OK, all you Torontonians.. what do you do in Toronto (other than for work/school). Meaning, what are some places that you visit or some of the activities that you take part in.. or if you go to a certain pub, etc. Seems like I'm out of ideas as to where to go / what to do.. Plus, I'm curious..

I've been to all the major places.. minus the art gallery.. and I'm not into that kind of stuff anyway.. I'm not very big on the sightseeing scene either. More of a places-to-hang-out-and-drink/smoke person.

I hang out downtown most of the time, around Bloor, Bathurst & Bloor, & Dundas. Most of the time I just walk around rather than sit somewhere and have coffee/beer.

I don't like the 'uptown' scene. At all. Well, naturally.. for a city-person anyway.. Even if I don't do anything downtown and just walk around, I wouldn't be bored. Downtown Toronto is one of the best places I've ever been to. All sorts of people from all backgrounds (racial/ethnic, religious, music scenes, activists, etc.)

One of the best things about Toronto is the transportation system. For someone like me who doesn't have a car and isn't planning on getting one. Even people who have cars take the subway/bus a lot of the time, because it's much easier (avoid rush hour at all costs though :scared: ).

Hmm, OK, that's about all I can think of right now.. As for the names of places (bars and the like), I've mostly been to bars on Wellesley (where I no longer go) and James Joyce Irish Pub (between Spadina & Bathurst on Bloor).

Here's a good link for bars & nightlife in Toronto. Click . Would like to go to Scotland Yard one of these days. hehe..

Oooook, maybe the older folks won't like this thread that much, then! :scared: Or maybe I'm wrong...

Just want to add, compared to L.A & Burbank, Toronto is heaven. Now that I'm not in a very 'negative' mood, I'd have to admit that I wish I could stay here. heh..

I agree with you for the most part.

I find the secret to enjoying Toronto is enjoying it's neighbourhoods.

Kensington Market is great during the day. Parkdale is one of the more interesting areas. Ostensibly one of the poorer areas of Toronto, in fact it's brimming with creativity since more and more Queen Street artists get pushed west by gentrification. You can do some great gallery-hopping along there. The Drake's a great place to go at night.

Like the new Distillery District too. It reminds me a bit of Covent Garden.

My girlfriend and I love going to Little India. We go to the Indian supermarket and stock up on frozen vegetable curries. We usually stop for a "Chat", a bowl of chickpeas, crunchy stuff, yoghurt and other sauces. We visit the video and music shops and generally soak up the atmosphere. We usually up at Lahore which has the most wicked meat kebabs and finish the evening by getting a Kolfi (Indian ice cream) on the street. Little India is good for snack foods but don't expect gourmet curries.

Toronto's also a good comedy town. The Alt.Dot.Com lounge is on every Monday night at the Rivoli and in my neighbourhood on the Danforth there's The Bad Dog Comedy Improv on Wednesday and Saturday nights.

I like gigs too made easier for me as a non-smoker by the new smoking ban. This month I went to see Divine Comedy, next month it's the Delgados, both coincidentally at The Horseshoe. I like Lee's Palace too.

My favourite British pub is The Duke of Gloucester on Yonge Street between Wellesly and Bloor, upstairs on the east side. It somehow feels more authentic than most. Good food too.

Those are just a few things. As an ex-Londoner I have to say Toronto's a great place to live. You get many of the things that you would get in London, but a good deal more pleasantly and affordably. I'm not knocking London, it's a great city, but it does have the capacity to wear you down and make life a bit difficult sometimes.

Those who say Toronto's crime-ridden don't read comparitive statistics. For instance the per capita homicide rate is worse in many Canadian cities including Vancouver, Thunder Bay, Winnipeg and just about any American city you care to name. Many crime rates are actually worse in the suburbs of Toronto than in Toronto itself. All cities have problems, but Toronto has always felt like a relatively safe city to me.

I love those guys. They are hilarious. They performed at the int'l student orientation at the univ I attend, and that was one brilliant 'show'!

Yea, I've seen the Duke of Gloucester (although I've never been inside).. I'm in that area quite a lot, actually..

The new smoking ban is just.. umm, well, simply put, 'unconstitutional.' But let's not get into the politics of all that..

As for safety, well, it's RELATIVELY safe, but it's not quite as safe as Toronto police would like outsiders to believe.. Most of the stuff that goes on you don't hear about in the media. Some of it makes it to the Toronto Police website, but a lot of it doesn't. Anyway, I don't really feel like getting into the entire politics of it. Do I feel safe in TO? Well, yeah.. I suppose I do..

I remember during the whole SARS thing, Chinatown was DEAD. I think they lost a lot during those months..

As for Indian food, never tried it. Should do though. We even have an Indian restaurant on-campus. I like Jerusalem Restaurant at Leslie & Finch. Good Mediterranean food. OK now all this food talk made me drool.

Oh yes, and I've been to a couple of restaurants on Wellesley, and they were a total waste of money. TOTAL. That's why I don't usually go to restaurants I haven't been told about... But I should definitely try Indian food.

Hi,

The Madison is a great pub, I've been there a few times and it's a great place to hang out with friends and make friends! It's very unpretentious.

Yorkville is also a great place to hang out...there a number of bars there with rooftop decks, which are great during the summer. One is called Remy's.

As Lee mentioned I also love to explore the different neighbourhoods in the city, the beaches are a very pleasant area to visit on a lazy sunday afternoon.

I agree with you about the public transit, it's very good...far superior to London Transport! Not only is it on time it also doesn't cost too much.

Int.

I suppose all the trendy stuff is down Queen Street West and King Street in the 'entertainment district' if you go in for all that kind of stuff.

a good place near Bathurst & Bloor is called Paupers, I think it's a block east of Honest Ed's. they have a goood rooftop patio and a couple of levels of bars.

As said above there are a couple of good places in Yorkville and Bloor West Village where I live has some good places and is on the subway. Little Italy down college street has good places to eat.

I guess being the largest city in Canada there are a million places all depending on what you are looking for. toronto.com has good listings.

On the safety front I feel a lot safer in Totono at night than I ever did in Manchester. Obviously there are places in the city I wouldn't go to in the day never mind at night. There are just a lot less of them and I alwyas get the impression that they are fairly self contained in Toronto. In manchester I always found they ran into each other and even in the posh parts of the city you still got the people coming from the worse parts. I think in Toronto as long as you stay away from the worse areas and stay away from buying drugs and drug gangs etc. you are fairly safe. The transit system certainly helps as it is well run and dependable and you can easily get home from most places.

Drew

Can I ask a dumb question ... do any of you have kids??

If you do, what do they do in Toronto??

No kids. I'm in my mid twenties, so don't really have friends with kids either, so I'm not sure what they do.

I get the impression that sports are a big part of a kids life here! Ice Hockey, Football, Basket Ball etc. I'm sure there must be lots of things to do, especially as it's a big city.

As for feeling safe in the city, I feel very safe here, I have no problems walking around at night. Unlike London where I felt I had to be on my guard constantly. Plus I don't have to run home at night once I get off the bus in Toronto!!!

Most of the problems in Toronto seem to be gang related, not usually aimed at the general public.

Int.

There are a lot of activities for children, if that's what you're asking about, Glas. Especially in the summer, there are many summer camps, lots of fun activities, sports, etc. You can see lots of families at Centre Island & the beaches. Rollerblading, cycling, etc. In the winter there's a lot less activity, partly due to weather, partly due to school. But even then, there are a lot of after-school activities.

As for people my age (early twenties), mostly night life, going to the malls, sports, movies, etc.

I love the Toronto Islands!!! they are on of my favourite places in Toronto...so relaxed, with a fab view of the city skyline!

Think you're being a little harsh there wizzard. I've been drinking in Manchester City centre for the best part of 20 years (since I was old enough to!) and I have to say that I have always felt very safe. Infact I have hardly ever witnessed any trouble in all that time. Maybe i've been lucky - who knows.
Of course it goes on, but (like anywhere) if you use a bit of common sense and drink in the right areas then there is almost nothing to worry about.

Just like any other city in the UK or world most of the crime is not random, and is usually to do with other crime, social problems etc.

I feel much safer drinking in Manchester City centre than ANY 'middle class' market town I have been to. In my experience these places are far more prone to random acts of thuggery.

Btw our first place was in Hulme (between Moss Side and Old Trafford) where we lived for a couple of years without any problems what-so-ever. Yes, there were some grissly 'occurancies' during that period, but never random.

If you're saying Toronto is even safer - then great!!

Try Kilgour's on Bloor St (just east of Bathurst) good place to hang out on the patio Also, Quigley's on Queen St W is great for blues and jazz.

Centre Island, Harbourfront, Science Centre, tons of parks, High Park, girls love the shoe museum!

I never really felt that unsafe in Manchester city centre as it's such a busy place. I am thinking more of the general innercity area. I spent about 4 years there at university between say 98-03 and would never choose to live there again. Of course I know people who have lived there and never had any problems, my brother for one, however being a student and forced to live in crappy areas (we lived near Longsight) and really it sucked. I was robbed outside my house as were many of my friends, repeated burglaries, one friend was even thrown in the back of a van and driven around until his cards maxed out. We had kids as young as 5 spraypainting the phoneboxes and post boxes at the end of our street etc. etc. Sure Toronto has homless people everywhere but they aren't quite as aggressive or as quick to utter threats as the ones in Manchester.

Now obviously my personal experience has somewhat embittered me and the above is probably true of most inner city areas of run down ex industrial towns and cities. In fact I know I could go now to certain parts of toronto and see the same kind of thing. The main difference to me though is it's prevelance and culture. In Canada there are certain elements, mostly gangs and drug dealers etc. who are voilent and cause all the violent shootings you read about in the media and give places like Scarborough and the Jane/Finch area of Toronto such a notorious reputation. However they tend to keep themselves to themselves. What I felt more in UK cities was a tendancy for this to 'leak' into other areas of the city/town. I could be walking around nice posh Didsbury and see the same groups of 'yobs' or 'louts' or whatever they call them nowadays and feel just as threatened by them there as I did walking down an inner city backstreet. I mean all the buses had to have CCTV cameras on them just because of the level of assaults and robberies and so forth which you don't really even see in Toronto running up Jane street etc, no TTC drivers behind plastic sheilding etc. I dunno, I just feel safer say walking from the subway to my house here at 2am than I ever did in Manchester or Blackpool (where I grew up) etc.

Drew

The trouble is Wizzard you are not comparing Manchester to Toronto at all. You are comparing Longsight to Bloor.

It's a bit like me living in a £300,000 apartment at Number 1 Deansgate, Manchester (not that I do of course!) surrounded by designer shops, International Cuisine, wine bars etc and then moving to the worst part of Scarbrough. Where would I rather be? Where would I be more fearful of crime?

Wizzard, I'm glad you're enjoying life in Toronto and I'm sure it's a fantastic place to live. I can't wait to sample it myself. However Gotham City isn't a bad place to live either - for a run down ex industrial town