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Do Torontonians complain about Toronto too much?

pman said:
When you claim that Toronto is (a) "one of the greatest cities in the world", and later (b) "the single greatest city in the world", are you being ironic or do you really mean it? I hope it's the former but if it's the latter, what objective facts lead you to that conclusion?
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I knew someone would complain :)

The latter was a joke. There's no way to objectively quantify what is the single greatest city in the world. However I will say that Toronto is one of the greatest cities in the world to live in.
 
ehlow said:
That happens in any big city. In small town Ontario though there is no traffic and housing is much much cheaper than Toronto.
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How many other cities are ranking number one for longest commute times in North America? It's hard not to be cynical when the population here continues to grow rapidly, while our leaders can't even stop squabbling about a piddly 3 stop subway extension in Scarborough.
 
salsa said:
How many other cities are ranking number one for longest commute times in North America? It's hard not to be cynical when the population here continues to grow rapidly, while our leaders can't even stop squabbling about a piddly 3 stop subway extension in Scarborough.
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Well I guess things like the Scarborough subway/LRT issue don't affect my life personally. And like I said previously, many who live in Toronto don't experience the congestion and actually do have decent (<30 min) commutes on public transit & walking or biking.

Having said that, I see transit progress every day when I walk 5 min away from my home: Eglinton LRT construction happening everywhere. So I'm excited about the future.
 
ehlow said:
Is your commute 2 hours? Is it impossible for you to move closer or something like that? Just asking.

The other thing though is, to state the obvious, not everyone in Toronto has a 2 hour commute, so I don't really consider that a thing about living here necessarily. Many people live downtown & work downtown for example.
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salsa said:
How many other cities are ranking number one for longest commute times in North America? It's hard not to be cynical when the population here continues to grow rapidly, while our leaders can't even stop squabbling about a piddly 3 stop subway extension in Scarborough.
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ehlow said:
Well I guess things like the Scarborough subway/LRT issue don't affect my life personally. And like I said previously, many who live in Toronto don't experience the congestion and actually do have decent (<30 min) commutes on public transit & walking or biking.

Having said that, I see transit progress every day when I walk 5 min away from my home: Eglinton LRT construction happening everywhere. So I'm excited about the future.
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My parents, and my sister. I know of others, too. The politicians are also a problem, that's more incompetence than anything as well. The city itself is fine.

Like I said in the OP, ehlow , I'm very guilty of this. :)
 
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TheTigerMaster said:
I knew someone would complain :)

The latter was a joke. There's no way to objectively quantify what is the single greatest city in the world. However I will say that Toronto is one of the greatest cities in the world to live in.
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Oh no, you're complaining about my complaint. Seriously though, I do hear a lot from Torontonians that they think this is one of the world's greatest cities and I'm always mystified. I mean there's a lot of competition for that title. Why do you think Toronto is one of the world's greatest cities to live in?
 
I think that some people complain about things that negatively impact them, while those who complain about things in principle do so out of a frustrated sense of childish entitlement. Toronto has a lot going for it, but here are some things I've personally found frustrating:

1. High rent while a lot of the rentals available are either of low quality and in poor condition or astonishingly small
2. Good quality fresh produce seems to be very scarce, especially at the affordable end of things
3. The job market is quite frustrating, job fairs tend to be scams, and there seems to be a disconnect between the output of our educational institutions and the demands of the labor market
4. The liquor laws are astonishingly restrictive
5. The art market is very heavy at the bottom and very thin at the top
6. Bike infrastructure is sub-par
7. The region sprawls quite heavily, with all the associated problems
 
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Transit and commuting in this city is so terribly turdlike it bothers me more than it should. The city has been run just like the Leafs have. I can't believe such a large, dense city having such terrible infrastructure. It's just so mind numbingly dumb. I always wonder how it became normal to have such high commute times. All the taxes that are paid and the lack of infrastructure just doesn't make any sense. Then you have construction all over the city scheduled to happen all at the same time. Lulz.
 
TheKingEast said:
Transit and commuting in this city is so terribly turdlike it bothers me more than it should. The city has been run just like the Leafs have. I can't believe such a large, dense city having such terrible infrastructure.
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Transit infrastructure in Toronto isn't as terrible as people in this city insist on making it out to be. Up until less than 10 years ago I'd actually say that Toronto's transit infrastructure was overbuilt. Things have caught up to us now and our transit infrastructure is merely adequate. But the City has taken steps to correct that, with untold billions of dollars in transit investments. Our transit infrastructure will once again be in an excellent position sooner rather than later.

All the taxes that are paid and the lack of infrastructure just doesn't make any sense.
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Well maybe if Torontonians paid higher taxes we could have nicer infrastructure. This stuff doesn't come free...
 
TheTigerMaster said:
Transit infrastructure in Toronto isn't as terrible as people in this city insist on making it out to be. Up until less than 10 years ago I'd actually say that Toronto's transit infrastructure was overbuilt. Things have caught up to us now and our transit infrastructure is merely adequate. But the City has taken steps to correct that, with untold billions of dollars in transit investments. Our transit infrastructure will once again be in an excellent position sooner rather than later.



Well maybe if Torontonians paid higher taxes we could have nicer infrastructure. This stuff doesn't come free...
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We pay a lot of taxes and honestly, if we paid higher taxes, I'm certain that the money would be squandered as it has been in the past. Transit is BAD here. I'm not going to blame anyone for it. But it is.
 
TheKingEast said:
We pay a lot of taxes...
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I know people like to believe that the big ol' evil government is taking too much of their money, but the fact is that Torontoninans pay ridiculously little taxes compared to elsewhere in the GTA. This is really holding our city back and it needs to be corrected.


and honestly, if we paid higher taxes, I'm certain that the money would be squandered as it has been in the past.
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Squandered in what way? Toronto runs a very tight ship. Don't take my word for it; I invite you to take a look at the KPMG reports from 2010.
 
TheTigerMaster said:
I know people like to believe that the big ol' evil government is taking too much of their money, but the fact is that Torontoninans pay ridiculously little taxes compared to elsewhere in the GTA. This is really holding our city back and it needs to be corrected.




Squandered in what way? Toronto runs a very tight ship. Don't take my word for it; I invite you to take a look at the KPMG reports from 2010.
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If you think money has been properly allocated over the years then there's really no need to discuss further.
 
TheKingEast said:
If you think money has been properly allocated over the years then there's really no need to discuss further.
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The biggest potential mis-allocation of money I've seen has been the Scarborough Subway.

In what ways do you think money has been mis-allocated?

Edit: also the police budget is out of control. It needs to be slashed.
 
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