*Hot and sour soup at some Vietnamese place in Kensington Mkt

*All the beautiful girls from every part of the world

[ 23 March 2005: Message edited by: Yukoner ]


From: Um, The Yukon. | Registered: May 2004  |  IP: Logged
Bookish Agrarian
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posted 23 March 2005 05:30 PM      Profile for Bookish Agrarian   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I love the people, even the smug ones , well maybe not them so much, but everyone else. I have always found Toronto, despite the rep a very friendly place.

Our kids love to go on the subway. It's like a big amusment ride to them.

However, if I lived with that many people surrounding me I would be an axe murderer or something within a week. Not to mention I think it would be hard to fit our cattle into any sized apartment we could ever afford.


...Don't fence me in.


From: Home of this year's IPM | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged
skdadl
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posted 23 March 2005 05:55 PM      Profile for skdadl     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Yukoner, Aida's is now called Laila's. I was there just last night. It thrives still.

So you will also remember Bloor SuperSave. 24/7. Eric and Maria and Cleo and Randy. Those people saved my life, again and again, and my spirit especially, by helping an old man to find his way along the aisles, day after day, for as long as he possibly could.

And Knob Hill Cleaners, under two regimes. Rick Salutin wrote a wonderful column about the first family we all loved as they handed over to a new owner, but the wonder is that the new owners are dears as well!

It's a wonderful stretch of people, isn't it.


From: gone | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
kingblake
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posted 23 March 2005 06:00 PM      Profile for kingblake     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
It has been a while since I've availed myself of the service, but it is nice being able to pick up a slice of cheesecake at 2.30am at Future on Bloor W.
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Stephen Gordon
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posted 23 March 2005 06:02 PM      Profile for Stephen Gordon        Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by skdadl:
Yukoner, Aida's is now called Laila's. I was there just last night. It thrives still.

Does it still have that picture of Michael Ondaatje in the window?


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Papal Bull
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posted 23 March 2005 06:02 PM      Profile for Papal Bull   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Would I be wrong to say "not Oshawa"?

The Friendly Stranger.


From: Vatican's best darned ranch | Registered: Oct 2004  |  IP: Logged
Tommy_Paine
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posted 23 March 2005 06:02 PM      Profile for Tommy_Paine     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
The ROM....Even with that glass thing sticking out of it.
From: The Alley, Behind Montgomery's Tavern | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
swallow
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posted 23 March 2005 06:24 PM      Profile for swallow     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Ben Kerr, telling me i'll get lucky tonight. People from Rochester coming up to spend a night at The Barn, it's so delicious and awful all at once. The mad mad posters on the street poles that make no sense at all to anyone but the person who wrote them. Come-hither signs on Spadina: "Wa!! Five shirts for $9.95!" The absurd neighbourhoods that aren't: "Village of Newtonbrook" on the street signs at Yonge and Finch, where the sidewalks are forever. The million plaster heads of Elvis in Parliament Street dollar stores. Shops dedicated to straight men who like to cross-dress. And that curve in my street, where the snow piles up the day after we thought it was spring. And, well, the everything of it all.
From: fast-tracked for excommunication | Registered: May 2002  |  IP: Logged
Wilf Day
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Babbler # 3276

posted 23 March 2005 06:26 PM      Profile for Wilf Day     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Memories of the University of Toronto in the 1960s. Now there was a community of communities.

The Royal York. Changing but changeless.

Streetcars. (Ditto.)

Toronto Island. (Still.)

Memories of Yorkville (R.I.P.)

The culture mix. (Where but Canada would you find a young woman named Clancy with a grandfather from Galway but ethnically three-quarters Chinese?)

Greek restaurants. (Almost as friendly as a couple of Greek restaurants in Northumberland County.)

The Ontario Archives. (Worth the trip to Toronto.)

The Science Centre. (ditto.)

Ontario Place. (Well, parts of it.)

Cabbagetown, where so many trends started.

Tommy Douglas speaking to a packed Maple Leaf Gardens.

The Eaton Centre. (Not sure exactly why, but interesting to walk through, at least.)

Queen Street West. (Ditto.)


From: Port Hope, Ontario | Registered: Oct 2002  |  IP: Logged
No Yards
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posted 23 March 2005 06:42 PM      Profile for No Yards   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by Yukoner:
I know I am dating myself, but:

*'Roll out the barrel' at the Brunswick house


Ah, yes the Brunswich house, it was still a happening place when I moved here in the late 80's,now it's an off-track betting place ... and very close by the Transac(sp?) club, a Aussie Kiwi ex-pat bar in front, and an amature theater and concert hall in the back (entertained, and was entertained there many times when I first moved to T.O.)


From: Defending traditional marriage since June 28, 2005 | Registered: Jun 2003  |  IP: Logged
Willowdale Wizard
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posted 23 March 2005 07:03 PM      Profile for Willowdale Wizard   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
i miss riding the TTC. when i was young, i had more than my share of illness (tubes in ears; eye appointments; lengthening of my tendons in legs to walk flat-footed), and my mom and i spent a lot of time going to and from sick kids, with me calling out each station as we approached in the front seat of the front car. i like the long travelling sidewalk in spadina station. i like gazing down at the don valley between broadview and castle frank. i even miss the vomit comet.
From: england (hometown of toronto) | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged
Yukoner
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posted 23 March 2005 08:10 PM      Profile for Yukoner   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by kingblake:
It has been a while since I've availed myself of the service, but it is nice being able to pick up a slice of cheesecake at 2.30am at Future on Bloor W.

Ahhh, how could I forget Futures. Sitting in the shade of the trees drinking coffee watching the world go by.

I just remembered that great big jesus house we rented on Palmerston....a beautiful tree lined street.

There was also a 3 story bar in the 'hood also. Open air deck on top, piano bar on the middle floor and an irish-y setup on the main floor.....don't recall the name.

Also, after a night at Clintons shooting pool we would climb the fence to the pool in Christie Pits to smoke joints and jump off the 10 metre platform.....amazing that none of us died.


From: Um, The Yukon. | Registered: May 2004  |  IP: Logged
lonewolf
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posted 23 March 2005 09:52 PM      Profile for lonewolf     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
homeless people everybody ignores

lineups at food banks

potholes

dirty streets

traffics jams

smog even in February

corrupt police

racism

... just in an evil mood I guess, but nothing's as good as you seem to remember it

[ 23 March 2005: Message edited by: lonewolf ]


From: Toronto, Ontario | Registered: Jun 2001  |  IP: Logged
CMOT Dibbler
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posted 23 March 2005 10:25 PM      Profile for CMOT Dibbler     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Come on man, all cities have those things.
From: Just outside Fernie, British Columbia | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged
WingNut
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posted 23 March 2005 11:09 PM      Profile for WingNut   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Ah, yes the Brunswich house

I can't tell you how many times I have been politley, if not very sternly, orderd to leave that establishment. And that Irish pub I can't recall the name of ...

From: Out There | Registered: Aug 2001  |  IP: Logged
Boom Boom
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posted 23 March 2005 11:35 PM      Profile for Boom Boom     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
While at Trinity '77-'80 I went downstairs at the Brunswick House a few times - the most desolate, depressing hole in the ground I've ever experienced. An old lady playing a small electric organ for music, I think she was stoned half the time, and a bunch of old folks and some students cradling their glass of draft beer as if it were their only possession in the world. Bare light bulbs on the ceiling. Very garish. Horrible place. I guess I went there just to experience the squalor. Ugh.
From: Make the rich pay! | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
lonewolf
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posted 23 March 2005 11:39 PM      Profile for lonewolf     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
homeless people everybody ignores
lineups at food banks
potholes
dirty streets
traffics jams
smog even in February
corrupt police
racism

Dibbler - no, not ALL cities have those things. Even if they did, does that mean we shouldn't notice?


From: Toronto, Ontario | Registered: Jun 2001  |  IP: Logged
helios
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posted 23 March 2005 11:49 PM      Profile for helios     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
no, not ALL cities have those things. Even if they did, does that mean we shouldn't notice?

Which cities might those be? and who told you not to notice?

I think maybe you missed the title of the thread or maybe you just enjoy being angry ...


From: right here ... see, i'm waving | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged
CMOT Dibbler
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posted 24 March 2005 12:13 AM      Profile for CMOT Dibbler     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Name me a city in Canada that doesn't have potholes, dirt, racism and corrupt cops?
Even Vancouver, which is widely considered to be the most livable city in Canada, has a downside.

From: Just outside Fernie, British Columbia | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged
sock puppet
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posted 24 March 2005 01:19 AM      Profile for sock puppet   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
The Don Valley.
Not the highway, but the parks and bikepaths and even the stinkin' creek that is the Don River.

From: toronto | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
Polly Brandybuck
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posted 24 March 2005 01:20 AM      Profile for Polly Brandybuck     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I have been to TO only once, and what I remember most is the friendly people. We were young girls driving a decrepit 1965 Mustang across Canada and it broke down twice. The first time a young man named Randy helped us push it off the road, and then came back with three cold beer and a water pump to get us back on our way. Later the same day we lost a tire (well, half an axle really) and this great lady named Dianne had her husband the tow truck driver come for us at the end of his shift and he backyarded the repair and saved us a pile of money. Dianne set us up a tent in her yard while the parts were being bussed in to town. What was supposed to be a passing through turned into a breaking down and making friends and sangria and kabobs on the deck. I am still in touch with them to this day. And yes Dianne and Herb - I do return the favour every chance I get.

I loved Toronto.


From: To Infinity...and beyond! | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
Yukoner
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posted 24 March 2005 03:42 PM      Profile for Yukoner   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by WingNut:

I can't tell you how many times I have been politley, if not very sternly, orderd to leave that establishment.....

I was lobbed from the front door into a Toronto Sun Box (requiring 11 stitches) by an enormous Ukrainian bouncer.

That same old lady was there (around '91)....they'd play dance music all night, the crowd was all uni students and the floor was covered in beer, urine and vomit. Every once in a while the old lady would get on stage and play 'Roll out the barrel' and the place would go mental.


From: Um, The Yukon. | Registered: May 2004  |  IP: Logged
Albireo
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posted 24 March 2005 05:10 PM      Profile for Albireo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by Yukoner:
*That guy who used to sell "Books for idiots" on Bloor W or Yonge St. Anyone remember him?
Wasn't that some guy named Krad Kilodney, or some name like that? Google yields nothing, but he used to stand around selling his own rambling self-published books.

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Drinkmore
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posted 24 March 2005 05:18 PM      Profile for Drinkmore     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by WingNut:

And that Irish pub I can't recall the name of ...

The James Joyce?


From: the oyster to the eagle, from the swine to the tiger | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged
Stargazer
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posted 24 March 2005 07:00 PM      Profile for Stargazer     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
The Gasworks and Rock and Roll Heaven

Oh me too!! How I miss these two clubs!!

I love Toronto. I love the diversity of the city, I love the transit system, I love the stores open all the times, I love the parks and the bike trails, and the beaches.

Toronto kicks ass.

[ 25 March 2005: Message edited by: stargazer ]


From: Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist. | Registered: Jun 2004  |  IP: Logged
Yukoner
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posted 24 March 2005 07:32 PM      Profile for Yukoner   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by Albireo:
Wasn't that some guy named Krad Kilodney, or some name like that? Google yields nothing, but he used to stand around selling his own rambling self-published books.

Yeah something like that. You'd see him standing in random locations wearing a sign and holding some of his books. I talked to him a few times and bought a few books, they were hilarious.

He wore a small tape recorder (he showed me) and said lots of his stories were based on conversations he had with street people or people who actually stopped to talk to him. I always wondered what the real deal was with him. Did he have a family to go home to? Was he mentally ill? Was he doing some sort of social experiment? He seemed quiet intellectual. I wonder what ever happened to him.

Crad Kilodney's website, have a look.

Edited to add link

[ 24 March 2005: Message edited by: Yukoner ]


From: Um, The Yukon. | Registered: May 2004  |  IP: Logged
Judes
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posted 24 March 2005 08:26 PM      Profile for Judes   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Tomorrow or Sunday in the Toronto Star Linda Diebel's has an article about people in Toronto having the lowest self-esteem in Canada. How do I know? She interviewed me for it. I said, "What do you expect, having Mel Lastman as Mayor for all those years," among other things
From: Toronto | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
Coyote
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posted 24 March 2005 08:30 PM      Profile for Coyote   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I like Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver for essentially Zoot's reasons: I can go, take it in, and then head back home. I get uncomfortable spending too much time in a big city.

My favourit part of Toronto, of course, is the great people from Toronto who are also babblers.


From: O’ for a good life, we just might have to weaken. | Registered: Jan 2004  |  IP: Logged
Timebandit
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posted 24 March 2005 10:44 PM      Profile for Timebandit     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Hey, Coyote, Vancouver and Montreal are my other two favourite Canadian cities to visit!

It's nice to have a taste of a major urban centre and then to be able to retreat to a minor one.


From: Urban prairie. | Registered: Sep 2001  |  IP: Logged
Vansterdam Kid
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posted 25 March 2005 12:29 AM      Profile for Vansterdam Kid   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by CMOT Dibbler:
Name me a city in Canada that doesn't have potholes, dirt, racism and corrupt cops?
Even Vancouver, which is widely considered to be the most livable city in Canada, has a downside.

Oh no it [Vancouver] doesn't! Haven't you gotten the memo?


From: bleh.... | Registered: Apr 2004  |  IP: Logged
kingblake
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posted 12 April 2005 07:35 PM      Profile for kingblake     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I like sitting right at the front of the subway, and watching the scenery approach. Reminds me of a (very tame) roller-coaster.
From: In Regina, the land of Exotica | Registered: Dec 2002  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
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posted 12 April 2005 08:46 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
My son loves that too.
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
kingblake
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posted 12 April 2005 09:13 PM      Profile for kingblake     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Wadda you tryin' to say???
From: In Regina, the land of Exotica | Registered: Dec 2002  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
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posted 12 April 2005 09:18 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Ha! Well, I was going to add a second sentence to that post: "He's six." But I thought it would sound insulting, which would be too bad. Because I think it's kind of cool when grown-ups can find pleasure in things that also fascinate six year-olds.
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
dgrollins
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posted 12 April 2005 10:35 PM      Profile for dgrollins   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
This thread is making me sad. The Maritimes are nice, but I miss home….

Queen and Spadina – it’s the centre of everything

A cold beer and nachos at my favourite T.O pub The Tap on Bloor

Discovering a new band at The Horseshoe

Hot lazy summer afternoons watching the Jays at the Dome

Buying a TTC day pass and picking a random part of the city to visit

Taking the Blue Night home at 4 a.m.

Watching soccer during the World Cup

Going for a walk along Queen West on a Friday night

Pretending to be young and hip at Sneaky Dee’s

Most of all…my friends and family.


From: Toronto | Registered: Mar 2004  |  IP: Logged
maestro
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posted 13 April 2005 06:51 AM      Profile for maestro     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Wow, I can't believe how long this thread is!!!
From: Vancouver | Registered: Jan 2005  |  IP: Logged
kingblake
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posted 14 April 2005 01:11 AM      Profile for kingblake     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Michelle: Admit it! You like going on the subway roller-coaster too. Don't hide behind your son!
From: In Regina, the land of Exotica | Registered: Dec 2002  |  IP: Logged
Mr. Magoo
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posted 14 April 2005 01:23 AM      Profile for Mr. Magoo   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
I like sitting right at the front of the subway, and watching the scenery approach.

First time in Toronto. Age 20. I absolutely insisted on this, to the embarrassment of my Toronto-born host. A train! Underground! Imagine!

Second to this is riding the Queen streetcar in the wee hours when Queen is mostly deserted. By day they're a quaint trolley like the one on Mister Rogers. By night they're a 60-seat rocket sled that can do 0-60 in about 6 seconds, quietly.

I also love St. Lawrence Market, Chinatown, Kensington Market, and hotdog carts. When I first moved to Toronto there was a hotdog cart right outside my building, and I ate 'street meat' as many as ten times a week. The idea of food, on the street was as novel as trains, underground.


From: ø¤°`°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°°¤ø, | Registered: Dec 2002  |  IP: Logged
kingblake
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posted 14 April 2005 01:27 AM      Profile for kingblake     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Actually I particularly like the parts of the subway that go above ground. Or to be more precise, I like when it emerges into the sunlight.

Where I'm from, Montreal, there's an underground subway (metro) and there's the outdoor train. None of this back and forth stuff.


From: In Regina, the land of Exotica | Registered: Dec 2002  |  IP: Logged
Jimmy Brogan
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posted 14 April 2005 01:49 AM      Profile for Jimmy Brogan   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Watching soccer during the World Cup

I've been caught up in a Brazil or Italy riot or two. And how about all those crazed Koreans and Turks in '02?

Of all the things I love about Toronto, the ethnic and cultural diversity is the thing I love the most.


From: The right choice - Iggy Thumbscrews for Liberal leader | Registered: Nov 2002  |  IP: Logged
mary123
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posted 16 April 2005 12:45 AM      Profile for mary123     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Toronto has great ravines to go biking or hiking.

Ahhh nature.


From: ~~Canada - still God's greatest creation on the face of the earth~~ | Registered: Jun 2004  |  IP: Logged
mary123
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posted 16 April 2005 12:49 AM      Profile for mary123     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
The Omega New Age bookstore in Yorktown rocks or should I say vibrates to a higher dimension.
From: ~~Canada - still God's greatest creation on the face of the earth~~ | Registered: Jun 2004  |  IP: Logged
the bard
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posted 16 April 2005 01:28 AM      Profile for the bard     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
in no particular order

Streetcars
HotDocs
Bloor Cinema
Palmerston Blvd. (other fav. streets incl. Euclid and Markham between College and Harbord, Major St., Brunswick Ave. and a few up near Casa Loma/Hillcrest Park)
Kensington Market
UofT campus
Robarts Library
21/2 storey old Victorians
Banjara (Indian restaurant)
Massimo's (pizza)
Kensington Kitchen
Uprising! (radical bookstore)
abundance of theater (which I don't see often enough)
Susur (tried it once!)

[ 16 April 2005: Message edited by: the bard ]


From: Toronto | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged
oldgoat
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posted 16 April 2005 12:45 PM      Profile for oldgoat     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
The best place to eat in Toronto, although it's definitly seasonal, is the sausage vendor in front of the ROM. There's nothing like sitting on a bench under those huge trees with a nice polish sausage on a bun with sauerkraut, paying occasional extortion to the pigeons and watching the world go by.
From: The 10th circle | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged
kingblake
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posted 16 April 2005 12:52 PM      Profile for kingblake     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I like it too. Good atmosphere, friendly service, good selection, elegant area. Perfect restaurant to bring a date to.
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oldgoat
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posted 16 April 2005 12:54 PM      Profile for oldgoat     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
and if you can't afford a sausage 'n bun, there's always the pigeons! Some of them are kinda slow.
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kingblake
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posted 16 April 2005 01:34 PM      Profile for kingblake     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Yeah, they're a bit too slow. Something tells me those pigeons are fat for a reason.
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rob.leblanc
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posted 16 April 2005 01:34 PM      Profile for rob.leblanc     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
The best place to get a hot dog in Toronto is outside....god, it's lost me now....either Ryerson or UofT..

I love how a lot of appearences can be quite decieving in Toronto. Yesterday, this large, intimidating fellow came up to me and had a face like he was going to mug me or shoot me for fun, then he smiled and said "Excuse me, I'm a bit lost. Would you happen to know where Dundas is?".

It's a great, wonderful city and I'm going to miss it when I move in about three/four years to Berlin.

Have to add this just for fun:
This be a LINK.

I've got a bunch of other things I love about Toronto, but I'll post them later.

[ 16 April 2005: Message edited by: rob.leblanc ]


From: Where am I? Where are YOU? | Registered: Apr 2002  |  IP: Logged
Hinterland
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posted 16 April 2005 01:44 PM      Profile for Hinterland        Edit/Delete Post
From that list posted by rob.leblanc

quote:
Castle Frank subway station remains one of the great mysteries of the universe for you.

This is so true. I think Castle Frank is like a Potemkin subway station, contrived to give a bit of scenery between Broadview and Sherbourne. Or maybe it's a way station in the middle of some weird Einstein-Rosen Bridge. In any case, no one ever gets on or off at Castle Frank, and you can't find the the station from above ground.


From: Québec/Ontario | Registered: Apr 2003  |  IP: Logged
'lance
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posted 16 April 2005 02:40 PM      Profile for 'lance     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I once got off the subway at Castle Frank. But I was new in town, and had been given bad directions. It was well after dark, in winter. The only thing spookier than the empty station was the walk back west toward Yonge, where there were at least pedestrians on the street.

One thing I love about Toronto is those rows of brick houses, set close to the street. I didn't realize how much I'd come to like them until I moved away.


From: that enchanted place on the top of the Forest | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged
Albireo
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posted 16 April 2005 02:47 PM      Profile for Albireo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
A row of such houses in Cabbagetown:

[ 16 April 2005: Message edited by: Albireo ]


From: --> . <-- | Registered: Sep 2002  |  IP: Logged
oldgoat
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posted 16 April 2005 02:52 PM      Profile for oldgoat     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Castle Frank Subway station, at least from the inside.

The station is located at the east end of the Bloor viaduct, on the north side. It's not a very large building, but oddly, is consiered to have some architectural significance at least within the narrow field of subway stations.


From: The 10th circle | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged
Albireo
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posted 16 April 2005 02:55 PM      Profile for Albireo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Although Castle Frank is usually deserted, with nobody getting on or off, it swarms with teenagers twice per day on schooldays: there is a high school across the street.
From: --> . <-- | Registered: Sep 2002  |  IP: Logged
Hinterland
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posted 16 April 2005 03:36 PM      Profile for Hinterland        Edit/Delete Post
All lies and propaganda. Castle Frank station, like global warming, does not exist. They are just fantasies cooked up by the loony left.
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oldgoat
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posted 16 April 2005 03:37 PM      Profile for oldgoat     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
As well a the students, who head south, there is a twice daily swarm of scullery maids, footmen, and other "below stairs" types heading north to attend to the needs of the gentle classes in Rosedale.
From: The 10th circle | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged
oldgoat
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posted 16 April 2005 03:39 PM      Profile for oldgoat     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
They are just fantasies cooked up by the loony left.

and thank you Hinterland, it's always nice to get a bit of recognition for one's work.


From: The 10th circle | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged
'lance
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posted 17 April 2005 12:26 AM      Profile for 'lance     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
And excellent work it is, oldgoat. I just remembered -- I've been to Castle Frank station at least twice more. Makes sense -- I'm a decidedly below-stairs type, myself.

To my astonishment, two friends of mine from school ended up owning a house in Rosedale. (I wasn't astonished these particular people did so well for themselves, only that anyone in Rosedale was and remains friends of mine. Any club that would have me as a member, and all that). So I've been to Castle Frank as recently as 2002, when visiting them.


From: that enchanted place on the top of the Forest | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged
Papal Bull
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posted 17 April 2005 01:55 AM      Profile for Papal Bull   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Infiltration5 has an awesome article about going track diving in the Toronto subway system. I personally am not physically fit enough to do this, and it is legally questionable (so I can't post the article with a clear conscience) but I'd definitely suggest googling it up and reading/looking at the pictures.
From: Vatican's best darned ranch | Registered: Oct 2004  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
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posted 17 April 2005 11:22 AM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
PB, there's a really interesting site about that, and it's been posted before on babble. I found it fascinating too, and I often think about it when I'm in a train in a tunnel.

However, I get the feeling that nowadays, if unauthorized people are found in the tunnels, it wouldn't just be a matter of "Hey, you shouldn't be in there, it's dangerous," but rather, "Hey, why are you trying to explore the tunnels? What are you plotting?" I would think also that people who weren't WASPs would be particularly targeted for that type of assumption too.


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Papal Bull
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posted 17 April 2005 12:31 PM      Profile for Papal Bull   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I know, that's the really sad part. I don't want to be the cynic, but the last Chief didn't exactly work WITH the people to alleviate this sort of problem with racism on the force.

It's kinda sad too, because some of the old pieces of architecture and such are just kinda lost for all eternity because people just build over them. I've seen lots of pictures of the NYC subway that people have snapped while spelunking around the REALLY old parts during the day. I saw one where it looked like a little garbage village. Another was a really decript looking old station from the early days. It was so cool.


From: Vatican's best darned ranch | Registered: Oct 2004  |  IP: Logged
Kinetix
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posted 17 April 2005 01:49 PM      Profile for Kinetix     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
A panorama of the intersection of Queen and Spadina

[ 19 April 2005: Message edited by: Kinetix ]


From: Montréal, Québec | Registered: Mar 2004  |  IP: Logged
Papal Bull
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posted 17 April 2005 02:13 PM      Profile for Papal Bull   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
That picture is VERY cool.
From: Vatican's best darned ranch | Registered: Oct 2004  |  IP: Logged
mary123
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posted 17 April 2005 02:46 PM      Profile for mary123     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I love Toronto because it is a very zen type of city.

It is not flashy, loud and melodramatic like Montreal (which can give you a headache after awhile let me tell you.) I can't describe it but zen come close. I like peace I like quiet and you get that in Toronto. People who live there let you do your own thing, are friendly, non judgemental and the city is not overly dramatic and glamourous which suits my personality.

It's really a mellow city for a big city. There's no fashion contest going on between women unless you hang out in high end bars and restaurants there. Unlike Montreal, women can dress casual and comfortable and not be judged by appearances which I love. Here in Montreal there's like a fashion show happening everywhere and it is tedious and a time wasting event for me.

Toronto is like a great big university town with a very well educated and genuinely decent population which makes it very easy to live there.


From: ~~Canada - still God's greatest creation on the face of the earth~~ | Registered: Jun 2004  |  IP: Logged
the bard
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posted 17 April 2005 03:40 PM      Profile for the bard     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by Michelle:
I would think also that people who weren't WASPs would be particularly targeted for that type of assumption too.

I hope this doesn't turn the thread in a nasty direction, Michelle, but I didn't realize that Irish Catholics, Jews, Italians and Poles were victims of racial profiling.


From: Toronto | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged
the bard
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posted 17 April 2005 03:45 PM      Profile for the bard     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by mary123:

It is not flashy, loud and melodramatic like Montreal (which can give you a headache after awhile let me tell you.) I can't describe it but zen come close. I like peace I like quiet and you get that in Toronto. People who live there let you do your own thing, are friendly, non judgemental and the city is not overly dramatic and glamourous which suits my personality.

I agree - though interestingly, people in Vancouver seem to think this distinguishes them from Toronto.

It's probably due to Toronto marketing itself as the Canadian New York - and that makes Toronto seem lame.

Toronto really is a city of neighborhoods - it doesn't really have a common "theme" like NYC, Montreal, Vancouver, and a whole host of other places.

I think it takes a while to get to know. More than one American from the Northeastern cities I've met dismiss it as hopelessly "Midwestern".

[ 17 April 2005: Message edited by: the bard ]


From: Toronto | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged
verbatim
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posted 17 April 2005 03:54 PM      Profile for verbatim   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by Kinetix:
A panorama of the intersection of Queen and Spadina

Hey. Where are the piles of corpses?

the bard: Vancouver has a theme? What is it?


From: The People's Republic of Cook Street | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
the bard
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posted 17 April 2005 04:09 PM      Profile for the bard     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by verbatim:

the bard: Vancouver has a theme? What is it?

Not really more than "laid-back, West Coast, organic, etc." - but more so than Toronto I think. I don't mean to dismiss other cities by saying they have a theme, but some places do have something that has caught on. I don't think Toronto has been successful in its attempts to market itself as something specific. Why do people go to Toronto? One can say people go to Montreal because it's exciting, fashion-conscious, a cheap trip to Europe, etc. People go to Vancouver for its being "laid back", etc. People go to NYC because of its huge exciting and has a wealth of cultural institutions. But Toronto????

[ 17 April 2005: Message edited by: the bard ]


From: Toronto | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged
verbatim
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posted 17 April 2005 04:39 PM      Profile for verbatim   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Fair enough. I think in the case of Vancouver, they've managed to get "we don't really care that much" translated into "we're laid back." I recently had to explain to a world-traveller why Vancouver is a "world-class city," and had to give up. The beautiful setting and the Skytrain allow Vancouver to punch well above its weight.
From: The People's Republic of Cook Street | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
the bard
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posted 17 April 2005 04:46 PM      Profile for the bard     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Yes Toronto's been trying to plug this "world class" thing for years. It's a great city, but it suffers from an inferiority complex. The Van skyline has changed immensely over the past decade and apparently a few people are saying this "proves" it's a world-class city. Some are saying it's more like Manhattan than Toronto is (I definitely don't think is true!), that unlike Toronto it's trancended "Canadianness", at least according to this website authored by the real estate industry:

http://www.guestlife.com/vancouver/features/feature3.htm

(see 3rd paragraph)


From: Toronto | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged
verbatim
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posted 17 April 2005 05:15 PM      Profile for verbatim   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
*barf*

I guess some of those Yaletown condos will have a majestic view of the DTES instead of the North Shore. I wonder if that view costs more?

What I don't get about these "world-class" arguments is what that means to the proponents. World-class opportunities for conspicuous consumption? What about the arts, theatre, public institutions, and even sport? Things that visitors can participate in? Staring at the North Shore Mountains can only occupy so many hours.


From: The People's Republic of Cook Street | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
mary123
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posted 17 April 2005 06:43 PM      Profile for mary123     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by the bard:

It's probably due to Toronto marketing itself as the Canadian New York - and that makes Toronto seem lame.


I'm not sure if it's Toronto marketing itself as such because it looks like Toronto does zilcho to market itself compared to Montreal and New York. As has been stated here Toronto does have an inferiority complex (but why???) and has no real theme.

Potential ad campaign:

"Toronto - A Zen place to be. Not as laid back as Vancouver. Not as flashy and noisy as Montreal.
We're somewhere in the middle."
hehehe


From: ~~Canada - still God's greatest creation on the face of the earth~~ | Registered: Jun 2004  |  IP: Logged
mary123
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posted 17 April 2005 06:48 PM      Profile for mary123     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Comedy is a cornerstone of Toronto culture and history what with some this generation of Hollywood's greatest comedians coming out of Toronto.

This cultural and historical fact can and should be used to market Toronto. But do the powers that be in Toronto give a darn.

No.

If Montreal had this same legacy they would be advertising it up the wazoo for everyone and all to hear. Montreal markets itself very, very well.
Well oiled machine it is. Toronto has the potential to do more tourist hunting but is sadly apathetic.


From: ~~Canada - still God's greatest creation on the face of the earth~~ | Registered: Jun 2004  |  IP: Logged
the bard
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posted 17 April 2005 07:31 PM      Profile for the bard     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by mary123:
Toronto has the potential to do more tourist hunting but is sadly apathetic.

I kind of like Toronto's lack of a real "theme". I don't think an aggressive marketing campaign will likely improve Toronto.


From: Toronto | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged
the bard
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posted 17 April 2005 07:33 PM      Profile for the bard     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
A common nickname by urban planners for the GTA is "Vienna surrounded by L.A." I've never been to Vienna, so I can't make the connection, but the area north of Eglinton, west of the Humber and east of Victoria Park (i.e. the suburbs) certainly makes the "L.A." part make sense.
From: Toronto | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged
Papal Bull
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posted 17 April 2005 08:45 PM      Profile for Papal Bull   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
[unnecessary Calgary joke that wasn't funny]

[ 17 April 2005: Message edited by: Papal_Bull ]


From: Vatican's best darned ranch | Registered: Oct 2004  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
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posted 17 April 2005 10:20 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by the bard:
I hope this doesn't turn the thread in a nasty direction, Michelle, but I didn't realize that Irish Catholics, Jews, Italians and Poles were victims of racial profiling.

Good point. I spoke lazily. Although it wasn't so long ago when all of those groups you mention were profiled in a similar way by people of WASP background, and they probably still are to some extent. If I'm not mistaken, Toronto has a pretty "orange" history in that way. Which is why I'm used to thinking of "WASP" when I think of the group least likely to be discriminated against, since by merely saying "white", that includes people of certain ethnic backgrounds that have been racialized and discriminated against in the past.

But really, you're right - at the present time, white people who aren't WASPs do have skin privilege that people of colour do not have. So, again, apologies for the lazy remark.

[ 17 April 2005: Message edited by: Michelle ]


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
the bard
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posted 17 April 2005 10:50 PM      Profile for the bard     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by Michelle:

Good point. I spoke lazily. Although it wasn't so long ago when all of those groups you mention were profiled in a similar way by people of WASP background, and they probably still are to some extent. If I'm not mistaken, Toronto has a pretty "orange" history in that way.

[ 17 April 2005: Message edited by: Michelle ]


It does to an extent. Unlike Boston, NYC and Chicago, the Irish never became a politically dominant group in Toronto. Like Philadelphia, it has a history of WASP mayors (Philly did this until the 1960s). In fact, Toronto elected its first Jewish mayor (Nathan Phillips, elected in 1955) before its first Catholic mayor (Art Eggleton, in 1980).

I'd be surprised if more than 15% of Toronto's population could be described as full-blooded WASPs today, and I'm willing to include Germans and Dutch of Loyalist stock in the WASP category.
You can sometimes recognize the upper-crust WASPs by their accent.

(Jack Layton's ancestors, the Steves, were Loyalists of German descent. Did you know that an estimated one-third of the supposedly "British" Loyalists were Germans and one-tenth were Dutch?!)


From: Toronto | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged
the bard
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posted 17 April 2005 11:03 PM      Profile for the bard     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Toronto was in fact a city known for its conservatism until the 1960s. The Diefenbaker (1960) and Pearson (1967) governments reformed Canadian immigration law so it didn't explicitly exclude non-white immigrants. Toronto then emerged as one of the world's most multicultural cities. It did have a significant number of Jewish, Italian, Polish and Ukrainian immigrants in the early 20th century, but WASPs still remained a majority. These non-WASPs often felt a common bond - since many Jews and Italians lived around College Street, some Italian children learned Yiddish and some Jewish children learned Italian. And many Italians came to the aid of Jews during the Nazi-inspired Christie Pits riot in 1933.

A fascinating element of Toronto history was the radical Jewish culture in the Spadina area during the 1930s and 1940s. Rick Salutin wrote a very interesting introduction to a book on the history of Spadina (the most interesting part of the book, in fact). Emma Goldman lived her last years in the city (this is accounted for in a book by a husband-and-wife team of historians by the name of Moritz, although I found reading about the unknown radicals of the day to be more interesting than Goldman herself). J.B. Salsberg was elected as a Communist MPP in the 1943 election, representing the Spadina area and remarkably survived an election in 1951 (but was defeated in 1955 after most of Toronto's Jewish community had moved right and moved north).

[ 17 April 2005: Message edited by: the bard ]

[ 17 April 2005: Message edited by: the bard ]

[ 18 April 2005: Message edited by: the bard ]


From: Toronto | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged
the bard
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posted 17 April 2005 11:20 PM      Profile for the bard     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post

[ 17 April 2005: Message edited by: the bard ]


From: Toronto | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged
Bacchus
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posted 17 April 2005 11:47 PM      Profile for Bacchus     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Ahh Castle Frank. I used to get off there all the time to go to the Battered Dwarf store
From: n/a | Registered: Dec 2003  |  IP: Logged
Wilf Day
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posted 18 April 2005 12:05 AM      Profile for Wilf Day     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by the bard:
Toronto was in fact a city known for its conservatism until the 1960s.

When the CCF broke onto the scene by forming the Official Opposition in Ontario's 1943 election, with 34 seats to the Conservative minority government's 38, only 8 of the 34 were from Toronto, while 11 were from the North, 4 from Hamilton-Wentworth, 3 from Windsor-Essex, 3 from Waterloo-Wellington, 2 from Niagara Region, 1 from Brantford, 1 from Oshawa, and 1 from Sarnia.


From: Port Hope, Ontario | Registered: Oct 2002  |  IP: Logged
Melsky
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posted 18 April 2005 12:53 AM      Profile for Melsky   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Missisauga reminds me of the worst parts of Southern California and Ontario combined.
From: Toronto | Registered: Dec 2003  |  IP: Logged
Boom Boom
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posted 18 April 2005 07:58 AM      Profile for Boom Boom     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I had relatives in Burlington, Oakville, and Hamilton I visited for a few years. Burlington was still under development and at the time there was quite a building boom, but the homes mostly looked alike. I didn't really care for any of these three cities, although there was a great bar and restaurant in Hamilton, the name of which escapes me, which had a daily roasted beef special with a huge roast of beef and you could go and specify how much you wanted. I lived at the Sheridan College School of Nursing on Hurontario for two years, commuting bck and forth to the College every day. The nurses were great company. (Sexist comment coming up - beware) There was also a Modelling school that used the Residence, so we were surrounded by gorgeous females much of the time. Aside from the School of Nursing and that huge mall (Square One) further down the road, I didn't have much use for Mississauga, although it's within a short driving distance of Toronto and Hamilton.
From: Make the rich pay! | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
Kinetix
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Babbler # 5296

posted 18 April 2005 11:00 AM      Profile for Kinetix     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by verbatim:

Hey. Where are the piles of corpses?

Well, it's a panorama shot, meaning that there was some time between frames for the bodies to get up and shuffle around- I just waited until they were out of the frame before taking a snap.

The address changed; go to http://www.urbandetail.ca

[ 19 April 2005: Message edited by: Kinetix ]


From: Montréal, Québec | Registered: Mar 2004  |  IP: Logged
Mophead C. Joseph
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Babbler # 324

posted 26 April 2005 05:33 PM      Profile for Mophead C. Joseph   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
My new lover is an urban planner (well, in two years a full fledged one) and we take great pleasure in traipsing about this great city that we grew up in but never before really took the time to see. It definitely enhances the "fairytale" aspect of this stage of our romance.

Re: Castle Frank, I remember once a few years back, the subway broke down, stranding me and a few friends (and the PM rush-hour commute) at Castle Frank. It was such a surreal experience. Was cool, though. Has anyone here ever been down Castle Frank Rd.?

Other stuff:
Farms in the middle of the city (Riverdale Farm, Sunnybrook Park stables)

Ability to take a "vacation/day-trip" for only the cost of bus-fare

...or to entertain oneself immensely by going for a walk and browsing around stores that take your fancy (found a comprehensive Simpsons' songbook this way!)

The vast grey expanse of hideous, hideous Scarborough

[ 26 April 2005: Message edited by: Mophead C. Joseph ]


From: recently escaped vast grey expanse | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
dakota-ray
recent-rabble-rouser
Babbler # 15459

posted 05 September 2008 07:01 PM      Profile for dakota-ray        Edit/Delete Post
k, it's 3 years after this thread was started but I just found it and I feel like putting up a post.

I love the weather (seriously)
I love the old brick houses
I love city hall
I love the Green Room
I love all of the amazing people I've met
I love High Park
I love how Canadian Toronto is
I love that I'm 3 hours ahead of my fam in Van so I never forget to call them!


From: Vancouver | Registered: Sep 2008  |  IP: Logged
Wilf Day
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Babbler # 3276

posted 05 September 2008 07:20 PM      Profile for Wilf Day     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by dokidoki:
how about:

Roncevalles Street



More often spelled Roncesvalles. (And it's Avenue.)

Which is the basis of the very first Toronto story I ever remember my father telling me.

He grew up in Stratford during the first World War but had family in Toronto and visited often. One day he saw a cop dragging a dead horse around the corner of Roncesvalles onto Queen Street. "Why are you dragging that dead horse around the corner of Roncesvalles onto Queen Street?" he asked.

"Because I have to fill out a report on the damn horse, and I can't spell Roncesvalles" said the cop.

I didn't believe him, but it was a good story.

[ 05 September 2008: Message edited by: Wilf Day ]


From: Port Hope, Ontario | Registered: Oct 2002  |  IP: Logged
bigcitygal
Volunteer Moderator
Babbler # 8938

posted 05 September 2008 08:01 PM      Profile for bigcitygal     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I love the activist political scene, the arts and culture that's not officially sanctioned by Harbourfront, the ROM or the AGO. I love the mini neighbourhoods everywhere you go.

I love the food! I love that the best Chinese restaurant ever on Spadina south of College (NOT for vegetarians!), is the same one my family went to when we first moved to Ontario 35 years ago, and we'd drive all the way in from Etobicoke to go for dinner there.

I love the streetcars.

I love the NDP MPs and MPPs who are in Toronto, the very few of them.

I love the Cabbagetown Festival, on this weekend, only the second one I've been to, being a new resident of C-town.

I love, okay, I strongly like, Mayor Miller.

And I love that I live here, and that the heat of summer is done.

Now, sadly, this thread, already very long when dakota-ray resurrected it, must be closed. And Torontonian is doing it! Dare a part two be begun?


From: It's difficult to work in a group when you're omnipotent - Q | Registered: Apr 2005  |  IP: Logged

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