Two years ago we moved out of Toronto and I gained a little bit of perspective on the living conditions in the city. This is my comparison of living in the city to living in the suburbs of Toronto.
Our decision to move out of Toronto was solidified when the mayor of Toronto announced a 3% land transfer tax. That and the fact that our daughter had difficulty breathing at age three, which seemed to occur when we were in the city. In some way, this was no surprise when one notes the smog cover visible on approach to the city from weekend trips. Not to mention having to pay for parking on our own front-yard parking space.
We were able to escape the dreaded tax just in the nick of time and our daughter's breathing problems disappeared within a couple of weeks.
Coming back into the city on daily basis for work, I can see the thick brown cover that Torontonians can's see above them. It makes me want to turn back and stay away. Thankfully, once you are in the city, at least there is no visual reminder. Deceiving, but at least somewhat less unnerving than having to look at it while there. It is very characteristic of Torontonians to be in a total denial and take their morning “health” run on the trails by the lake, right beside the 6 lanes of traffic standing there on Lakeshore Blvd. in the morning rush hour, right beside the QEW, which supplies another 6 lines of bumper-to bumper traffic.
I suppose when I lived there I didn't miss what I did not have. We are in a new suburb, quite far from Toronto (Oakville is 45 km away from the centre of the city). It has plenty of interconnecting parks for running, walking and strolling with the kids, with frequent playground areas. Most of the schools are new, modern and bright. For the same price as the house in Toronto, we bought a house three times the size and gained a large backyard. In Toronto we did not have anything that could be classified as a yard. It was possible to perhaps have a house with a yard, but not in an area I would considered safe and still under 10 km from the city core where I work.
Oh my goodness. I just saw something really funny. A website with a title "Living in Canada" http://www.livingin-canada.com/living-in-toronto.html
ReplyDeleteOne of the pictures shows "Toronto Transportation Corridor". Nothing caould be further form the truth. That is a short piece of trail, then you hit the worst areas in the downtown. Surprise!
Even better, they say "The TTC's far-reaching and reliable network of buses and streetcars are interconnected by an extensive underground subway system." Oh my goodness, that is hilarious. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, it's written by people who want you to move there.