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My favorite cities and other thoughts...and how I feel about Toronto...

Everyone: There is excellent thoughts about cities from many posters here and I do agree with many thoughts posted along with this topic...

The Cities that I have gotten to know over time include NYC,Philadelphia,Chicago and Buffalo for starters...I really like these cities even with their flaws...

I agree with what was mentioned about San Francisco...I spent about one month there exactly 10 years ago (November 2000) and I found out that SF has the highest per-capita homeless population in the US (only NYC has a higher physical number-remember NYC is more then 8 times the size as SF...) and because of the Mediterreanean climate on the Pacific Coast-feeezing does not happen very often let alone snow or other Winter weather living outdoors is more of an option there...and I found that SF is not only one of the most liberal cities in the US it is also one of the most "PC" as in Politically Correct also...I liked SF but as mentioned it is one of the most expensive North American cities...

But in closing I must mention Toronto...I liked it so much I not only came back on repeated trips basically back in the 80s era and I also wanted to learn about the City and area more then just the average tourist places...

I am a member of this Forum because of how much I like and remember Toronto...it's one of my favorite North American cities...
and thanks to my membership here I have learned even more about Toronto...

Thoughts from Long Island Mike
 
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Mexico City is one of my favourites. It's crazy and huge but also unusually strange, spooky (for example, black, hairless dogs that look like bats) & romantic (probably because I spend the first day feeling drunk as I adjust to the altitude). The central districts are comfortably midrise with a good mix of old Spanish and Art Deco buildings (an interesting, roundabout link back to Aztec pyramid architecture). Food is as adventurous as you want to get from street meat to insect dishes (caveat: I've generally had minimal stomach issues in Mexico compared to some). The Mexican collision of Spanish and indigenous cultures is everywhere (unlike a lot of places where the colonial cultures completely erased the local cultures, BA for example). The anthropological museum is top notch for covering that. Even the tourist traps are fantastic, especially the pyramid complex. It has a history of place of exile (you can visit Trotsky's compound which has been kept mostly the same as it was the day he was killed) that's still relevant (like the US Iraq vet who served us mescal). There are plenty of interesting borrowed bits: chunks of Paris have been grafted on and the massive subway system is Montreal's. Navigating the subway is an experience and so is travelling through one of the bus stations. There's that cool plaza from the original Total Recall ... I haven't been to a city that feels as much like an adventure as Mexico City.

My up-and-coming choice is Havana (but I've only been twice). It seems to be waking out of its slumber of neglect and the reforms are unleashing a lot of excitement.
 
And on the topic of San Francisco, on the (very attractive) surface it did seem touristy and culturally a little dry. And bossy and rude. There were signs everywhere specifically. telling. you. what. to. do. And the first bar we went to made us pre-clear our credit card before they would serve us (never had that happen anywhere, before or since). But we were visiting locals and they took us around and we had a great time.
 
Being half-Polish myself, I am quite fond of the way Warszawa (Warsaw) is developing. Even transit-wise, Toronto can take a few notes.

Definitely love the bike lane system the city offers now. Almost on par with the Netherlands and Denmark.
 
There are only two cities that i find worth visiting. The one i grew up near Montreal and the other i visited last year, Mississauga.
 
It must be different after the crash, but I spent 4 months in Madrid in 2003 and I keep wanting to go back, it was probably one of the densest and more vibrant cities I've been to (after NYC), also really beautiful. The people are kind of loud and sometimes rude, but my family is from Spain so I'm used to it. Barcelona is lovely but it's tooooo laid back for me.

I would live in London, NYC, Berlin.
Paris is pretty but I wouldn't necessarily live there.
I love Chicago but it's too much like Toronto with like 10 times the crime and no health care, so why bother.

I'm seriously thinking about moving to Montreal in a year or two, we'll see how that goes. I chose to move to Toronto over Montreal 5 years ago and I'm really happy I did, but Montreal has always been an itch in need of scratching.

Nods to Santiago, where I was born, and Buenos Aires. The two of them are like Toronto and Montreal, Santiago being the more prosperous one now, lots of tall buildings and construction, modern, high quality of life, but a little duller, and Buenos Aires being the cousin with the European flare that has seen better times but it's still beautiful and fun.
 
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As I get older, my ideal city is not a razzle dazzle hive of humanity with 24 hour nightlife and skyscrapers but a city where I can walk dignified old streets alone at night and be left to my thoughts. I'm very intrigued by Vienna, which I've never been to, but charms me with its endless Art Nouveau blocks and ring of parks and palaces. I think it would be big enough to get a big city thrill, now and then, but it doesn't trade away its livability. I like the fact that it peaked in population at 2 million in 1910, because Central Europe ca. 1910 represents the absolute zenith in urban architecture and city building for me.

When it comes to favourite cities that I've visited, I have a very high opinion of Hong Kong. I can't put my finger on it, but it feels like more of the centre of the world than either London or New York. Maybe it's the fact that it's much closer to the world's actual centre of population; the world's manufacturing heartland - a hinterland of 100 million people - sits at its doorstep, and I bet that over half of the world's population is within a 4 hour flight. Maybe it's the delight in seeing people of colour (i.e. the majority of the world's population) in positions of power, rather than serving drinks and driving cabs. Whether it's Indo-Hong Kong bankers or Mainland Chinese millionaires lugging giant LV suitcases full of swag around TST or African entrepreneurs emerging from the elevators of Chungking mansions to conduct trade in Guangzhou, everyone seems to be in control and full of hustle. I know it's untrue, but everyone seemed like their own boss. Add a skyline that beats Manhattan in a backdrop that rivals Vancouver and I was wide eyed with amazement the whole time I was there.
 
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Only one city that i love the most is Great Toronto City because i feel that this is mine dream city and night view of Toronto skylines are just amazing. All the skyline night views look like a dream world.
 
Hank said:
Not to change things, but has anyone lived in any non-Toronto cities that they would recommend? I'd be interested to hear how these cities work for liveability. The only city (other than toronto) I've spent any amount of time in was Amsterdam, where I lived for about four months in 2006. It was an absolutely amazing city to live in for four months, but I don't think I could live there forever. It was just too small. As a city to visit, though, or to stay for a while, it's absolutely amazing.
Click to expand...

I lived in Amsterdam for just over a year. That was really more than enough. Strangely, it's a city for partiers and for people with kids. I was neither.
And winter weather is wet and windy and dark all the time. More depressing than snow.
Any service is stereotypically horrible in general.
Also I did not enjoy the food. I went back to visit in the summer and they have a new Marks and Spencer's grocery store which would have made my stay far more enjoyable.

Since then, I've lived in Tokyo for the last 5 years and couldn't recommend it more. You need someone to help you through all the government paperwork crap and get an apartment. But once you are all set up, it's extremely livable. I live in the inner suburbs and pretty much anything I could want is available within a 15 minute walk. 20 minute train ride to Shinjuku or Shibuya. 20 minutes in the other direction and you are in the mountains.
The architecture is horrible... But there's just so much of it. Probably the ugliest major city in the world.
But I can't see myself leaving anytime soon.
 
I love Miami Beach city, It is amazing. Especially if you visit the city during December wont believe that you can enjoy the beach and the sun, while its extremely cold and snowing in Toronto.
 
Vancouver, BC. The time is 3 hours behind there, which neatly adjusts my sleeping pattern to somewhat normal hours. :D

And in all seriousness, it's beautiful in the summer. I loved biking in Stanley Park!
 
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