[guvner]

My wife and I are planning to move from Kingston to Toronto next year as I plan to attend nursing school. Right now we live just north of Kingston kind of in the country and have 2 cars to commute, we have always had our own cars and the thought of not having one seems scary for me. In fact I can only remember being on a bus ONCE in my life and the Metro in MTL a couple times so public transit is going to be a new experience for me, but my concern is getting around town without a car and having 2 dogs.

Living in the downtown core for those that have no car and dogs how do you get around? can you take dogs on the TTC? taxis?
For those that lived with a car before and now don't have one whats it like? was it hard to adjust?
Also while I'm mentioning the dogs how hard is it to find a nice apartment that allows dogs? I've looked on viewit.ca and only a few ads mentions dogs are ok. By the way our guys are about 85lbs each.

 

[billy corgan]

You can take dogs on the TTC (except at rush hour). FYI, according to the tenant protection act in Ontario it is illegal to prevent someone from having a pet in their apartment. Just sign a lease, don’t mention the animal and move in. If the landlord has a problem he can’t do anything about it except not renew your lease at the end of the year.

 

[Tuscani01]

FYI, according to the tenant protection act in Ontario it is illegal to prevent someone from having a pet in their apartment. Just sign a lease, don’t mention the animal and move in. If the landlord has a problem he can’t do anything about it except not renew your lease at the end of the year.

Its not illegal to say 'no pets' in a contract, however if a tenant moves in with a pet, the line in the contract no longer applies and the tenant cannot be evicted. They are allowed to evict you if the pet becomes a problem though. (i.e. neighbours complain about dog barking)

 

[guvner]

I know all about the tenant protection act....I had my share of problem landlords . My only concern with doing that is you get on the bad side of the landlord from the start, if they don't want dogs they just won't rent the unit to you and if you sneak the dogs in they might give you a hard time and make life miserable for you like make false claims of the dog barking or claim it bites someone, etc, etc.


So what time of the day is considered rush hour on the TTC? 7-9 and 4-6?

 

[Dichotomy]

I can't imagine life with (2!) large dogs downtown. I have one 56 lb Husky and that has been challenging enough. Although I've taken him on the subway to Union Station, driving him to the larger parks certainly saves time.

And that is what it is all about - time. If you're going to school and working, you will find your time cramped. Dogs have a nasty way of taking their frustrations out if they aren't getting the attention they are used to.

Although I could walk my dog to Balfour (about 15 minutes each way), I would rather spend the time there with him off the leash, rather than me walking him there. Frankly, on some days, if it wasn't for taking him via my car to Riverdale after the gym, he would be lucky to get a run around the block!

There are some good, fenced dog parks downtown, but if your dogs are not very social (or older) and prefer to sniff and explore, a car may be the only option. Especially with large dogs.

 

[cuzzin_elias]

If you find a place near one of our many great downtown parks (trinity bellwoods & high park are excellent for dogs) travelling with the dogs won't be so much an issue.

And if you're downtown, the TTC service is pretty good. I wouldn't want to commute from Scarborough or Sauga w/o a whip though

 

[guvner]

are these fenced in dog parks?

 

[cuzzin_elias]

Not fenced in but fairly large and away from the road

 

[Observer Walt]

I know many people who function very well in Toronto without a car. Transit is good in the downtown core, and relatively good, by the standards of most cities, throughout the whole city. There is no place in Toronto that you can not get to by transit. Obviously, consider the distances involved, when deciding where you will live.

My own highly personal opinion: it must be difficult to live in an apartment with even one large dog, never mind two. You may get some disapproving looks / comments from others in the apt. building.

 

[guvner]

I know many people who function very well in Toronto without a car. Transit is good in the downtown core, and relatively good, by the standards of most cities, throughout the whole city. There is no place in Toronto that you can not get to by transit. Obviously, consider the distances involved, when deciding where you will live.

My own highly personal opinion: it must be difficult to live in an apartment with even one large dog, never mind two. You may get some disapproving looks / comments from others in the apt. building.

we wouldn't live in an apartment building, but rather part of a house.





So basically TTC has no issues with dogs thats reassuring to know.

Thanks for the help

 

[PukeGreen]

I would estimate that close to 50% of the people in my downtown condo building own dogs. A large number also own cats, based on how many I see lounging in various windows. I see dogs of all sizes in the elevators every day and nobody blinks an eye. That said, we did have to complain about the former occupants of the unit across the hall who left their puppy alone for 12 hours a day to yap, yap, yap, partly out of concern for the dog and partly out of annoyance.

Until very recently there was a guy in my building with two enormous Great Danes. He would take them out all the time to walk around the neighbourhood and romp with tinier dogs in the off-leash park. They seemed pretty happy. I have no idea if he owned a car as well, but loading them into a vehicle looks like it might have been more tiresome than just walking them down the street.

Dogs aside, I think this decision to go car-free depends on where you live downtown, how many lifestyle changes you are willing to make, and your attitude. Ultimately, if you view every day without a car as a deprivation, you will hate it. If you see cars as the ultimate status symbol, you will hate not having one. However if you view living without a car as a form of freedom and think about how the inconveniences are offset by different conveniences (ie. you have to walk more, but you no longer worry about things like door dings, finding parking everywhere, having one too many beers to drive home, renewing your insurance, changing the snow tires, etc.) and how much money you can free up for more important things in life, then maybe it's the right move for you.

I sold my car 5 years ago and don't miss it at all: rentals a few times a year for trips to visit family work out fine for us. But I know many people who would die without a car. Only you can make the call, but downtown Toronto is probably one of the best places in North America to give it a go. Focus your search on locations close to the subway or a streetcar line, which are more pleasant and prompt than the buses.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

I sold my car about 7 years ago, and I don't miss it either.
I have a Labrador Retriever (extremely energetic dogs) and have had no problems in condos or apartments, plenty of people have dogs. I walk her three times a day, she's perfectly behaved on the TTC and I have three great parks within a quick walk to let her run and socialize. I once had a TTC streetcar driver refuse me with the dog because the streetcar (in the Beach) was very full. I learned that they have the right to do that. With that exception, you can take a dog on TTC except during rush hours (6:30-9:30am, 3:30-6:30pm) Monday to Friday, not including holidays.
I've had people say to me that it's cruel to have a dog in an apartment but I argue that my apartment is as big as most modest homes and my dog gets more exercise and socialization than many dogs who are confined to a house and backyard.
Many cabs won't take dogs but if you call a cab company and request a cab to carry a dog most will dispatch a driver who will take you and the dog.
If your renting part of a house, it may not be covered under the Landlord Tenant Act so it could be different having a dog in that circumstance.

edit: some condos do not permit dogs, other's may have a "weight restriction".

 

[Dichotomy]

Only you can decide how well your dogs will adapt. I was fearful when I moved from Collingwood (where I had a 125' back yard) to a 1 bedroom apartment 12 years ago with a 9 month old Husky puppy who had never been left alone. Turns out, he was an angel.
We were very lucky. My neighbors (who just moved out last month ) had a yappy 6 month old black lab. It barked all day. They would leave it on the balcony, thinking nobody could hear it. You could hear it from the street.
If your two dogs are well behaved, then you should have no problems. If it is convenient to keep at least one of your two cars, you might want to keep it for a while to see if you can acclimatize to not having one.

My ex and I thought we would walk/cycle a lot when we moved downtown. We did walk/cycle more, but the car was indispensible. Although we did sell
his.

Escalators still freak my dog out a little, though. Crowded subways may be a challenge with 2 dogs. Have they ever been on public transit before? Sometimes well behaved dogs can be 'overly friendly' in elevators, on subways, etc. Some people are not so appreciative.

 

[Chuck]

A better question is other than going to the park, how many trips do you really have to bring your dogs along for? I live just outside of downtown and have a dog. Even though I don't actually own a car, we get by fine because the dog rarely has any reason to join me. On the very, very infrequent occasions in which I do take the dog along, he's subway and escalator trained.

Just make sure that you live near a park and are close to the vet's office and unless your situation is unique, you'll be fine.

 

[guvner]

I'm glad I posted here because I feel much more comfortable knowing that everything will likely work out just fine once we get adjusted. Now its just going to be a matter of finding the right place to live.

Thanks all