Alan2005

Sure. I just didn't think it was very funny. I guess I can give them credit for at least making the effort

dboy

I found the reaction to it more funny. I don't have any opinions about what torontonians are like. I found it more curiously amusing than funny, and was struck by how counter conservative it was.

Alan2005

I'm not offended by it - I just see it for what it is. And that's that it is a cynical marketing ploy designed to get the reaction it did rather than be a humourous "joke". I don't see PR stunts like this as particularly subversive myself.

dollface

leoline

I've lived in London,Vancouver and Toronto. A lot depends on your outlook and income. There is always a lot going on in London. Vancouver is pretty but small. It rains a lot! We are in Toronto and considering returning to the UK. Winters are seriously cold and if you don't mind spending half the year indoors then that's fine. Spring and Summer seem to get squashed into a few months of the year. A secure job makes all the difference but of course there are no guarantees these days. Take your pick! Leo

dollface

Or you could always work with the winter and ski - downhill and cross country, snowboard, skidoo, skate, snowshoe etc etc Canada does not hibernate in the winter.........far from it.

iaink

LOL, Iqaluit or Yellowknife are SERIOUSLY cold. Toronto is not that bad, relatively speaking, even compared to Edmonton, Regina etc.

I dont spend half my year indoors, I dress appropriatley and I'm out skating and skiing in the winter when time allows.

As I've said many times before, to live here you have to embrace the climate and make the best of the seasonal variation. If you want a UK climate, its probably best to stay in the UK...

Oakvillian

I haven't lived in Vancouver so can't speak for your third option, but having lived and worked in and around London and Toronto for several years, I think it all depends on what you mean by living in the city.

In London I lived at various points in Walthamstow, Fulham and Chiswick. I variously had a short walk to work or the commuter slog into the West End, the City and Docklands. Here I have never lived in downtown TO, but spent a few weeks in a highrise apartment in Mississauga before moving to outer suburbia. My thoughts are obviously clouded by my own experiences, but here they are fwiw.

As a young, relatively affluent singleton, there's no question in my mind that London is a better bet. Culture, vibrancy, closeness to Europe, amount of holiday to enjoy that proximity.... all strong positives. With a young family, however, the sheer size, the sardine-can crowded-togetherness, and the staggering cost of real estate made it increasingly difficult to enjoy London. In the western suburbs of Toronto, for the same commuting time to a downtown office, I was able to trade a 750sq ft flat for a decent sized detached house. I'd have had to increase commuting time by a factor of about 3 to move far enough out of London to be able to afford the space I now enjoy. So a lot of my enjoyment of Toronto and environs is linked to that.

The downside is that Toronto is orders of magnitude below London on scales of culture, history, architecture (although there are some genuinely interesting buildings, the majority is remarkably bland) and a whole load of other intangibles. In London you have the choice of however-many theatres, symphony halls, ballet companies, and so on. Toronto has a couple of theatres showing pre- or post-Broadway productions, a couple of passably good repertory companies, one strong symphony orchestra, an opera company of sorts... sure, there are excellent festivals (Carabana's been mentioned, there's TIFF, the Luminato festival, a fair few music festivals for pretty much all genres) but not much in between. While there are some really excellent restaurants, there are many, many more in London.

London has much better variety and choice in decent pubs, the vast majority of which serve better beer than the vast majority of Toronto bars.

So for me, if money were no object and I could afford to live in the heart of London with as much space as I have now (one of those villas on Cheyne Walk would be nice...) then London would win hands down. In the real world, Toronto offers a better compromise for me right now between space and amenities, and a better environment for a growing family.

Butch Cassidy

I'm sure that kind of advice has been given before (by others I mean), BUT

Rob_999

Ditto.

EDIT: if you're going to throw Vancouver into the equation, then you can forget London....

Butch Cassidy

Exactly what one of my later posts said.

ShawnMcCrea

Wonders where "in Limbo" is... ? Those are pretty strong words for someone who doesnt seem to have to much experience with the city. Toronto has a million things to offer, im assuming your not looking in the right places. If your view that old architecture is much more favourable than an American style city than obviously you wont think Toronto is the most visually appealing, thats fine thats your opinion.

Your definately a "cup half empty" kind of guy thats for sure... Not sure where the chip on the shoulder comes from but it isnt the must becoming to view everything on the earth as if it owes you something...

christmasoompa

It's just Butch's personal preference and opinion, surely? Which he is perfectly entitled to. Him disliking Toronto is hardly equal to a 'chip on the shoulder'!

Personally, I agree with him, I think Toronto's awful. And I'm a 'glass half full' kind of girl, but just don't like it! I love other cities (Cape Town, NYC, for example), but dislike Toronto - again, just my opinion.

This is a thread with other people's views of Toronto (and London/Vancouver) in, if you don't agree with them that's fine, but no need to jump down their throat for expressing them.

Butch Cassidy

Where the Hell are you coming from????

What makes you think I'm a cup half empty guy? I dont like TO end of story. I didnt mention the bleeding architecture, I said I prefered Van, where the hell is the old architecture there?

If you want to 'have a go at me' feel free but for god sake have some substance to your attack

Butch Cassidy

Thanks CO, just for the record some my Favourite cities (for DIFFERENT reasons). Joburg, Cape Town, Perth (Australia), Edinburgh, Singapore, Bangkok, Boston, San Francisco, Houston, Vienna, Brussels, Prague

Cities I DISLIKE: NYC, TO (obviously), Birmingham, KL, LA, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Frankfurt.