[Whoaccio]

In honor of our 175 year anniversary as a city, the Globe is running a bit on what makes Toronto special to you, in one sentence. First, it is quite impressive how far the city has come in only 175 years. Makes you wonder what things will look like when we are as old as Paris is now. Or even New York.

So, what makes Toronto special to you in one sentence?

For me? It is easy. That may sound like a cop out, but Toronto is an easy city to live in. Sure, Rome may have old buildings, but you don't have to pay 3 euro for a coffee here and spend most of the time stuck in traffic jams or making sure gypsies don't steal your wallet.

 

[TrickyRicky]

Fixer upper with solid bones that's good value for your money.

 

[Archivist]

Whoaccio, your post makes me think of an incident I had some years ago. I ran into someone I knew from high school (in Ottawa) and hadn't seen in years. We got together to catch up on things. What I didn't know is that in the last year of high school she took up with an Austrian fellow, and ended up living with him in Vienna. Being born in the UK, she was able to work there, and she mastered the language. After about 12 years, the relationship ended and she moved to Toronto.

Now, I love Toronto, but really, if I spoke German and could work in Europe legally I'd hustle myself off to almost any German city to live. I asked her what brought her to Toronto.

She said that in a month in Toronto she had an apartment, a job and friends. The same thing, especially the friends, would take years in Vienna. She described their apartment there, hauling up coal from the basement to heat it, and paying about $3000 Cdn for "key money", essentially a bribe to win the lease in the first place. She made it sound quite difficult, and socially even more so, though when I was in Vienna on a vacation I naturally thought it was lovely.

Anyways, it's a long way of saying that your observation about the ease of living here is shared by others. There's no shame in that.

 

[Urban Shocker]

Ditto.

Toronto is a catalyst.