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Toronto-Age |OT2|

A

added_time

Member
YakiSOBA said:
Question about Markham:

What's it like living there?
Are most places available to rent either condo's (expensive) or basement of homes?

I've tried looking at apartments but have not found anything... like... ANYTHING. :p
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Have you tried looking for apartments on this site:

http://www.mapitat.com/

I have browsed it for a few minutes and it seems to search craigslist, viewit and a few other things and put the results on whatever part of the map that you zoom in on. I zoomed in on Markham and there seem to be some listings there as well.
 
R

Rinoa

Member
added_time said:
Yes they do. New York also has heavy tolls because it's the correct thing to do.

The people in the city make sacrifices by paying more for everything so the people that choose to live outside the city should also sacrifice by either taking public transportation into the city, moving here or driving and paying tolls.
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Random thought, doesn't this also encourage peeps to do business/shopping (and create jobs) in areas local to them?
 
Z

Zombie James

Banned
m_layton said:
Procession for AIDS victims stage a die in at City Hall. Chant "stop the cuts" while leaving. http://t.co/o73qlG0c
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v1Emp.jpg
 
E

EvilMario

Will QA for food.
Looking at an apartment at The Beach(es) on Saturday (no bedbugs reported at this location!). We haven't moved in four years, so I'm itching to find a new place. I guess I just can't sit still. ;_;
 
P

Pterion

Member
So I visited Toronto for real this time (well, 3rd time I've been in the city, but 1st time I really got to go out and walk downtown) and I was thoroughly impressed. I guess I'm an odd guy and I like urban jungles and skyscrapers and luxurious condos galore. I may be getting a job there in 3-5 years from now, and I'm excited about it. I was there for a conference, and you guys probably don't realize how much world-class medical expertise you have in your city.
 
E

EvilMario

Will QA for food.
Pterion said:
So I visited Toronto for real this time (well, 3rd time I've been in the city, but 1st time I really got to go out and walk downtown) and I was thoroughly impressed. I guess I'm an odd guy and I like urban jungles and skyscrapers and luxurious condos galore. I may be getting a 1-2 years job there in 3-5 years from now, and I'm excited about it. I was there for a conference, and you guys probably don't realize how much world-class medical expertise you have in your city.
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There are plenty of great (and more lively) neighborhoods to explore outside of the downtown 'skyscraper' core as well. But if you're thinking of moving here, there'll be plenty of time to explore!
 
C

cbox

Member
Toronto does have a very well regarded medical community. Unfortunately, we don't have much else to call ourselves world class...
 
A

added_time

Member
EvilMario said:
Looking at an apartment at The Beach(es) on Saturday (no bedbugs reported at this location!). We haven't moved in four years, so I'm itching to find a new place. I guess I just can't sit still. ;_;
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My apartments so far have been: Beaches ---> Dundas and Ossington ----> The Annex

I've been in the Annex and I can't think of any reason to move. The only way I would move is if I wanted to buy a condo/house since it's so expensive here.
 
A

Azih

Member
ConvenientBox said:
Toronto does have a very well regarded medical community. Unfortunately, we don't have much else to call ourselves world class...
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We do Film Festivals really well, high up list of best cities in which to live also. Seriously this place is incredibly awesome.
 
C

crimzonflame

Member
Azih said:
We do Film Festivals really well, high up list of best cities in which to live also. Seriously this place is incredibly awesome.
Click to expand...

Until you visit a real world class city and realize Toronto is really lacking.
 
A

added_time

Member
Azih said:
We do Film Festivals really well, high up list of best cities in which to live also. Seriously this place is incredibly awesome.
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That is correct. It is definitely one of the best cities in the world. It's almost always ranked that way and some annoying pessimists aren't going to convince me otherwise.

Toronto is hilarious. It's full of people doing awesome shit all the time and then telling each other that the awesome stuff they just did, isn't actually awesome.
 
E

EvilMario

Will QA for food.
added_time said:
My apartments so far have been: Beaches ---> Dundas and Ossington ----> The Annex

I've been in the Annex and I can't think of any reason to move. The only way I would move is if I wanted to buy a condo/house since it's so expensive here.
Click to expand...

I don't think I'd want to live at Dundas and Ossington. A little too.. inner city for me. Haha.

Really, Roncesvalles / Yonge & St Clair / Beaches are my truly preferred options. They all offer affordable apartments, off leash parks for the dog within easy walking distance, and stores I can go to without taking transit. They're sort of where I enjoy living in a city too. Right outside 'the core'.

I couldn't live in the Annex mostly because of the dog. There's a couple off leash parks (just south of Christie Pits is a good, hidden one), but owning a large dog in such a busy area with few walking options is not my taste. Definitely an area of the city my wife and I visit when we're out and about though.

Before living here in Swansea (nice area, lots of parks, but you have to transit everywhere.. or endure at least a 20 minute walk), we were Oakwood & Vaughan.. close to Cedarvale. Not a terrible area, the further east you go, but it was a terrible apartment.
 
C

cbox

Member
I wouldn't call myself a pessimist, as there are good qualities to Toronto, it just isn't a world class city. From an outsider looking in, it must seem great - but I've been here all my life and have seen the cities underbelly and it isn't what it's cracked out to be. I mean if you don't like the nightlife scene there's pretty much absolutely nothing to do here, for one example.
 
S

Stet

Banned
added_time said:
That is correct. It is definitely one of the best cities in the world. It's almost always ranked that way and some annoying pessimists aren't going to convince me otherwise.

Toronto is hilarious. It's full of people doing awesome shit all the time and then telling each other that the awesome stuff they just did, isn't actually awesome.
Click to expand...
Toronto is great, I agree, and there are unique things about our city that make it somewhere I love to live. But there are also a lot of ways in which it can't compare to other cities. Our subway infrastructure, our reliance on the car, our urban sprawl, etc. If you lay Manhattan onto Greater Toronto, it's less than a tenth of the size but houses half the population, and there's tons more to do that don't take 45 minutes to get to. Unfortunately a lot of the problems with Toronto can't be fixed easily because it has a lot to do with the way the city was originally planned.
 
E

EvilMario

Will QA for food.
ConvenientBox said:
I wouldn't call myself a pessimist, as there are good qualities to Toronto, it just isn't a world class city. From an outsider looking in, it must seem great - but I've been here all my life and have seen the cities underbelly and it isn't what it's cracked out to be. I mean if you don't like the nightlife scene there's pretty much absolutely nothing to do here, for one example.
Click to expand...

We don't go out for the nightlife at all, and enjoy plenty of what the city has to offer. Like I've stated before, I am always impressed with the amount of green space in Toronto if you step outside the 2kmx2km radius of 'the core'. The ravine system is one of the best features of the city.

Toronto has plenty of eatery options as well, many being well hidden down side streets, or out of the way neighborhoods. Toronto is slightly below par on gaming / comics / Japanese-import centric shops compared to some cities, although it's been improving slowly. Every neighborhood has their own unique set of mom n' pop shops worth checking out. Just keep in mind Yonge St and Queen St in the core don't really represent the city that well, with their cookie cutter large franchise shops (how many damn Ardenes do we need?)

And of course Toronto always has events, expos, parades, festivals, farmer's markets and any number of live performances going on every day of every week. If you're looking for 'something' to do, the choices are there.

Really, people that find Toronto boring don't go out of their way enough to check out what's going on. There are dozens of neighborhoods in the city that go unnoticed even by residents that have been here for years. Take time to actually explore your city and you'll discover plenty.
 
A

added_time

Member
EvilMario said:
I am always impressed with the amount of green space in Toronto if you step outside the 2kmx2km radius of 'the core'. The ravine system is one of the best features of the city.
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I agree. Last month, someone said to me: Toronto needs a big park.

I told them we have two very large parks. High Park and the Toronto Islands. They were really pleased to find that out. It made me wonder how many people don't know about them?!
 
R

Roto13

Member
Pterion said:
So I visited Toronto for real this time (well, 3rd time I've been in the city, but 1st time I really got to go out and walk downtown) and I was thoroughly impressed. I guess I'm an odd guy and I like urban jungles and skyscrapers and luxurious condos galore. I may be getting a job there in 3-5 years from now, and I'm excited about it. I was there for a conference, and you guys probably don't realize how much world-class medical expertise you have in your city.
Click to expand...
Sure we do! Toronto is a great place to... be sick....
ConvenientBox said:
I wouldn't call myself a pessimist, as there are good qualities to Toronto, it just isn't a world class city. From an outsider looking in, it must seem great - but I've been here all my life and have seen the cities underbelly and it isn't what it's cracked out to be. I mean if you don't like the nightlife scene there's pretty much absolutely nothing to do here, for one example.
Click to expand...
Ha ha ha ha ha ha, what. You must be incredibly boring if you can't find anything to do here during the day.
 
E

EvilMario

Will QA for food.
added_time said:
I agree. Last month, someone said to me: Toronto needs a big park.

I told them we have two very large parks. High Park and the Toronto Islands. They were really pleased to find that out. It made me wonder how many people don't know about them?!
Click to expand...

Indeed. Just look at a Google Map and zoom out. Notice the huge ravines. David A Balfour Park is a very secluded park, and a very deep ravine. You'll feel like you're out of the city. Cedarvale is another great park that's been divided into nicely trimmed fields, and untouched ravine landscape.

There are many more large parks as well (how many of you have actually seen the Scarborough Bluffs), and there are maybe hundreds of smaller city parks around every corner.
 
A

Appleman

Member
Even just going for a bike ride up the Don Valley bike path is an awesome way to get away from the city, considering it's just east of the core, but feels way more remote.
 
C

cbox

Member
@evil,

I do love the greenery, I'm training on my bike on the Humber trail almost daily so I do love that aspect. It's nice to have a cleanly paved path through the forest only to be 5 minutes away from any major intersection. And the scarborough bluffs are amazing - you should check out the badlands in Caledon, they're cool to walk thorough and experience.

@Roto, me - boring? I work downtown. I don't particularly find the events in this city to be very exciting. Nuit blance was really bad last year, the ex is the same as it's always been and when you've been going there for years, the excitement wears off. I grew up near farms so farmers markets are nothing new to me. My fav event is the Ride to Conquer Cancer which I've attended for 2 years now and cannot wait for next year.

I attend many of the big events, and photograph the small ones so I think I know a bunch about this city, I just wish there was more. Like a race track or somesuch (no, not the indy).

Guys don't get me wrong, I love this damn city - I've been here my whole life. I'm allowed to knitpick sometimes :)
 
L

lunarworks

Member
added_time said:
That is correct. It is definitely one of the best cities in the world. It's almost always ranked that way and some annoying pessimists aren't going to convince me otherwise.

Toronto is hilarious. It's full of people doing awesome shit all the time and then telling each other that the awesome stuff they just did, isn't actually awesome.
Click to expand...
The problem with Toronto is that we aspire to be awesome, but the rest of the country habitually tells us we suck, hurting our collective self esteem, and the "inner suburbs" of the city buy right into it, deciding that we shouldn't even try to be "world class". (They'd be happier living in Mississauga.) Also, we're usually not even on the USA's radar, and most of our entertainment comes from there, so that helps make us think we don't matter. Shows and movies filmed in Toronto are almost never set in Toronto. Then, internationally, when Canada comes up it's like "Montreal's cool, but I've never heard of Toronto".

So basically, Toronto's got a massive inferiority complex. :/


Everyone's got their hate on for hipsters, but at least they actually have pride in the city.
 
L

lunarworks

Member
ConvenientBox said:
^ All the hipsters I know moved to NYC
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We have to work harder to keep them, and Ford is doing a good job at driving them away.

Hipsters are the pioneers that build livable neighbourhoods.
 
S

StevieP

Banned
Fuzzy said:
I can't help but laugh at the way he stands. I loved it when he almost took a bite of the apple half way through the blessing. :lol
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Speaking of Ford, what's all the hooplah at City Hall today? Listening to 680, he sounds like he's getting lambasted but is still going to make the cuts.
 
W

WrenchNinja

Member
Appleman said:
Even just going for a bike ride up the Don Valley bike path is an awesome way to get away from the city, considering it's just east of the core, but feels way more remote.
Click to expand...
Man, I used to bike there all the time with my friends. Some how we didn't do it at all this summer. I should get in there before it gets too cold.
 
A

Azih

Member
StevieP said:
Speaking of Ford, what's all the hooplah at City Hall today? Listening to 680, he sounds like he's getting lambasted but is still going to make the cuts.
Click to expand...
It's the same issues but this is the first Council meeting in a while where every councillor gets a crack at him. Before it was all Executive Committee meetings which were just him and his toadies.
 
Z

Zombie James

Banned
StevieP said:
Speaking of Ford, what's all the hooplah at City Hall today? Listening to 680, he sounds like he's getting lambasted but is still going to make the cuts.
Click to expand...

All of council is starting to debate the cuts. The major problem right now is that the $774M figure is outdated and inaccurate but the City Manager won't give an updated figure, or talk about revenue sources, so Council is basically being asked to make cuts blind.
 
C

cbox

Member
Fuzzy said:
I can't help but laugh at the way he stands. I loved it when he almost took a bite of the apple half way through the blessing. :lol
Click to expand...

It looked as if he got honey all over his finger. He looks so "off" when he stands, fix your damn jacket man!
 
F

Fuzzy

I would bang a hot farmer!
His face is so red. His heart is going to explode one day soon if he doesn't do something about it.
 
E

EvilMario

Will QA for food.
Interesting that the NDP has such strong support in Northern Ontario. Is this new, or has it been like that for a while?
 
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