[chase]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roblin I'm a canuk

looks like you HAVE to come to the meet, no choice.

 

[lovebell]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chase looks like you HAVE to come to the meet, no choice.

 

[Zanth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlanY Toronto and the GTA, on the other hand, deserves much of the negative said about it. What a depressing place to live.

When I read things like this it reaffirms my wife's woes of moving to Toronto. I want to do either a post-doc or another doctorate at U of T but my wife is really against it, she is simply not willing to move to Toronto. Ironically the other three spots I'm considering are in the UK, Italy and Australia and she is completely fine to move to another country but not to Toronto.

 

[mbriant]

Quote:

When I read things like this it reaffirms my wife's woes of moving to Toronto.

I don't think you should base your life's direction or the quality of a city on one or two negative comments. Perhaps there's a reason Toronto is the largest city in Canada.

A person's opinion of any city, town, country or whatever is based solely on their own unique situation, preferences, priorities, and experiences .... what part of the city they lived in, what sort of things they enjoyed doing, what other influences were a part of their life while they lived there ... ie: social life, their economic situation at the time, what stage of their life they were in, and the frame of mind they were in while they lived there, etc.

Let's say two people on vacation visit the same city. The first person winds up getting robbed and beaten during their stay while the second person winds up meeting and partying with a group of supermodels and ends up eventually marrying one of them. I can't help but think these two people, despite visiting the very same city at the very same time, would have two entirely different opinions of what that city was like.

 

[wakeride74]

 

[AlanY]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbriant Perhaps there's a reason Toronto is the largest city in Canada.

Economic necessity and inertia, primarily.

I agree with you though. People shouldn't base their decisions on where to live on a couple opinions on the Internet. On the other hand, it always makes sense to be fully informed by listening to people's opinions and doing your homework.

Specific reasons why I didn't like living in Toronto... The smog -- it seems like it's cloudy or overcast most of the time, which I found depressing. The transportation situation -- I was living in an apartment off of Eglinton and still had a 50 minute commute each way to work (40 minutes if I hit the trains at exactly the right time, but how often did that happen?). Almost two hours commuting each day is a real lifestyle issue for me. If you ever intend to own a house and earn less than $150,000/yr combined with your spouse, you're going to have to live outside of Toronto and commute in, which is even worse. It was strange listening to the radio each morning... "the traffic is backed up all the way past the collector lanes"... why even bother saying that? The traffic is backed up past the collector lanes every morning. Living somewhere like Pickering and taking the GO trains in isn't a good solution either; you're looking at least two and a half hours total commute every day, counting getting to the GO lot, then getting from the trains to your office. Safety was another issue for me. There were a lot of aggressive, sometimes mentally ill beggars on many major streets, not just in the downtown core. The city didn't feel safe if you had to do any walking after dark. Auto insurance rates were high, probably partly because of higher theft rates. Actually, a lot of things seemed quite expensive, not just the rent, which was high. Also, people say "there's so much to do" in Toronto, but I didn't really find that was the case. Every city has enough to do, and living in Toronto, there's less time to do any of the things there are to do because so much time is wasted commuting.

I don't want to sound too negative about it. There were a handful of good things about Toronto, but for me, I didn't like the overall package. (Also, if I had kids, my impression probably would have been worse.)

 

[mbriant]

Fair enough, but your description pretty much describes any large North American city....be it New York, Chicago, L.A. ( except for the weather ) or even Montreal. Commuting is commuting, and if you are unable to live near where you work, then traffic and commuting time will always be a problem. Perhaps living in a very large city isn't for you? How long did you live in
Toronto?

 

[HiWire]

I've been living in Toronto for almost 5 years, and I agree with AlanY. I've just purchased a condo

here regardless, but it is often an unpleasant city. I commute 40-50 minutes downtown to work every day, and I can look forward to seeing crazy people, homeless people on the sidewalks and in the alleys, and ill-tempered, joyless commuters.

Still, the good people here make it all worthwile, and there ARE interesting things to do here every day. Unfortunately, the traffic, pushy, short-tempered people, and increasing cost of living make Toronto seem headed towards a New York that never existed.

 

[mbriant]

Well, perhaps you're right. I'm nearly 52 and have lived in and around the city my entire life. ( I've travelled quite a bit so I've been exposed to many other big cities as well. ) Perhaps my memory of a nicer, cleaner, much less slum and violence tainted place allows me to still look at it fondly. Toronto certainly isn't the same place it was 30 years ago ... and I don't mean that in a good way.

 

[10068]

Hey, I was wondering if you guys had any ideas/info for a guy who wants to move from USA to Canada. I'm looking to go back to college and wanted to get a Student Visa and enroll at the Art Institute in Vancouver BC.

I've always wanted to move out of this blasted country and give Canada a spin, so I figured I could tackle the two birds (moving, and college) with one stone.

Problem is, I have no idea about any of the processes or costs of such a manouver

Thanks!

 

[Way]

I am in Vancouver and would like to attend a meet!

 

[AdamWill]

sduibeck: It's pretty easy to get a student visa, and the laws were changed this year so you can now work on a student visa, which is handy. The government immigration site is _excellent_ and really has all the information you need. http://www.cic.gc.ca/

Compared to the cost of a proper college course, the cost of the visa is pretty negligible.

 

[midlife]

Toronto...sigh. I'm originally from Halifax, and moved here in the early 80's to try to become a rock star.That didn't happen, but for a while things were...at least interesting. but to appreciate Toronto you have to live downtown, and hopefully work downtown as well. Then the traffic/commute thing is less of an issue. Of course it's outrageously expensive to find accomodation in the city now. Luckily, we bought our house 6 years ago when prices were saner.

My family has tried a few experiments in relocation. 6 months in Tepoztlan, Mexico were fabulous, but ultimately one needs to find work out of the Mexican economy to live well. Schools were good, food was plentiful and healthy. Water was a bit of a problem. Oh, and you don't need auto insurance.

Then we spent last year in Chelsea, Quebec. Just across the border from Ottawa. Beautiful location, nice schools, a great national park, bad weather, and a sort of dull, bureaucratic culture. possibly the same in other centres of federal government, I don't know. It just seemed to me a bit shiny, happy and complacent. And the traffic sucks.

Of course none of this applies to Ottawa headfiers though.

 

[10068]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdamWill sduibeck: It's pretty easy to get a student visa, and the laws were changed this year so you can now work on a student visa, which is handy. The government immigration site is _excellent_ and really has all the information you need. http://www.cic.gc.ca/ Compared to the cost of a proper college course, the cost of the visa is pretty negligible.

Thanks

 

[mbriant]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Way I am in Vancouver and would like to attend a meet!

Keep checking the "Meetings, Parties, Get-togethers" forum HERE. Looks like there's a possible Vancouver meet forming right now.