Hello there,

I moved from the UK (London) to Vancouver in September 2007 and me & my wife (who is from Toronto) are thinking of moving to Toronto in May/June.

For me Vancouver's negatives outweigh the positives. Work wise I have gained a lot of experience and have a senior position in a not for profit organization that has created a lot of positives in the Province so that is not the issue. For me Vancouver is a small resort town with very little to offer by way of culture or fun. Great for outdoors stuff and based in wonderful surroundings. But not much else.

So anyhow I am wondering what the general feel of Toronto is at the moment. What is the average cost to rent a 2 bedroom apartment and what is the economy like?.

My only real fear is moving all our stuff (has a bad shipping experience moving over here) so we are thinking of hiring a U-Haul and driving (are we mad).

Cheers,
Richard

To be very general, the economy in the gta is slowly dragging itself out of a hole but it's sputtering along the way. I suspect it will continue this way throught this year.

Rent for a 2 bdrm can go from between $900-$2000 a month, depending on your chosen location and the amenities. Rent usually costs more in areas where there is easy access to shopping and the subway. So the closer you are to the core of the city, the pricier it can get.

I'm a westender, so I always recommend high park, bloor west village, roncesvalles for it's polish and eastern european charm, but that's just me.

To be honest I really miss living in a multi-cultural city and Toronto should fill that void for me so thank you for the advice.

Workwise, I came to Canada thinking that I would wash dishes if I had to but was fortunate enough to get my current job. I will still wash dishes if I have to.

Cheers for the information.

Yes, this city definitely has that going for it if that's something you appreciate. I have heard people say that Van isn't as multicultural as it claims, but here it just "is".

I prefer 'just is' to lets make a big thing about it (when in reality multi- in Vancouver is just a lot of really unnecessary blowing of trumpets from the Government and City). Very odd.

This is exactly what I've heard.

Me too. But I thought you lived in Etobicoke or Brampton or somewhere?

Ive lived in both, not long in TO. For me certainly TO feels like a bigger city - much more so than Vancouver, yet much less so than London or Paris. I didn't fall in love with Vancouver when I lived there but would be fairly happy in either place accepting the differences.

Hi
I must be living in another 'Van'

Daily I work with people whose family roots originate from china, japan, germany, mexico, india, pakistan, new zealand, australia, columbia, jamacians, etc .. and actually with very few 'born in canada canadians'..
cheers
Jerry

but not the Irish!

(from Blazin' Saddles)

what a load of tosh. While there are not many black or Latino people here, there are people from just about everywhere else.

Van is more of a bicultural city - Asian & western. TO & London definitely have more of a visible multicultural mix..

Agreed. Vancouver is desperate to be seen as a 'diverse, multicultural' city, but in reality it is mainly asian and western. I know there have been asian people here for a long time, but the bulk of the immigration is very recent and it doesn't have the same feel as multicultural areas in NY etc that have been well established over time.

Being a truly multicultural city is about more than just the faces on the streets.

Ps, Richard. Good luck and I'd be interested in how you get on. A move to Toronto is something I've mulled over too.

As Rob_999 says, it's bicultural. It doesn't feel that multicultural to me, it's either HK Chinese or western, with a small percentage of others thrown in. The city does bang on about it tho.

Personally I couldn't give a toss whether a place is multicultural or not.

True enough I suppose. I don't care either. Can't say I've given it much thought.