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the lemur said:
Of all the people I've heard putting Toronto down, aside from some rural Ontario types, Maritimers have to be the only ones who do so by telling you all the things that make them legit scared of our city. 'Oh no, the traffic, the crime, the [veiled insinuation about non-white people], I could never live there'.
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As a Maritimer, I agree 100%. Our friends and family looked at us with a mixture of pity and disgust when we said we WANTED to relocate to Toronto. They said we were crazy. Maybe so.

But since moving to this fine city a few years ago, I have seen Black Sabbath, Soundgarden, Emmylou Harris with Daniel Lanois, Chris Cornell, The Black Keys, Janet Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Alabama Shakes, Kings of Leon, Stevie Wonder, Robert Plant, Heart, The Replacements, Iggy Pop, Ron Sexsmith, The Book of Mormon, and probably more than a few other shows I've forgotten. I've also been to a few Maple Leafs and several Blue Jays games, not to mention several exhibitions, conventions, and festivals. I ride subways and streetcars, and have access to the finest entertainment, retail shopping, and health care in the country.

My friends back home, when they do call, never want to hear about any of it. :)

There are a lot of things I don't like about Toronto, but living here isn't one of them.
 
I live in Tokyo. When I tell Japanese people that I'm from Canada about 90% will ask if I'm from Vancouver. All Japanese people seem to have visited Vancouver/Banff at some point.
But they all know Toronto because of Niagara Falls and I do run into the odd person who has spent time in Toronto - usually as a student or working though. Not often as a tourist. They generally are very positive about the city.
Most people I talk to are surprised to hear that there are no mountains near Toronto and they are under the impression that French is extremely common and we get extreme levels of snowfall.
Several of the Japanese figure skaters train in Toronto so there is some awareness from that as well.
Many are vaguely aware of the 'underground city' and would like to visit it. This was true when I lived in Europe as well. I can't imagine how what they are picturing actually compares to the PATH.
 
Ha the classic Vancouverite putdown of Toronto is "What is there to look at?" :p Having lived in Vancouver, I kind of agree.:D

I'd say a great number of born & bred Vancouverites have never been East of Calgary.
 
indense said:
I live in Tokyo. When I tell Japanese people that I'm from Canada about 90% will ask if I'm from Vancouver. All Japanese people seem to have visited Vancouver/Banff at some point.
But they all know Toronto because of Niagara Falls and I do run into the odd person who has spent time in Toronto - usually as a student or working though. Not often as a tourist. They generally are very positive about the city.
Most people I talk to are surprised to hear that there are no mountains near Toronto and they are under the impression that French is extremely common and we get extreme levels of snowfall.
Several of the Japanese figure skaters train in Toronto so there is some awareness from that as well.
Many are vaguely aware of the 'underground city' and would like to visit it. This was true when I lived in Europe as well. I can't imagine how what they are picturing actually compares to the PATH.
Click to expand...

Interesting that people sometimes perceive Canadians as speaking more French than they actually do. I got asked a lot if I spoke French when I lived in New England, where the nearest Canadian border was closer to Quebec than Ontario and also where I think many people with French last names immigrated to the US in the latter part of the 19th century. I wonder if some people outside Canada don't realize how regional French vs. English are, if they are familiar with Quebec at all. I think some people mistake the idea that Canada is bilingual officially with the idea that most Canadians themselves country-wide are fluent in the two languages. I've even had international students ask me if it would be okay to visit Toronto not knowing French.

Regarding the PATH, I hope they don't aren't too disappointed when they get a chance to see :p. It's a bit much to call a shopping complex a "city" in my view -- that would make me visualize people actually living down there with housing, perhaps a park or two!
 
indense said:
Most people I talk to are surprised to hear that there are no mountains near Toronto and they are under the impression that French is extremely common and we get extreme levels of snowfall.
Click to expand...

Perception of snowfall is interesting too, since the coldest places aren't necessarily the snowiest, not that Toronto is particularly cold or snowy to begin with in Canada. There are Japanese cities snowier than Toronto, since Japan has mountains and gets lots of ocean moisture too, and some can be indeed very much so -- Sapporo gets loads more snow and it's about as far north as Toronto. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapporo#Climate

Also, Buffalo gets a lot of lake-effect snow, but Toronto doesn't. Some people perceive Toronto as snowy because it is near Buffalo. Someone in upstate New York was surprised when I told her it gets less snow than Buffalo on average.
 
Another thing I thought about was (partly discussed in my other thread on multiculturalism) if many people overseas realize that Toronto is as diverse as it is.
I think a lot of people are surprised that a Torontonian can look like any person anywhere in the world and speak a multitude of languages. I've met people who while aware that African-Americans, Latino Americans, Asian-Americans etc. exist, are still surprised that a Canadian can have these origins/roots too.
 
I like how he wrote that Toronto has soul and that it's hard work discovering its true beauty. I'll agree with that.
 
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