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| Subject: Economy Safe Big City Toronto |
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To All
Recently I did something that I rarely, if ever, would do. I drove around Toronto and actually looked at various communities, store fronts, planter boxes, street signs etc.
I did not see businesses closing, going out of sale signs etc. I did see signs on store fronts saying, opening soon.
Toronto gets too many guns smuggled in from south of the border and yes Toronto has some areas economically challenged that are not areas I would recommend any new immigrant to move into but most are very suitable. Just a few blocks north, south, east or west makes a huge difference.
Where to live? hmmmmmmmmmmm
All new immigrants have to pick an area that their personal circumstances dictate and an area that will suit their life style.
What are the people like in the Greater Toronto Area?
The Toronto Star recently dropped 20 wallets across Greater Toronto. The billfolds contained $43.77, photo identification, a love note, receipts, a grocery list, pictures of children, a fancy hankie and an emergency contact number. Sixteen wallets have been returned.
16 out of 20 returned!!! To me that says an awful lot about the people of Toronto and the future for Canadian civilization since Toronto is the most ethnic diverse city on the planet.
Roy
www.cvimmigration.com
[10-05-2009,10:14]
[**.52.216.12]
Roy |
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(in reply to: Economy Safe Big City Toronto)
As a new immigrant I have to say I was positively impressed by Toronto. I found it to be very clean and safe for a big city (the Mississauga area at least, where I hang out).
Maybe it was such a good surprise because for some reason I was expecting a smaller New York.
Too bad I have to leave temporarily for professional reasons.
[10-05-2009,12:22]
[***.32.231.225]
Landed |
(in reply to: Economy Safe Big City Toronto)
this can only help bring out the positive attitude for new and potential immigrants.
i saw the article about the 16 wallets being returned about a couple of weeks ago...and yes it gives a good and positive image for future immigrants like myself
[10-05-2009,12:54]
[**.226.173.12]
Anonymous |
(in reply to: Economy Safe Big City Toronto)
Toronto is a wonderful, exciting and safe city. It is not NYC: it is much smaller, less forward and more provincial, and the two should never be compared, just as the US and Canada cannot be compared. That said, it is a great city with plenty of opportunities and I imagine it would make a great place for any immigrant to start their new life.
In all my travels around Canada, and nearly a year of living on the Canadian east coast, Torontonians take the cake for being the nicest and most open Canadians I have encountered. As an expat-American, I can identify best with southern Ontarians; you can take that however you want. For myself, Toronto isn´t a city I´d want to live in, but for vacation it will always remain one my favorites.
[10-05-2009,19:19]
[**.252.115.196]
wannabecanadian |
(in reply to: Economy Safe Big City Toronto)
Canada is too big to make a blanket statement about its livability. Same is true for the US. Ohio is another planet from Mississipi or Kentucky. Labrador is a different planet from Manitoba or Ontario or Alberta for that matter.
Vancouver is 3,000 miles from Toronto and Toronto is pretty much in the middle of the country so there is a huge range of lifestyles in those miles and miles of communities from east to west. That is one of Canada´s strengths but also one of the reasons we are such a difficult country to govern and make blanket statements about. 36 million people and more square miles than we know what to do with.
I would agree... Toronto is not NYC. Maybe closer to Boston but because it is our largest city...people often refer to it as our version of New York. Not sure why we are always trying to make the comparisons.
The only thing I can think is that we are most comfortable with what we know best. I have been away from home all week on a business trip. Nothing was sweeter than to get off the plane this afternoon and see the mountains, and smell the salt air. I don´t care if it is the biggest city, smallest city, whether we have 3 Walmarts or 6. There was nothing technically deficient about the place I visited but Vancouver just happens to be perfect for me and the lifestyle I want to live. I consider myself very fortunate to be content with what I have.
[10-05-2009,21:25]
[***.20.116.15]
Sharon |
(in reply to: Economy Safe Big City Toronto)
Home is always best! We just have to make where we move to be home.
I was trying to show that the economic down turn in the world is not all that visible in Toronto. That Toronto can be a nice place even being a big city too. When one listens to the local radio and not the US media giants doom and gloom guys we see the Canadian dollar getting higher and higher and the Canadian stock market getting better and better. With all the identity theft people returning lost wallets makes my area of home special and a place some new immigrant could consider if they have a tendency to loose their wallet!
Roy
www.cvimmigration.com
[11-05-2009,07:44]
[**.52.218.109]
Roy |
(in reply to: Economy Safe Big City Toronto)
Hej fillosof
you do not have nothing else to do on weekend,but go around the city to see which business is oppen or closed
Stay at home and work your garden, because if you do not work it somebodyelse will work it for you
and by the way ,I know all the man are not like stavrimacoku but for the ladys luck I hope are not like you 2
[11-05-2009,12:46]
[***.226.94.111]
stavrimacoku |
(in reply to: Economy Safe Big City Toronto)
I remember Michale Moore´s film from a few years ago, "Bowling for Columbine", about guns and violence in America. Michael went to Toronto to show the affects of gun laws with low crime rates. There, he randomly walked up to a few Toronto residences and found most people don´t even lock their front doors. The point is that it´s a relatively safe city where people don´t live in fear of crime, like in some of the big American cities.
But my theory is that this is not because of laws, but that Canadians are more socially and community conscious than Americans. Down here, it´s pretty much everyone for themselves since it´s the individual that´s most highly regarded. I think this is why the returned lost wallet results would be much more typical of Canada than the States. So interesting how 2 similar countries can be so different in social attitudes like this.
For my part, I been to Toronto many times, and every time I felt welcome and at home. It is a city where I would want to live, and always admired the diversity and civility. But then, I´m coming from Chicago, land of Al Capone.
[11-05-2009,13:26]
[***.131.12.0]
Richard |
(in reply to: Economy Safe Big City Toronto)
I like Toronto, I think is a pretty city.
Alberta rocks though!!!LOL
Winters are harsh nasty and cold but those TWO weeks of summer are priceless!!!
I like BC but I am still getting used to the fact of having mountains around me, after being an Albertan for so many years, now living in Kelowna I feel that I live in a hole.
Cheers,
Bill
[11-05-2009,15:13]
[***.75.247.138]
Bill |
(in reply to: Economy Safe Big City Toronto)
Bill, I would suggest the ´Hole´ is pretty sweet.
stavibaby... Roy was kind enough to take an afternoon off and show me his city. We finally got to meet after both posting on this forum for more than 5 years. Urban renewal is a facet of my job and what stores are opening and closing is extremely important to the work I do so please... skip the lectures and your dulusional notion that you are God´s gift to women.
I spent all day Saturday with a bus full of people from the Real Estate industry from across Canada. It was hilarious. The Ontario folks were bragging about the tulips and cherry blossoms. The folks from Edmonton were going crazy over the signs of spring and crying how it would likely take another month for the trees to start blooming. The BC contigent were a little puzzled because our trees have been blooming for weeks.
General consensus from those who make a living by watching the economy... Canada will continue hurting until the US gets it house in order. Some regions and sectors are definitely hurting more than others.
Another observation- most folks love where they live, regardless of how much people suggest they should think otherwise.
[11-05-2009,16:18]
[***.20.116.15]
Sharon |
(in reply to: Economy Safe Big City Toronto)
Richard your comment made me laugh out loud! It´s so true, at least in this corner of the country, that most people don´t lock their doors. Not long ago I accidentally forgot (it´s habit for me, always has been) and someone actually walked in! TOTALLY freaked us out, but it turned out to be a friend from Newfoundland, where for sure the doors are always open and you´d never think to knock first. I wonder what he would have thought had our door been locked, as it usually is. :)
I always wonder a bit at the folks on this board and others who want to know "where is best place to live". As in the US, Canada is an enormous and diverse country and full of surprises around every corner. One difference is that there are few big cities that offer the resources most immigrants are probably accustomed to, thereby locking out of contention the many wonderful small communities across the country. Having now spent almost a year in one of those smaller communities, I don´t recommend it for a come-from-away. Thus, "Toronto or Vancouver?" becomes the Big Relocation Question for new immigrants.
I´m glad to see so much enthusiasm in this thread for Toronto, a city so many Canadians love to bash. I laugh whenever I hear folks here talk about Toronto as though it´s a leper colony (and it´s frequent) but when asked, they are forced to admit they´ve never been there. I think TO´s biggest flaw is that it´s forever trying to prove itself to others, to itself, to whomever is listening. I just can´t figure out why the lack of confidence in itself, but maybe that´s a topic for another day.
Bill: I also laughed at your comment about feeling like you´re in a "hole". I lived in Oregon some years ago and HATED even driving through the Columbia River valley for that exact reason. It made me so claustrophobic I could barely stand it-and I grew up in hilly/mountainous country! I definitely relate to your "flat land comfort"!
[11-05-2009,17:30]
[**.252.115.196]
wannabecanadian |
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