British Expats - Sydney, Australia vs. Toronto, Canada

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Sydney, Australia vs. Toronto, Canada

Hi all,

There's been a few posts here and there, in this forum and others, comparing Sydney and Toronto. I thought I would chime in and offer my two cents by starting a new post.

I grew up in Toronto and have lived there all my life. I'm in my 30s now, and recently moved to Sydney for work. I've been in Australia for a year now. I also want to say that I've lived in Chicago, Hong Kong, and London, so I have experiences living elsewhere.

But frankly, hands down, I prefer Toronto over Sydney. Here are my reasons why:

Sydney is very pretty, much more prettier than Toronto, that's for sure. The harbour, the beaches, the Opera House. But honestly, that's pretty much it. To me, having been in Sydney for a year, it's a very "superficial" city in that there's nothing underneath. Think of the Opera House for a moment. It's strikingly beautiful, but the Sydney Symphony is second rate, and there is no resident opera or ballet company. There are multiple sports teams (rugby, Aussie rules football, etc.), but there are no arts. Yeah, the Lion King is playing, but that's it. The Opera Australia and Australian Ballet come to Sydney every few months. The Opera House is beautiful but there's no substance underneath.

The weather. Toronto beats Sydney hands-down too. Here's why. Yes, there's snow in Toronto, for almost half a year. But honestly, there's a lot of beauty to snow. The classic image of Christmas is "white Christmas". To drink a cup of hot cocoa, hot coffee, hot whatever in winter has a unique feeling that can't be matched drinking the same beverage on a beach or in hot weather. And honestly, Sydney for most of the summer is too hot anyways. I read one survey with Britons recently that they consider the "best" weather to be between 20-25 Celsius. Toronto fits in that range for summer, and nearly a large part of spring too. Sydney? Yeah, it's hot, but much hotter than that. It's unbearable during the summer, and even during the spring too. And if you love to tan yourself, then Sydney's good in that respect. But honestly, Sydney is way too hot.

And speaking of weather in Sydney, during the winter, it's hell, in the sense that it can be extremely cool at night or in the morning but can go up to 18 or so during the day. There's no way to dress properly. (Reminds me of London in that respect).

Culture and diversity. Yeah, Sydney has great beaches, but again underneath, there's no substance. In Toronto, we have festivals that celebrate everything -- and it's different every week (during the summers at least). One week might be salsa, the next week might be a Chinatown festival, the next a Greek food festival, the next Caribbean culture, and so forth. What's in Sydney? There's wonderful "markets" -- Glebe, Rozelle, Bondi, and so forth. But it's the same each friggin' week. Seriously. You go to the market twice, and you've seen everything. Nothing changes.

Of course, these are my personal experiences. I'm single, and don't have kids. So I can't comment on schools. I also live pretty close to the CBD/downtown, so I haven't used transit as much. And I also don't think it's wise to compare cost of living, as this depends on so much more beyond the city. It's linked to the country, so I won't compare cost of living.

But honestly, I've been here for a year, and it's boring. Well, I shouldn't put it this way. I love going to Bondi and walking around the Opera House and the harbour in general. But to me, there really is no substance underneath all this beauty. Which is a shame, really, as Sydney doesn't really live up to its potential.

I'm sorry, Sydney. You're cool. But you're not *that* cool.

My two cents.
David