I'm not quite there yet, but in a couple of weeks - we'll be hitting the six-month mark of living in Toronto. It seems like yesterday that Michelle and I packed up our stuff and met roughly in the middle of both of our parents' places, but here we are - biding our time renting while we (still) wait for condo walls to be built.
So, what have I found the most different? annoying? enjoyable? Good question.
1. It was the right decision to move out. I think sometimes people leave home, only to find out they did it too early, and either end up back at home, or at the very least don't get to enjoy the independence as much as they'd hoped. That definitely wasn't the case for me - and considering I left home at 26, I don't think there was any question. My advice for anybody in a similar boat is to not rush it, but also not to wait until you're at odds with whoever it is that you're living with back at home. I left when everything was great, and although it was sad, it's better than "Good Riddance".
2. Driving isn't a necessity in Toronto - it's a hindrance. Growing up (mostly) in the suburbs, my friends and I always had similar thinking I'm sure - we all wanted to get our licenses and get our own cars. The first person with a car in high school was the best friend of everyone, and when you finally got your own, it was a sense of independence that is rivalled only by moving out. In Toronto (and I imagine any dense, urban city for that matter), it's quite the opposite - everyone takes transit. When you get on the subway, you see people from every avenue of life - CEO's, lawyers, students, families and yes, sometimes crazies, but there's nobody turning their noses at you. In Mississauga, when you tell someone you take the bus, you get this sense that they're thinking "Oh, you can't afford a car?" - but in Toronto, if you drive, people ask "Oh, I guess you're not from around here?"
2B. Transit sucks in the suburbs. Everyone complains about the lack of progress or growth in the TTC in the last 20...actually...50 years - but every day when I get off the subway and wait for that bus in Mississauga, I'm reminded how much worse it could be. To put things in perspective, by commute is roughly an hour and 15 minutes each way (not too bad): about 25-30 minutes to travel the first 25 km via a short bus ride and subway in Toronto, and about 45 minutes to travel the final 10 km via ONE Mississauga bus. That's if I don't miss it and have to wait another 15-20 minutes during rush hour...
3. Toronto has awesome food. I haven't even hit the tip of the iceberg yet when it comes to all of the options there are for food - whether it's pop-up locations, food trucks, new restaurants, or festivals - there is tons to eat. Not to mention we live off the Danforth, which has some of (if not all) the best Greek food in the city. Before we moved here, I attended my first YUMTUM (Toronto's underground food market), and I knew I was in for something special. From the walnut cakes we tried in Koreatown, to the Blueberry Balsamic doughnut from Queen East, to the best Gyro I've ever had from Zorba's on the Danforth - if you want to go out and grab something to eat - it's definitely here that you want to come.
4. I love the streetcar (and hate that they're replacing them). Maybe I'm the only person who is upset that Toronto is improving their fleet of streetcars, but ask Michelle and she'll tell you how much (even after 6 months) I like riding the streetcar. It's relaxing, fairly quick, and you can open the whole window! Sure they're not wheelchair accessible, often have problems and end up so packed that 3 sometimes pass you by - but they're still the number one vehicle the TTC has in my books.
5. It's cheap. Everyone always talks about the cost of living in Toronto - and sure condos and houses are crazy expensive, but there's reasons why people want to live here. The cost to get around is cheaper (once you come around to transit), there's always free stuff going on (no seriously,
look), and when it comes to things like food, you can always find a deal. Michelle and I get most of our produce now from
Chinatown East, and end up with great deals like 1 bag of 12 bananas for $1.00, 10 plantain for $1.00 and Avocado for less than 10 cents a piece. The point is, it's not all that bad!
6. The condo bubble is more of a tree. Did I just get too metaphorical and "sappy"? Get it? Sappy? Anyway...you could say that I'm biased, because I write this as Michelle and I sit here waiting for a condo to be built, but the more I live here, the more I realize that the people saying it's going to burst are the people that don't live here. If you stay here a week, and you see all of the other things happening - like
new business towers,
new restaurants, new
retail chains from across the border,
possibly a casino - you'll realize that it's not just condominiums, and residents moving into the city. The support and infrastructure are being built right along with it. Sure the market will cool off, that's obvious - but for those who are worried that the bubble is going to "pop" - I wouldn't count on it.
Toronto was ranked as the fastest growing enonomy in Canada last year, and it's not just condos supporting that claim.
7. There's so much that I could be blogging about. New years resolution is to blog more about things I always hoped I would. I'd always pictured myself living in Toronto, and now I'm here - and I need to document it a little more. Not so much for any of you reading, but for me.
Cheers for now,
Deric
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