Toronto named best place to live.

[Nationalist]

LOL...Toronto...the "best place to live" compared to...Montreal. Such stupidity.

I moved here from Calgary as a young man seeking a change and excitement. I got married here...raised my kids here...and now I want the hell out. Both of my sons have been mugged here. More than once. The traffic is a nightmare. The city is chalk full of self-entitled little tweenkies who think life owes them something.

To summarize...some people like Toronto. To me its a hell-hole that I fully intend to flee as soon as I retire.

[Zeitgeist]

On 12/30/2021 at 1:19 PM, Nationalist said:

LOL...Toronto...the "best place to live" compared to...Montreal. Such stupidity.

I moved here from Calgary as a young man seeking a change and excitement. I got married here...raised my kids here...and now I want the hell out. Both of my sons have been mugged here. More than once. The traffic is a nightmare. The city is chalk full of self-entitled little tweenkies who think life owes them something.

To summarize...some people like Toronto. To me its a hell-hole that I fully intend to flee as soon as I retire.

My only major criticisms are that the transportation infrastructure hasn’t kept up with the growth, developers run roughshod over the heritage, and its property values are at stratospheric levels, a sign of the city’s international appeal but also of the fact that people with low and average incomes can’t really afford to live there anymore.  Could use more parks and architectural beauty downtown as well.  

[Nationalist]

39 minutes ago, Zeitgeist said:

My only major criticisms are that the transportation infrastructure hasn’t kept up with the growth, developers run roughshod over the heritage, and its property values are at stratospheric levels, a sign of the city’s international appeal but also of the fact that people with low and average incomes can’t really afford to live there anymore.  Could use more parks and architectural beauty downtown as well.  

To me...Toronto is the ideal example of the failure of "Multi-culturalism". People flock to Toronto so much the province had to dampen the party immigration was having here a couple summers ago. The result has been a visible increase in daily shootings and other crime. I'm not saying these 'newcomers' are the cause...directly...but I would say we certainly did not base our great refugee program on merit.

And so we got what we asked for.

This idea that completely different cultures can easily live in harmony without some sort of common or base sense of belonging, is simply dangerous and short-sighted. If there is anything the Yankees did that really impresses me, while both young nations were establishing their identities, its their concept of "The Melting Pot". And now the Libbies are trying to eliminate it.

Dangerous and short-sighted.

Edited January 11, 2022 by Nationalist

[Zeitgeist]

54 minutes ago, Nationalist said:

To me...Toronto is the ideal example of the failure of "Multi-culturalism". People flock to Toronto so much the province had to dampen the party immigration was having here a couple summers ago. The result has been a visible increase in daily shootings and other crime. I'm not saying these 'newcomers' are the cause...directly...but I would say we certainly did not base our great refugee program on merit.

And so we got what we asked for.

This idea that completely different cultures can easily live in harmony without some sort of common or base sense of belonging, is simply dangerous and short-sighted. If there is anything the Yankees did that really impresses me, while both young nations were establishing their identities, its their concept of "The Melting Pot". And now the Libbies are trying to eliminate it.

Dangerous and short-sighted.

I think there’s too little appreciation of the founding cultures in Canada.  Post-National State is a void too easily filled by China or some creepy nihilist form of Cultural Marxism.  Multiculturalism is nice when we get to enjoy each other’s cultures without forgetting the value of traditional Canada.  It becomes a nightmare when we start canceling even the good qualities of the past and pretending that all ideological approaches are of equal value.  

Edited January 11, 2022 by Zeitgeist

[Michael Hardner]

29 minutes ago, Zeitgeist said:

I think there’s too little appreciation of the founding cultures in Canada.  Post-National State is a void too easily filled by China or some creepy nihilist form of Cultural Marxism.  Multiculturalism is nice when we get to enjoy each other’s cultures without forgetting the value of traditional Canada.  It becomes a nightmare when we start canceling the past and pretending that all ideological approaches are of equal value.  

A "country" is the values and the way of life of the people who live in it...  Foods, music, headdresses etc. are decorations only - nice to have but Canada is about things that other countries couldn't ever achieve.  

And Canadian Culture is all about cancelling the past - that's what Residential Schools were supposed to do remember ?

[Zeitgeist]

26 minutes ago, Michael Hardner said:

A "country" is the values and the way of life of the people who live in it...  Foods, music, headdresses etc. are decorations only - nice to have but Canada is about things that other countries couldn't ever achieve.  

And Canadian Culture is all about cancelling the past - that's what Residential Schools were supposed to do remember ?

Your second paragraph is supposed to surprise or make me shudder.  It doesn’t.  There were two inevitable problematic positions to take towards Indigenous when Canada became a country: complete separation of immigrant colonial culture from Indigenous (impossible due to the sheer volume of new residents and the fact that integration was long established— ask the Métis) or assimilation and education (public education in any form recognizable today was primarily a settler creation (messy because it involved one dominant group teaching language, curriculum in math, science, and inevitably in the traditions of Western culture descending from the Greeks, Romans, and Semitic beliefs).

So, either path was a choice with big compromises.  Living away from home was unavoidable for children from remote communities receiving public education.  Not providing education would’ve been considered deplorable treatment.  How this education system operated had many problems, but again, context is everything.  Think of the US Civil War, slavery, Jackson’s Manifest Destiny, the resettlement Trail of Tears, and the bounty on Indians in the western US.  We seem to want a perfect history for Canada, but you won’t find it here or anywhere.  The warring pre-contact tribes have their own stories of oppression.  Yes, Canadians should learn from the mistakes of the past.  We should also recognize the many historic strengths, without which we wouldn’t enjoy the institutions, rule of law, and parliamentary democracy we have today, including the freedom to dismantle “colonialism.”

[Michael Hardner]

3 hours ago, Zeitgeist said:

1. Your second paragraph is supposed to surprise or make me shudder.  

 

1. No.

The rest of your post is a defense of the policy, of a kind.  I have no issue with it, but it's still Cancel Culture.

Canada loves cultural engineering.  It's what we do.

[Zeitgeist]

28 minutes ago, Michael Hardner said:

1. No.

The rest of your post is a defense of the policy, of a kind.  I have no issue with it, but it's still Cancel Culture.

Canada loves cultural engineering.  It's what we do.

Not defending it.  Just describing it. Residential Schools were an attempt at a solution that became the source of other problems, like so many tragedies in history.  

[Michael Hardner]

14 hours ago, Zeitgeist said:

Not defending it.  Just describing it. Residential Schools were an attempt at a solution that became the source of other problems, like so many tragedies in history.  

Ok - so you are adding to my point not disagreeing.  Ok.  We are on the same page.

 

[Moonlight Graham]

I think it's really hard not to both love and hate Toronto.  There's just so much to love and hate about it.  If you only hate it or love it then you've never been there, or you've never left there.

[Nationalist]

The best place to live...just got dumped on. About 3 feet of snow over night. 

Edited January 17, 2022 by Nationalist

[Zeitgeist]

4 hours ago, Nationalist said:

The best place to live...just got dumped on. About 3 feet of snow over night. 

Yup and the snow removal people are “sick” in Brampton.  This Covid testing and screening is crippling us.  Everyone can stay home and go on the dole indefinitely.  

[Nationalist]

1 hour ago, Zeitgeist said:

Yup and the snow removal people are “sick” in Brampton.  This Covid testing and screening is crippling us.  Everyone can stay home and go on the dole indefinitely.  

I know eh? The stupid is monumental. 

[eyeball]

Toronto...the best place to leave. Closing in an nearly 50 years ago now in a 67 Dodge van.

The pictures of all the snow reminds me of the time my dad took me down into the Don Valley behind our place where we watched the last commercial steam train leaving TO when I was about 5.  Snow also reminds me of one of the last jobs I had in Toronto, bike courier around the Jarvis/Dundas area - with an old school CCM Special, it even had a bell.  One day it snowed like crazy so they took us off the bikes around 1030 and put on street cars and such.  TTC crapped out around 230 and we were on foot until the end of the day.    

Edited January 18, 2022 by eyeball

[SpankyMcFarland]

These best place to live lists are daft. There’s little to be learned from them. 

Edited January 19, 2022 by SpankyMcFarland

[eyeball]

38 minutes ago, SpankyMcFarland said:

This best place to live lists are silly. There’s little to be learned from them. 

Thankfully I don't need a list.  I only moved once after coming to the coast, from across the road.

[impartialobserver]

On 1/18/2022 at 7:49 PM, SpankyMcFarland said:

These best place to live lists are daft. There’s little to be learned from them. 

Agreed. Every year it changes. My hometown, Boise ID, frequently has been at the top of these lists starting in the late 80's. I chose my current residence, Reno, not because of a list but rather happenstance. Got a good job and decided not to move. 

[Nationalist]

Lol...I wonder how much this ranking cost? 

Toronto's a dump. A sewer hole full of gangs, insane people and perpetual traffic jams. It's slowly becoming the virtue-signalling capital of the world. I've made a lot of money in this city. And when I retire, I'll take it all and move somewhere nice. A place where normal folks can still manage to ride bikes without the need for special lanes. A place where I have more than a postage stamp for a yard. A place where English is still heard in grocery stores. A place that has room to park your car on the road...without collecting parking tickets.

[Guest]

Yeah, I don't think today that Toronto even cracks the top 10 best cities globally.

I mean, I wouldn't understand how they would.

They're one of the most expensive cities to live in are over crowded, road infrastructure hasn't been updated to mirror the surging population, leading to arguably one of the worst cities in North America to commute in.

I mean, great city overall for the entertainment, shopping districts, sporting venues and overall quality.

But to me, it depends on what you consider for a city to be great.

I'll always love Toronto, but maybe am biased, as have traveled the globe. Toronto doesn't come remotely close to the top.

[Boges]

On 5/2/2023 at 6:06 AM, Nationalist said:

Lol...I wonder how much this ranking cost? 

Toronto's a dump. A sewer hole full of gangs, insane people and perpetual traffic jams. It's slowly becoming the virtue-signalling capital of the world. I've made a lot of money in this city. And when I retire, I'll take it all and move somewhere nice. A place where normal folks can still manage to ride bikes without the need for special lanes. A place where I have more than a postage stamp for a yard. A place where English is still heard in grocery stores. A place that has room to park your car on the road...without collecting parking tickets.

Angry Boomer says what? 

[Boges]

On 5/3/2023 at 3:46 AM, Perspektiv said:

Yeah, I don't think today that Toronto even cracks the top 10 best cities globally.

I mean, I wouldn't understand how they would.

They're one of the most expensive cities to live in are over crowded, road infrastructure hasn't been updated to mirror the surging population, leading to arguably one of the worst cities in North America to commute in.

I mean, great city overall for the entertainment, shopping districts, sporting venues and overall quality.

But to me, it depends on what you consider for a city to be great.

I'll always love Toronto, but maybe am biased, as have traveled the globe. Toronto doesn't come remotely close to the top.

Are there any large cities that don't deal with affordability and traffic? 

[impartialobserver]

24 minutes ago, Boges said:

Are there any large cities that don't deal with affordability and traffic? 

No.. It is somewhat of an impossibility to have the population density that makes one a "city" and not have traffic. Also, any place that is highly demanded.. is going to have an imbalance where demand exceeds supply and therefore price goes up relatively. This is not solely the problem of Toronto, NYC, Montreal, Boston..etc. This happens in the mid-size cities such as Boise, Reno, Spokane, Salt Lake City.

[Nationalist]

1 hour ago, Boges said:

Angry Boomer says what? 

Angry Boomer says...decisions about the functionality of a major city, should be made based on maintaining and improving functionality. Not based on the whims of young Greenies.

[Boges]

10 minutes ago, Nationalist said:

Angry Boomer says...decisions about the functionality of a major city, should be made based on maintaining and improving functionality. Not based on the whims of young Greenies.

Are there any large cities that would have the demographics and policies you approve of? 

[Nationalist]

23 minutes ago, Boges said:

Are there any large cities that would have the demographics and policies you approve of? 

Don't know. I know I'm not a big fan of the decisions being made in Toronto.