bingbong180

Comparing toronto to London to toronto is like like comparing an Audi to a BMW. There's no great difference . They're both first world alpha cities with their economies dominated by international finance . Both cities have experienced massive immigration from the developing world over the last 30 years and the white European population has gradually moved out satellite towns and the commuter belt. Canada is at an advantage over Uk in that its economy is closed tied to the USA and Mexico, whereas the uk is closely tied to the Eu where there is still huge unemployment and a shrinking ageing population.housing in toronto is better value than London.

dbd33

A made-in-Alliston Honda to a Jaguar surely. London has history, London has architecture, London has theatre, art, fashion. London is a big exciting city. Toronto has some nice malls.

humanist

AGO, ROM, Kensington Market, Distillery, Beaches, China Town, Harbourfront, Casa Loma, Toronto Islands?

It isn't THAT bad, come oooon!

I for one am very happy with Toronto after living in London for 10 years, there's no way I'd go back, even after the winter from hell (and more snow today).

fitchmeister

An advantage i'd like to point out is that it sounds like you are making the descision together, and like some others have posted your kids will be who they will be despite your efforts and they will have options to move away etc.. when they are older. I think the reality is when you are in UK you will miss Canada and when in Canada you'll miss the UK. Both have Pros and Cons.

iaink

The one thing that you more than likely wont find in both cities is your family and old friends.

You have to decide for yourself how important that is compared to the risks of returning to a perhaps uncertain financial future.

Now, most of you may recall that both my kids were born here in Canada. For 11 years we lived here with no family to speak of, although there were some honorary uncles and aunts and grandparents along the way that were not true relatives, just close friends. To cut a long story short we are now in contact with some of my wifes estranged family here and my kids for the first time have real cousins and aunts to hang out with without the need to be spending thousands and enduring an 8 hr flight, and they seem very happy with this change....

Of course, there was a reason that my wife is/was estranged from her family in the first place, so the family thing can be either a pro or a con I guess... Either way, its not something likely to be found in both london and toronto for the average expat.

dbd33

No, it's not. It's quite pleasant in parts.

phr1

I agree. These are nice interesting little spots, but how many times one can revisit and see the same things? They never change or evolve.
I minus Casa Loma, this is just an anomaly for me.. a bit of Disney Land. It’s pretty hideous just like a lot of the architecture in this city.

As for the rest of the list.. how do you compare the ROM and the AGO to the Natural history museum, V&A, Science museum, British museum, Tate Britain, Tate Modern, Royal academy of art, Portrait gallery, Toy museum, RIBA exhibitions room…do I need to carry on? I am a member of the AGO 4 yrs now and enjoyed many of the exhibitions there, the building is fantastic… but it’s still small and too little of an exposure for me. 70% of it is permanent exhibition so how many times one can see that? Talking about architecture.. I love how Torontonians hate the ROM. I wish they had more of these building around to shock them a little bit...

phr1

Trinity belwood in the summer is lovely!

phr1

I find it very hard to accept Toronto is a world class city.
Every time we come back from Europe or NY and drive into the downtown (where we live) I feel like I want to cry.
This is a North American sleepy village compare to London. Agree about the economy but not about anything else.
World class city for starters will NEVER live peacefully with Rob Ford as a mayor.. But Please(!) lets don’t start talking about him here..Please!

dbd33

I lived downtown and then in the Beach. We rarely ventured near Parkdale.

I still shop at the St. Lawrence Market. I very much like that place. And, of course, one goes to the Royal annually.

Oh, and I like Allan Gardens, the dog park, the greenhouse, the homeless alcoholic beggars.

humanist

Yeah, I know what you're saying. I was just making the point that TO is not quite the cultural wasteland that it's sometimes made out to be.

I guess the "life stage" you're at also makes a difference. We live in The Beaches with our 2 year old, so trips to the theatre, art galleries etc. are few and far between.

JAJ

Perhaps something has been missed in the detail, but you suggest that your partner is Canadian by descent. Which means that your older child probably isn't a Canadian citizen, unless there are some special circumstances, OR he has been granted Canadian citizenship.

If you are going to leave Canada, it would be recommended to ensure your older son has his Canadian citizenship before leaving. Same goes for you. A family of mixed nationalities is sometimes unavoidable, but has the risk to cause complications and/or strife later on. Especially when such situation could have been avoided by making the right applications at the right time.

Gozit

I would agree. The oldest child is granted citizenship immediately on arrival on a PR visa though. They should have applied for that now. As the oldest son should have come over on PR, and I would have thought OP would have had her citizenship by now as she surely came on PR too?

phr1

my kids are both Canadians and british. no worries there. thanks for your thought.

MarylandNed

Seriously, if Toronto makes you want to cry, you really should move!

What are the "world class" cities? This is very subjective. Different people will have different views on the attributes that a "world class" city must possess.

I have lived in London and Toronto and was quite happy in both. It should be obvious that they are different cities. I think in terms of big city excitement/attractions, the top 3 in the world are probably (in no particular order) New York, London and Paris. It's pointless trying to compare Toronto or any other city in the world to those 3 because everywhere else will come up short to some degree. Apart from New York, what other cities in North America come close to being "world class"? We can't all live in New York so, if we want to live in North America, we have to live somewhere else. There are a number of interesting cities in North America that I could see myself living in e.g. Montreal, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington DC. But are any of those "world class"? Does it even matter as long as they you find them good enough to live in?

I do think there are many more interesting cities in Europe but that is to be expected when a large part of the attraction of any city for many people is history, culture, language, art, architecture, etc.